The Eye, the Heart & the Roots of American Activist Journalism

Amy EdelsteinBlog, Cultural Development, Philosophers & Mystics

This article was originally published by Fair Observer on January 31, 2013. Amy Edelstein reflects on the influence of the Transcendentalist Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) In the digital age, where anyone with a smartphone, tablet, PDA, twitter feed or wordpress account can become a journalist, it’s hard to imagine a time that marked the advent of what was to become an … Read More

Creating Human Security in an Insecure World: Mary Robinson

Amy EdelsteinBlog, Cultural Development, Featured Posts, Philosophers & Mystics, Social Activism

An Interview with Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner of Human Rights (1997-2002); President of Ireland (1990-1997) Originally published by Women’s Review of Books, Wellesley College Mary Robinson may well be the most tough-compassion, pragmatic human rights advocate of recent times. Appearing last December as the key moderator for the State of the World Forum’s Commission on Globalization Meetings in Mexico City, … Read More

Helen Suzman: Politician, Social Revolutionary & Change Maker

Amy EdelsteinBlog, Cultural Development, Diversity Podcast, Philosophers & Mystics

“I didn’t take any risks!” was perhaps the most provocative thing politician, social activist, and radically independent thinking Helen Suzman could have said to me. In case you are not familiar with her history and accomplishments, the late Helen Suzman, member of South African Parliament for thirty-six years, was the sole Progressive Party member in opposition to the apartheid regime … Read More

Dr. Jose Cabezon on Gay Buddhist Ethics & Gender Identity

Amy EdelsteinBlog, Cultural Development, Diversity Podcast, Philosophers & Mystics, Social Activism

Buddhist views on gender

This article was originally printed in EnlightenNext magazine. On June 11, 1997, in San Francisco, gay Buddhist activists met with H.H. the Dalai Lama to take the revered Tibetan Buddhist leader to task for his position that gay sexuality was in violation of Buddhist sexual ethics. In his bookBeyond Dogma, the Dalai Lama cites Buddhist rules that classify homosexual activity … Read More

The Back of the Synagogue Is Not the Back of the Bus

Amy EdelsteinBlog, Diversity Podcast, Philosophers & Mystics

An interview with Esther Kosovsky, educator, and Tamar Frankiel, President of Academy of Jewish Religion. “She converted to Orthodox Judaism after being a feminist!?” my colleagues exclaimed to me. “We have to speak with her!” We were discussing the work of Tamar Frankiel, author and educator, whose book The Voice of Sarah portrays the purpose and meaning in the traditional roles for women in … Read More