Waking Up: A Call to Action

The Sandbox with Diane and Rebekka

In late summer 2019, one of Rebekka's oldest friends, digital humanities professor Jo Guldi, posted a news article on her Facebook page drawing attention to the ongoing human rights quagmire at the border. Rebekka commented, "I feel sickened by what our country is doing, and sickened further by my sense of utter helplessness to stop it. I’ve given money to organizations that are strong in this fight, and will give more. I am desperate to do more myself, as an American, a mother, a Jew, and a human being. But what?" This led to a fruitful back and forth about ways we can take concrete action, culminating in a challenge for the Sandbox: "I would go *bonkers* for an episode that talked about what it's like to parent in a time when other children's lives are being treated with negligible concern for them as human beings. It would be a prelude to thinking clearly and talking about so many other concerns I have as a parent -- raising a child in a time of climate change, at a time when the basic values of democracy that I took for granted growing up seem under assault." Jo turned our entire thread into a powerful op-ed piece, "Parenting in an Age of Violence," which you can read here or at https://tinyurl.com/jguldi

Jo, challenge accepted. Here's our first conversation about how, through our parenting, we can work to create a better society for everyone.