I laid on the bottom of the ocean and stared into space.
The surface of the water was so still and flat that it ceased to exist. The light of the stars traveled unimpeded trillions of miles, through the Earth’s atmosphere and 20 feet of water.
I held my breath, the sound of my heartbeat joining the primordial hum of the Atlantic.
I pushed off the bottom. Underwater like in space one is weightless.
That night off the coast of Key West, I slowly kicked towards constellations, no difference between air and space. I swam into eons and lightyears, not an observer of the universe but part of it.
I first saw microlending in action while traveling with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 2007. Then it was being sold as a silver bullet solution to ending poverty. I wrote about the experience in WHERE AM I WEARING and dedicate a whole chapter to examining microlending champion Kiva.org in WHERE AM I GIVING.
I shared my experiences in a chat with Jay on the Good People podcast. Listen, rate, subscribe.
Rozy Mbone, founder of The Legend of Kenya, is one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met and she’s featured on the latest episode of The Good People podcast.
Rozy and her friends were all former gang members. There were few opportunities to make a living in their community, so they lived a life of crime surrounded by death, violence, prostitution, and robbery.
A woman named Selline Korir visited Korogocho and talked about peace and encouraged Rozy to leave her old life behind. Rozy did and soon the others followed and now they promote peace and dialogue in a community where death and violence are everyday life.
We often think our lives have to be in perfect order before we can make an impact. That’s bullshit….
Remember that time I sent my Eagle Scout badge back because of BSA’s exclusionary policies? Well, if you do, you might find the fact that I’m wearing my Scout uniform and Eagle badge two decades after earning the rank somewhat surprising.
In this episode of Good People, Jay and I chat about it and everyday activism….
Kelsey Nielsen first traveled to Uganda to “love on babies” at an orphanage as a self-described “White Savior.” Then she started to ask questions about privilege and power and how best to help people. She is one of the founders of “No White Saviors” an Instagram account that has turned into a movement.
Our conversation on the Good People podcast went so long that I broke it into two parts. I could’ve asked her more questions. You can listen below or on Apple Podcasts or probably other places too. (I like doing the interviews, but not so much the administrivia a podcast or life requires.)
Yesterday I chatted with a documentarian in Scotland who is working on a film on where food comes from. We chatted for an hour about chocolate, bananas, and coffee.
I think journalism is like science in that community members build on each other’s work. I always take the time to help out a fellow journalist. I think it’s part of the responsibility of this work.
Check out this note from a student who read WHERE AM I EATING a few years ago:
Hi Kelsey! Thanks for the invite for The Facing Project. Can’t wait to look into it more! You spoke to my sociology class with Máel Sheridan at Hamline university after we read your book in 2015. Funny story, and long story short: I’m a Peace Corps health volunteer in Ethiopia and was trying to explain in local language the idea behind your books as it relates to my community (where are all these goods coming from? How did they get here?). A couple weeks later the live-in guard at my health center appeared with a pet baboon. It was then named after you in honor of your books. “Kelsey” spelt differently in afran Oromo…
Plastic straws! Recycling! Composting! Wishcycling! Climate Change! Fast Fashion! Products tested on animals! Micro-plastics!
Ashlee Piper examines all of these topics and more in her book on sustainable living “Give a Sh*t: Do Good. Live Better. Save the Planet.”
Ashlee Piper is a political strategist turned vegan and eco-lifestyle expert, writer, and TV personality whose work has been featured in GLAMOUR, Refinery29, Apartment Therapy, Reader’s Digest, and on pretty much every network.
(Wrote this 10 years ago. You can tell because I was still using two spaces after a period.)
“I was told I was going to die nine years ago. Are you religious?”
My mind raced, what went wrong? Standing beside the road waiting for someone to give me a lift I had considered myself quite lucky when Don pulled over in his BMW. He sported a Rolex and was dressed nicely. Our conversation was interesting and pleasant and abduction was the farthest thing from my mind when he asked if I wanted to take a tour of his kiwi fruit farm and join him for tea. In hindsight, a Rolex and a nice car do not mean that a man is of…
