Videos

Trying to Be Part of the Solution

A few people have asked me, “Why bother?”

It’s a fair question. The problems are enormous. The news is exhausting. One person can feel very small.

But I’ve come to believe that the challenge is to push back against our own despair. Part of the solution lies in the choices people make every day—in seemingly small acts of courage, kindness, creativity, persistence, and community. There are only people: people planting meadows, mentoring teenagers, educating workers, making music, telling jokes, fighting injustice, building community, and refusing to give up.

That’s why I’ve been asking people a simple question: How are you working to be part of the solution? Here’s what they had to say.

Part of the Solution: rewilding the lawn

Maria found her answer quite literally in her own backyard, transforming a patch of land into habitat and possibility.

Part of the Solution: educating immigrant workers on their rights

Worker advocate Eline helps immigrants understand and exercise the rights they already possess—an essential step toward fairness and dignity.

Part of the Solution: growing a library

This town board meeting was about everything that goes with a local library — literacy, access to reliable information, community-building, and the tenacity it takes to keep to public sphere alive in times like these.

Part of the Solution: breathing fire for social justice

I’d like you to meet some dragons. They may be made of cloth and paper mâché, but they’re helping change the world.

Part of the Solution: fostering queer community

Charlie believes community itself is a solution. Through programs at his local LGBTQ center, he’s helping create spaces where people can belong.

Part of the Solution: preparing new generations

Rebecca works in county government with a commitment to environmental stewardship and climate education, helping young people prepare for a rapidly changing future.

Part of the Solution: paying attention to the power dynamics

For Micah, solutions depend on whose voices are heard—and whose are overlooked. Justice begins with listening.

Part of the Solution: making street festivals zero-waste

High schooler Ruby demonstrates that even celebrations can become opportunities to rethink our relationship with consumption, waste, and community responsibility.

Part of the Solution: staying for the hard conversations

Chaia reminds us that being part of the solution often means resisting the urge to disengage and instead leaning into difficult conversations.

Part of the Solution: nurturing immigrant women's solidarity

At La Academia de Mujeres Inmigrantes, solidarity is another world for friendship. Jenifer helps create a “segunda familia”—a second family—of support, belonging, and sisterhood.

Part of the Solution: mentoring youth activists

After decades as an educator, Diana now helps nurture the next generation of human rights advocates through Amnesty International’s youth programs.

Part of the Solution: merging comedy with wisdom

Are comedians part of the solution in these hard times? Chillian Thomas reflects on comedy that makes you think and the experiences that both honed his comic skills and deepened his humanity.

Part of the Solution: endorsing progressive candidates

As a lifelong political activist, Sam has decided that endorsing progressive candidates is part of the solution.

Part of the Solution: teaching compassion

Rabbi, activist, and educator Joanna believes that compassion isn’t a side issue—it’s at the heart of every lasting solution.

Part of the Solution: posting provocative street signs

Mr. Handyman doesn’t talk about being “part of the solution. ” He says he’s just “doing his thing” and is grateful that you are doing yours. He’s posting signs across the state that are a deeply important reminder.

Part of the Solution: listening to your children

Christie was reminded by her sixteen-year-old daughter that there are many ways to be part of the solution. As Crosbie, Stills, Nash, and Young once sang, “teach your parents well.”

Part of the Solution: finding new approaches to criminal justice

Charlie serves on the board of the Center for Community Alternatives. His work as a child and adolescent psychiatrist has shown him the importance of advocacy, community support, and largescale social change.

Part of the Solution: keeping money local

Chris is a not-for-profit business leader who has found a way to keep money circulating within the community. For him, and the 400+ businesses who participate, keeping money local is part of the solution.

Part of the Solution: helping out at the food pantry

Susan does extraordinary things with remarkable joy, proving that generosity can be both practical and contagious.

Part of the Solution: convincing progressives to run for local office

John believes change requires representation. His mission is persuading thoughtful, values-driven people to step forward and run.

Part of the Solution: playing music for others

The world changes through small acts as well as large ones. Larry’s contribution is simple and profound: showing up once a month to play music in soup kitchens and retirement communities.

Part of the Solution: producing sustainable clothing

For Melissa and her Circle Creative Collective, part of the solution is reducing the carbon footprint of the clothes we wear while celebrating the artistry, traditions, and creativity of women, in this case immigrants from Mexico and Central America.

Part of the Solution: overcoming domestic violence

Andrea works in some of society’s most difficult terrain, where compassion, accountability, and healing are rarely simple.

Part of the Solution: practicing magic

Dressing up as a wood elf isn’t everyone’s idea of serious politics. But some folks remind us that whimsy, imagination, and enchantment are also part of the solution.