Hasta La Gadget!

How do you repay those who have changed your life, to the point of saving it? Dr. Dorothy Strickland, my doctoral advisor at Columbia University’s Teachers College, knows.
 
Dr. Strickland once asked that question of the late-great Dr. Bernice Cullinan, her doctoral advisor at New York University: “Bee, what can I ever do to repay you for all you have done for me?”
 
The reply: “There is nothing that you can or should do for me. Simply ‘Hand down the magic.'” 
 
Those four, clear, simple words tell us how best to recognize the gifts of knowledge and mentoring that have guided the life trajectories of so many people.
 
There are several variations on this theme, the most recent being “Pay It Forward,” the philosophy of the 2000 film and Catherine Ryan Hyde novel that became a worldwide movement. People “pay it forward” when they respond to kindness by being kind to another person. 
 
Yet to me, “Hand Down the Magic” means more — not merely demonstrating one kindness, but thousands of them; not of the thrill of one day, but day after day; to the point where magic defines the relationship between two people.
 
When I think of “Hand Down the Magic,” I think of teachers, and the artistry they employ as they pass on the knowledge and wisdom of the ages.
 
Certainly, this is how I feel about Dr. Strickland and other professors who guided my development.  Their powerful words lifted me up, so I could face down the demons behind so many other words I’d heard throughout my life — words which, from time to time, demeaned my Black race and intelligence. 
 
Walt Whitman wrote: “One word can pour such a flood through the soul.” These are torrents I, like so many others who have been stereotyped based on their race or cultural background, know too well. In reflecting on my TedX Talk about growing up in the Civil Rights era and the many struggles I had “…experienced, survived, and triumphed,” Dr. Strickland added this postscript: “I know there were [and are] many others who did not even survive.” 
 
Teachers and mentors can have a magical impact on learning, but being a student can be just as exquisite. The roles of teacher and student are not as distinct as portrayed. Teaching and learning go both ways.
 
Teachers “hand down the magic” when they refuse to place learners in proverbial boxes labeled “smart,” “not so smart,” “average,” “dumb” or “stupid,” and recognize that failure is integral to learning and deserves to be celebrated. “Fail UP,” Tavis Smiley writes in his latest book, quoting Nobel Prize-winning playwright, novelist and poet Samuel Beckett: 
 
“Ever tried. Ever Failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”  
 
Yet failure is too often ridiculed in classrooms or called out with a devastating blow. Frustrated teachers have been known to tell young children that they will never succeed. Many children eagerly shoot their hands up in the classroom, only to shrink into the shadows after giving the wrong answer, when teachers playfully mock their response. This mocking might be meant in humor, but it can hurt a student — Whitman’s flood through the soul — words matter and emotions can be shattered.  
 
Yet the tide also flows in the other direction. In classrooms throughout this country, thousands of teachers recognize the unique talents and gifts of their students every day, leaving joy and confidence in their wake. Learning is a reciprocal arrangement between teachers and students.  Each learning from each other.  As part of the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education professional development, teachers and students work together to unlock their potential.  Shared professional development helps students see teachers as the vulnerable people they are — people who try and fail on occasion, just as students do. Teachers don’t have all the answers, nor should they.
 
In “Smarter: It’s Something You Become” co-published with the NUA, a Newark Public Schools student put it this way:
 
Smart
 
“S — Scholarship you can earn being smart
M — More knowledge each day is becoming smart.
A   — An art of knowing
R  —  Ready to learn
T   —  Terrific people are smart”

 — Alex Lopez, Hawkins Street School
 
Writing for NUA’s Student Voice initiative, Christian Caban at Newark’s Ridge Street School observed: “[Keeping an open mind about learning] reminds me of what I learned in science class about Isaac Newton’s three laws of motion; specifically, the third law, which states, ‘For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction.’ This implies that for everything you do there is a positive or negative consequence.  [So] if you care about your education you can become successful and that is a positive consequence.” 
 
Let’s embrace the power of learning and “hand down the magic” to those outstretched hands and minds, yearning to be awakened.
 
I will forever be grateful for the gifts that Dr. Strickland and others, such as the late Dr. Fritz Ianni at Teachers College, Columbia University, and professors at the Universidad de las Americas, City University of New York in Staten Island, and Dutchess Community College provided me.  And I celebrate all those who have mentored me, such as the late Dr. Asa Hilliard III of Georgia State University. I will work to “hand down the magic,” as they did for me.  
 
May all the readers do the same. As Dr. Strickland told me: “It is the most important legacy we have.” 
 
Eric J. Cooper is the founder and president of the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, a nonprofit professional development organization that provides student-focused professional development, advocacy and organizational guidance to accelerate student achievement. He can be reached at e_cooper@nuatc.org. He tweets as @ECooper4556.

Follow Eric Cooper on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NUATC

Yesterday, images of the notorious white and gold and black and blue dress went viral. Initially posted on Tumblr by a 21-year-old Scottish singer, the image, within a couple of hours, caused an instant media sensation throughout the world.

What fascinated me the most about this phenomenon, though, was my own reaction to it. When I began to see statuses from my girlfriends like “Definitely black and blue” or “Definitely white and gold,” I first thought that another Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign had begun — similar to the ones in which you secretly post what color your bra is — but then I realized (sadly) that it’s not October anymore.

After a quick Google search for “white and gold,” the image immediately popped up. I then read a BuzzFeed article about it and adamantly decided that all of the people who saw black and blue must have something going on with their vision, for I only saw white and gold.

At that time, I had been working on a midterm paper, so I took a break from the newest Internet controversy and continued to write. But then, like most college students, I got sucked into watching Netflix after a while and started to surf Facebook for a few — or 30 — minutes.

I noticed that one of my other friend’s statuses had changed. “Now I can only see black and blue!” it said. Not surprisingly, my curious nature led me to click on yet another article about the dress.

This time, though, I saw the black and blue. My initial reaction to that was “Wow, they were right. How strange.”

I scrolled further down on my newsfeed and saw so many more statuses about it:

“Score one for #TeamBlackAndBlue”

“Get it together. #whiteandgold”

“I see illuminati brainwashing everyone #whiteandgold”

While these statuses are certainly humorous and in good fun, they serve as poignant examples of how we work as human beings in the 21st century — and I’m not just talking about the excessive use of incomplete sentences and hashtags.

As a society, we tend to quickly put people who don’t see things the same way we do in the “other” category, and we tend to judge their ideas while staunchly defending our own.

If there is someone telling us that they see something differently, and even when they back up their claims with scientific proof, we disregard them. The way we answer difficult questions is by choosing a side and by ostracizing the other one. However, doing so not only devalues the other’s opinions and creates a false sense of security for our own, but it covers up the deep-rooted fear that we have of being wrong or of not knowing the answer.

If someone challenges us to see something in a different light — whether it be related to politics, education, human rights, or what color a dress is — we feel uncomfortable. Why? It’s simple. We have been trained from the day we were born to automatically give answers and to know.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” my mom would — and still does – ask me. There’s no room for inquiry in that question. There’s a right and wrong answer, and while it may be helpful to learn how to count this way, the right-and-wrong mentality begins there and carries over to other issues when we grow up. We have not yet been trained to be the ones asking the questions or to even feel comfortable with leaving some questions unanswered.

Instead of telling each other, or trying to prove to each other our answers, let’s ask each other questions. Let’s take time to think about things from all sides of the coin instead of jumping to a conclusion based on what we first experience. Let’s acknowledge that there is truth and validity on any side of a debate. When we stray away from leaning into discomfort and when we comfort ourselves by embracing our own beliefs only, we eliminate any chance to find common ground with others and to see our lives from the eyes of a different perspective. Though there might be two dominant sides to any issue, the nuances and all of the “what if” questions actually prove that we have much more in common than we might think. All it takes is for us to ask and to listen.

So for the moment, pick a team. It’s fun! I was team white and gold and then I was team black and blue and then I saw the truth — I saw both sides of the debate. If we all become a little more mindful, and ask a lot more questions, I really think that, together, we can take a huge and much-needed step toward a more compassionate and caring world.

The cough started just below my throat, at the top of my chest, late in the day. It hurt. By night, my throat started to ache and swell. By the next morning, my throat was inflamed and very painful. The third day I knew I was sick. The thing is, I get this almost annually. The timing of this, however, clued me in that something was amiss.

Sure, it is winter and illness abounds, but I had not been exposed to anyone who was sick. Further, no one around me was becoming ill, so I was obviously not contagious. I am a very healthy person. When I do get the occasional allergy or sore throat, it’s done within a day or two.

When day three arrived and I was getting worse, I started self-evaluating. I was having an upper limit problem. Further, I knew this upper limit problem came directly from my fear of being seen.

We all have a happiness quotient in us and when we get close to the edge, we manufacture something to level us out. Some part of us is afraid of what will happen if we feel good, shine brightly, grow abundantly for an extended period of time. Though I had been working on the roots of my fear of being seen, I had suddenly become very visible on a week where I would have to show up fully, further increasing my visibility. I had far surpassed my happiness quotient and now I was sick.

Gay Hendricks writes in The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level that upper limit problems manifest commonly as:

• worrying
• blaming
• criticism
• getting sick
• squabbling
• hiding significant feelings
• breaking agreements
• not speaking significant truths to the relevant people, rather speaking it to everyone else deflecting compliments.

My sore throat and cough started the day after one of my most authentically written posts was published. I was proud and ecstatic. Then I started seeing the reviews and shares. What I had written resonated with readers. The number of views grew in the tens of thousands.

Meanwhile, I was preparing for my first paid speech. Though I had been booked for a couple of months, the irony had not yet occurred to me. Both of my parents works at hospitals while I was growing up. Both my parents and their counterparts had unhealthy lifestyles. I saw how it held them back, exhausted them, and negatively impacted their health. In many ways, this drove into a career in the wellness field. I wanted to help people live optimally, which includes taking accountability for lifestyle choices. My speech would be at a local hospital on the topic of self-care.

I remember the day I got sick, the number of views on the article peaked 50,000. I knew I was no longer a secret. Something big was about to break for me and the part of me that has hid behind the excuses and limitations in order to stay safe was not impressed. I lost my voice first. Then the cough set in fully, so bad at times that it literally gagged me. No medicines could ease it.

I was slated on this same week to teach an asana and a mediation practice to my cohorts in my advanced yoga teacher training. I wasn’t worried about this. I am confident in my skills as a teacher. I was actually excited to be able to share my style with my cohorts. By class day, I recognized I was in an upper limit issue.

I had to show up, to give my best class that I could no matter how I felt. For my own good, I needed to break through this upper limit, otherwise I was going to repeat it over and over rather from an illness or some other manifestation. I showed up fully for my speech, too. I stepped into my zone of genius which is helping people be whole.

Breaking through upper limit problems require you to show up and keep showing up fully, no matter how scary or challenging it may be. When you become aware of hitting your upper limit, pivot. Be willing to look at the real issue. What could I do to expand my capacity for success, acceptance, love, and abundance?

Draw on previous experiences of how it felt to be in your zone of genius and really shine. Notice how that memory feels within your body and allow that feeling to expand. Ask yourself what steps you could take immediately to allow the positive energy to flow through your whole being again? Commit to taking inspired action and show up fully.

My pivot was giving myself permission to be supported. I drank in the feedback from my teaching and speech, which was all very positive. I allowed myself to be taken care of instead of being the one taking care of others. I slowed down significantly and listened to what my body needed to heal. Through the whole ordeal, I practiced a great deal of self-compassion, allowing myself to explore what would it mean to be fully seen.

I not only mentally and emotionally shifted, I physically shifted. I made a conscious decision that I am ready to be seen. I do not need an illness to be another excuse to hide behind. I want to see how much more greatness there is waiting on the other side of my limitations.

While I recognize that old habits can sometimes be hard to break, with this one, I am choosing for whatever replaces it to arrive with ease and joy. It is, after all, a choice I have the power to make. I know that the inspired action necessary s to keep showing up fully, each and ever moment. The choice itself is quite simple and I know grace will gift me with exactly what I need to continue to open up into my greatness.

Wendy Reese is a lifestyle strategist who specializes in whole being, author, host of The Whole Being Zone and yoga teacher with 13 years of teaching experience. Get regular Wendy Wisdom (and inspiration) on Twitter and Instagram @wholebeinginc

The list of accusations leveled at Bill O’Reilly grows by the day.

What began as a probe into the veracity of the Fox News host’s war reporting experience has now snowballed into a slew of alleged lies, exaggerations and inaccuracies.

If you’re having trouble keeping all these shifting stories straight, we’ve got your back. Here are all the major developments so far in the The People vs. Bill O’Reilly:

Count 1: Bill O’Reilly Exaggerated His ‘War Reporting’ Chops

The Allegation: O’Reilly first came under attack last Thursday when Mother Jones’ David Corn and Daniel Schulman published a piece challenging the host’s claim that he had “reported on the ground in active war zones” and “survived a combat situation” while covering the Falklands War for CBS News in 1982. American reporters were not allowed in the Falklands during the conflict. So how could O’Reilly have been in the war zone?

The Defense: O’Reilly arrived in Buenos Aires shortly before Argentina surrendered to Britain. The Fox host contends that the riots he covered after the war — demonstrators, angry that the military government had given up, took to the streets in protest — constituted a “combat situation.” When CBS released its coverage of the riots, O’Reilly declared victory, saying the tape showed “horrific” violence. While Corn and others agreed the tape showed a “chaotic, violent protest,” they maintain that it was not a “combat situation.”

The Verdict: While O’Reilly seems to think clashes between civilians and police constitute “combat,” the technical definition of the term involves “fighting between armed forces” — i.e. the British and Argentine militaries. The streets of Buenos Aires after the war were no doubt dangerous for reporters, but no matter how violent things got, you need two armies to have a war. The Huffington Post has covered the O’Reilly controversy from our headquarters in Greenwich Village — we can’t claim we’ve been “on the scene” in the host’s living room.

Count 2: O’Reilly Lied About Witnessing The Suicide of George de Mohrenschildt

The Allegation: O’Reilly has claimed, both in interviews and in his book Killing Kennedy, to have been present at the suicide of George de Mohrenschildt, a Russian immigrant and friend of JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.

“As the reporter knocked on the door of de Mohrenschildt’s daughter’s home, he heard the shotgun blast that marked the suicide of the Russian, assuring that his relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald would never be fully understood,” O’Reilly wrote in Killing Kennedy. “By the way, that reporter’s name is Bill O’Reilly.”

But the host’s former colleagues at Dallas radio station WFAA told liberal watchdog Media Matters that O’Reilly was in Texas when de Mohrenschildt killed himself. “Bill O’Reilly’s a phony,” one colleague said. “There’s no other way to put it.”

In addition, Gaeton Fonzi — “one of the most relentless investigators” on the House Select Committee on Assassinations and a journalist who covered the killing of President Kennedy extensively — wrote in his autobiography that O’Reilly had called him from Dallas after de Mohrenschildt’s death to confirm the suicide.

The Defense: While Fox News has not addressed this specific allegation, it released a general statement of support:

Bill O’Reilly has already addressed several claims leveled against him. This is nothing more than an orchestrated campaign by far left advocates Mother Jones and Media Matters. Responding to the unproven accusation du jour has become an exercise in futility. Fox News maintains its staunch support of O’Reilly, who is no stranger to calculated onslaughts.

O’Reilly’s publisher also voiced its support in a statement to The Huffington Post.

“We fully stand behind Bill O’Reilly and his bestseller Killing Kennedy and we’re very proud to count him as one of our most important authors,” a spokesperson said.

The Verdict: The idea that O’Reilly arrived at de Mohrenschildt’s daughter’s doorstep at the exact moment a gunshot rang out indeed seems apocryphal — it’s almost too cinematic to be true. That said, with no further evidence than the word of two former employees to challenge the account, it remains a “he said, she said” situattion.

Count 3: O’Reilly Lied About Witnessing The Execution Of Four Salvadoran Nuns

The Allegation: Wednesday afternoon, Media Matters accused O’Reilly of lying about having witnessed the execution of four nuns in El Salvador while reporting on the country’s bloody civil war for CBS News in 1980.

“I was in El Salvador and I saw nuns get shot in the back of the head,” O’Reilly said on his program in 2012.

The Defense: Through a spokesperson, O’Reilly told The Huffington Post Wednesday that he had not seen the execution of the nuns first hand, but was rather referencing unaired footage of nuns being murdered that reporters were shown at the time:

While in El Salvador, reporters were shown horrendous images of violence that were never broadcast, including depictions of nuns who were murdered. The mention of the nuns on my program came the day of the Newtown massacre (December 14, 2012). The segment was about evil and how hard it is for folks to comprehend it. I used the murdered nuns as an example of that evil. That’s what I am referring to when I say ‘I saw nuns get shot in the back of the head.’ No one could possibly take that segment as reporting on El Salvador.

The Verdict: Much like his Falklands War claims, O’Reilly’s tales from El Salvador lead viewers to believe the host was at the center of the actual events — rather than the periphery. For this one, O’Reilly might get off on a technicality.

Count 4: Bill O’Reilly Lied About Being Attacked During The LA Riots

The Allegation: On Thursday, the Guardian published an article in which six of O’Reilly’ former colleagues from “Inside Edition” dispute the host’s claims of being “attacked by protesters” during the 1992 LA Riots.

“They were throwing bricks and stones at us,” O’Reilly said in a 2006 interview. “Concrete was raining down on us.”

“It didn’t happen,” Rick Kirkham, the lead reporter on the riots, told the Guardian. “If it did, how come none of the rest of us remember it?”

O’Reilly’s former colleagues do, however, remember a single man hurling a chunk of rubble at their camera. The man was allegedly angered by O’Reilly’s limousine being parked in “the smoking remains” of his neighborhood. According to two former colleagues, the driver had been polishing the vehicle and O’Reilly yelled at the man, “Don’t you know who I am?”

The Defense: A spokesperson for Fox News declined to comment on the new charges, opting to give The Guardian a familiar defense: The allegations are “nothing more than an orchestrated campaign by far left advocates” and “responding to the unproven accusation du jour has become an exercise in futility.”

The Verdict: We’re beginning to see a pattern here. O’Reilly was on the scene for protests in Buenos Aires, not a war on the Falkland Islands. He called a man to confirm the death of George de Mohrenschildt, but didn’t hear the gunshot himself. He saw images of murdered nuns, but wasn’t present for the actual executions. And now one man threw a rock at his camera, instead of an avalanche of bricks, stones and concrete raining down on his head. If not an outright liar, O’Reilly seems to have an issue with exaggeration, taking small kernels of truth and spinning them into tall tales of journalistic heroism.

Count 5: O’Reilly Threatened Journalists From Mother Jones and The New York Times

The Allegation: Throughout the saga, O’Reilly has been accused of threatening journalists reporting on the controversy. O’Reilly said that he “expected David Corn to be in the kill zone” and told a New York Times reporter, “I am coming after you with everything I have.”

While left-leaning cable news network MSNBC has largely stayed silent on the story (perhaps because of “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams’ own credibility crisis), Rachel Maddow blasted O’Reilly Wednesday night for intimidating journalists, saying it is “untenable” for Fox News to continue to stand by its host.

The Defense: O’Reilly brushed off the idea that he had threatened Corn with actual violence, saying the term “kill zone” was “simply a slang expression.”

The Verdict: This one is pretty hard to deny, especially since O’Reilly made a point of telling the Times’ reporter “you can take it as a threat.” Whether O’Reilly lied about his reporting experience, threatening members of the press crosses a serious line and is unbefitting of a prime time news anchor on any network.

“Like everyone in media today, we are concerned about the safety of our staff,” Mother Jones Clara Jeffery and Monika Bauerlein wrote in a letter to Fox News. “We’d have hoped that statements with this kind of violent tone would not come from a fellow media professional.”

But after all the evidence has been compiled — from from Buenos Aires to El Salvador to Dallas, Texas, and back again — is Bill O’Reilly ultimately guilty in the court of public opinion? Did he lie to his audience, threatening journalists along the way? What should the consequence be? That’s for the public to decide.

I was sitting outside this past Thanksgiving, surrounded by beautiful trees and rolling hills and feeling grateful for the crisp, clean air, when it occurred to me that we should have a similar holiday of thanksgiving for the earth.

However, we don’t need a whole new holiday for Earth; we have Earth Day. We also don’t need another organization to manage or another fundraising opportunity to ask people to donate their money. All we really need is for everyone to stop for a minute and feel grateful. I believe we could achieve so much good by simply taking time to reflect on what the earth has given us and continues to give us every day: all our food, our air to breathe, the materials to build our homes, and even the coal and oil to heat them! It’s time to show some gratitude to Earth, for even just a moment.

The truth is, the earth unifies everyone and everything. Regardless of our differences–whether they be political, cultural, religious, or geographical–one fact is immutable: We are all completely dependent on the earth. We cannot survive without it.

When a gift such as the earth is given, it is both polite and kind to give thanks.

So this is a call to action–an easy and fun action that will both benefit you personally and help spread appreciation worldwide. This coming Earth Day, let’s celebrate with an Earth Gratitude Wave. It will be a time for you to consciously express your gratitude for the earth. Imagine a giant wave of gratitude passing around the earth and surrounding each and every one of us. You can express it to your own heart, to your friends, family, and coworkers, or on social media. Or even better, to nature!

When: April 22, 2015

What: Pause to consider and share what you are most grateful for–in a moment, in your life, in your surroundings. It can be anything: your favorite tree or your favorite food, a river flowing with clean water, a glass of good red wine, kittens or birds, your home or vacations…it’s all from the earth.

Why: Let’s do this together, and let’s do it globally. Imagine the positive energy that we will create. This is a moment not for judging or being judged…there is no right or wrong or best and better. This is just for the personal pleasure and delight in feeling grateful for the earth. Seriously, no strings attached. Just a small moment of shared appreciation for the one thing each and every one of us can’t live without.

How: Stay tuned for future updates on the Earth Gratitude Wave and for times/ways to share your gratitude for the earth!

#EarthGratitude

For more from Maria Rodale, visit www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com