Trying to save the most beautiful spot we know

If you don't care about environmental conservation in Oregon, just move on and ignore this post. But for those who stayed.... In my hometown, we're engaged in a fight to save Liberty Hill Bluff, the most beautiful spot in the county. It's a remnant camas meadow, one of the few in the region that hasn't …

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Strategies collide

It was past 9pm, past curfew, shops closed and streets dark as I returned from distributing snacks to the rickshaw drivers. The only people outside were others sneaking home from "essential" tasks and small groups of men hanging out near their doors to take advantage of the cooling air. I don't remember what I first …

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Using force with love

Keanon Lowe, a young high school football coach, demonstrated the beauty of fighting violence with love as well as anyone I've ever seen. Lowe served as a security guard at Parkrose High School to supplement his coaching duties. One morning he was responding to a teacher's report of a missing student when 19-year-old Angel Granados-Diaz …

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Sledgehammer

I was getting kids for the literacy program when I saw a crowd gathering in one of the poorer neighborhoods of our community. An older woman was flailing about; three other ladies attempted to restrain her. I told my kids to hurry along without me and approached to see if it was a medical emergency. …

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Commotion

Soon after we came to the country, we encountered a man in our community who suffered from mental illness. He tended to sit half-dressed in the alley near our friends' room. At times he shouted incoherently and made motions with his head. He appeared to be suffering. One of my friends would sometimes sit next …

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Intruder in the bedroom

A post by Peregrine I want to share a story from the Catholic human rights advocate Angie O'Gorman. When I think of the surprising power of a nonviolent response to counter violence, this is the story that most often comes to mind. This woman's experience really challenges me, especially as I find myself often in the …

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