An Earth Day Message – Take Heart from the Abolition Movement

Bill Bigelow encourages environmental advocates to be emboldened by the abolition movement of the 1800’s. Despite the odds, they persisted and achieved their goal.

Exuberant Whales and Frantic Turtles

My son and his wife live in Mexico. Gail and I hadn’t seen them in a long time and had never been to the town they moved to four years ago. If one is able, it’s rarely a bad idea to get out of Maine in late February. We flew to Mexico City where they […]

The Backward Dancing Man

Artist Robert Shetterly reflects on Loren Eisley, native wisdom and the climate crisis.

What Would Clyde Do? Why I Painted Clyde Kennard

Chances are you haven’t heard of Clyde Kennard, an unsung hero and martyr of the Civil Rights Movement, a man of great wisdom, compassion, gentleness, and determined courage. Until a few months ago, I hadn’t either. Then a colleague told me a remarkable story about a man set on showing southern Mississippi white people that […]

This App Is So Cool!

Artist Robert Shetterly muses on the difference between cool photo apps and art.

AWTT Focusing on Narrative Activism

The job of AWTT is to tell people, especially young people, true stories, stories that allow them to act forjustice, stories that give them permission to work for the common good, stories that call out their couragerather than prey on their fears and insecurities and prejudices. We want to tell people stories that inspire them […]

Seeking the Balance: Individual vs. Community

On a recent trip to the Canadian Maritimes, I was struck by the awareness of “others” that I witnessed. It was not the typical “let me hold the door for you” or general offers of assistance when we were lost. No, it was an awareness of the types of behaviors we need to promote so […]

Meditations While Painting Edward Snowden

Artist Robert Shetterly shares his thoughts while painting the whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Edward Snowden: The Asymmetry of Courage

One of the ironies of warfare is that an apparently vastly superior force can be defeated by an apparently much weaker one when the weaker force refuses to meet the more powerful on its own terms, play by its rules, square of army to army, submit to punch and counterpunch. A combination of strategy and […]

The Militarization of North American Life

AWTT portrait subject Bruce Gagnon argues for transforming military spending to create humane jobs and a healthier culture.