It Happened Again at the Symphony!
NOTE: AWTT Director of Education contributed this piece to Rob’s blog. . It always happens at the symphony! True confessions — music moves me in so many ways. Maybe that is why I love it so much, but I think it actually moves many of us. Why does every movie, television show, radio broadcast, sporting […]
Did the PBS Truth Tellers film inspire you? Act now!
Did the Truth Tellers film inspire you? Act now!
Mary Oliver, a Grasshopper and Gaza
Early on in the Americans Who Tell the Truth project I traveled to West Virginia and eastern Kentucky to witness for myself what Mountaintop Removal (MTR) coal mining looked like. I wanted to see the devastation I’d been reading about and meet some of the courageous activists trying to stop it (Judy Bonds, Larry Gibson, Teri Blanton). […]
When Being Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Israeli Is the Same Thing
Author’s Note: I wrote this essay for the unveiling of Dr. Alice Rothchild’s portrait almost ten years ago. Unfortunately, it seems just as relevant today. And just as important. (First published on Common Dreams, March 15, 2015.) “I found that for many, publicly stating that Jews could be victimizers as well as victims, and that Palestinians are […]
White Privilege, Black Portraits, Whose Story?
Last September Connie Carter, AWTT’s education director, and I had the opportunity to visit the Maine State Prison and share the documentary Truth Tellers with a group of prisoners. Connie and I previously wrote about the revelations of that visit. But there was an aspect of the event which I thought deserved more serious attention because […]
Getting Arrested and The Parable of the Ants
Artist Robert Shetterly learns a lesson from a policeman who is holding him in custody.
Rashida Tlaib’s censure, Rep. Jared Golden, and My Arrest
Artist Robert Shetterly reflects on why he joined a sit-in at Representative Jared Golden’s office that resulted in his arrest.
Some Notes In a Time of Genocide
I call it cruel and maybe the root of all crueltyTo know what occurs but not recognize the fact. — William Stafford This beautiful, somber painting, as much meditation as painting, was sent to me by the artist Tilly Woodward who lives in Iowa. It’s a small bird’s abandoned nest – a ground nester, I guess, […]
Mitch McConnell, the Military Industrial Complex, and Being Appalled
I use the word “appall” too much. I’ve been appalled at government and corporate corruption; I’ve been appalled at cavalier war making and its awful consequences. Exhaustingly appalled at the depth of U.S. racism. Appalled at environmental degradation and the failure of governments to base policy on the reality of climate change. I’ve been appalled […]
On War & Palestine
“People who treat other people as less than human should not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.” –James Baldwin Most of the world’s stockpiles of chemical, biological and nerve agent weapons have been destroyed in the past 30 years. This is a good thing. […]