Sally Kitch, the daughter of civil servants, was steeped in the doings of Washington, DC, from a young age. But a letter from a Senator helped open the door to a life of active citizenship.
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At 15, Brendan H. O’Connor had the chance to spend time with the radical Jesuit priest Daniel Berrigan. That singular experience taught him about the politics of compassion.
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Nia Norris’ political awakening did not result from a single event. It has been building over a lifetime, finally reaching a boiling point when everyday life could no longer distract her from the need for change.
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As a teenager, Anahi Molina was schooled by Tumblr, opening her up to issues of injustice and activism. A decade later, that online experience still affects her evolving personal politics.
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At a critical life-and-death moment, Lee Gutkind froze. His hesitation, not like him, made him take a new look at what it means to grow older.
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Two days after the 2016 election, Joseph Russomanno expected to teach his usual communications law class. But he soon realized his journalism students needed to talk about what just happened in America.
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When Laura Waddell finally exited from her corporate publishing job, the elevator ride down was a source of great relief, indeed the beginning of celebration.
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The fatal shooting of a baby boy in Aimee Meredith Cox’s Brooklyn neighborhood led her to question growing used to “the relentless repetition of injury and death” that is part of the Black experience in America.
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Determined to make his mark as a writer, Peter Selgin put aside his drawing pencils. But in time he learned he didn’t have to forsake his work as a visual artist for the world of words. They belonged together.
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Anandi Mishra has always relished walking the lively streets of Delhi, India. But the coronavirus lockdown has made her feel less safe, causing her to wonder if she must change the way she lives.
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J.T. Roane grew up in rural Tidewater Virginia. While its landscapes and back roads evoke ghosts of slavery's past, a friend’s death reminds him of the ongoing need to create Black vitality.
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Katina Michael was 8 years old when her older sister, Christine, began hearing voices. Christine’s struggles rocked her family, but also taught them all precious lessons about love.
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Mark Yakich hoped his first meeting with his biological father would yield new insights about his birthmother and maybe a relationship. What he gained was deeper understanding of himself.
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Wanda Dalla Costa set off on a backpacking adventure she thought would last six months. Seven years and over 35 countries later, she discovered her future as an architect and storyteller.
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At 13, Deborah Sussman visited Anne Frank’s house and the concentration camp her father survived. But she’s sought to not let the Holocaust’s overwhelming reality limit her understanding of who her father was.
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Mia Armstrong survived the 2017 Mexico City earthquake and found love. But the global pandemic has made her wonder if she has words for all the seismic change.
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Growing up in St. Lucia, Shirley-Ann Augustin-Behravesh felt her dreams were beyond her reach. But after years of hearing doubts, she discovered she could achieve the life she wanted.
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