Unified Progressives

05/31/2020

Two Sides to a Coin

Are there? Are we so naive to believe that there are just two sides to a coin? Or two sides to every story? There is a head side and a tail side, there are two broad flat sides of every coin--plain to see when laying flat and looking from above. One side in the light, another in the dark. Flip it over and the same is true. The side of the oppressed and the side of the oppressor. The side of justice and the side of injustice.

But there is another surface. There is a thin round edge that you can use to stand a coin up on, that you can use to roll a coin on and on, that you can use to spin a coin. This edge is made up of so many small strokes that it is an endless circle--no end, no beginning. If not for this overlooked side of the coin, the coin would not, in fact, be a coin.

There are myriad sides to every coin. There are myriad sides to every story.

So how do we shift from this place of my side / your side to a place of ALL the sides? From a place of the head and the tail to a place of the edge? For we rally ourselves with people who think like us and sound like us and look like us and we pit ourselves against the others. How do we climb out of this pit? Where is the pivot point? Is there one angle from which all could come that would point us collectively in the right direction?

Could we try this? Put love at our back and move from there. Stop moving from a place of my story vs yours, my perspective vs yours, my opinion vs yours. Be the edge of the coin--smooth and without an end or beginning. Be the surface that stands up and holds up and allows the coin to roll on and on. Be the side that gives the coin depth and definition. And do it in love.

Put love at your back and move from there. Be the *complex* human being that you are--able to distinguish fact from opinion, hold your own opinion, and still give space and grace to others' opinions. Be the *complex* human being that you are--able to see the human being across from you in the light of their mother or father, sister or brother, son or daughter and extend to them the lightness of a smile, the kindness of being seen, the balm of acknowledgment that their life is as beautiful as yours--painted in different colors for sure, but painted with love just like yours.

09/27/2019

It's been a while, yeah? Hoping you're head-down contributing to some GOTV efforts as the mid-terms approach, or knee-deep in some local campaign you're passionate about! If you need a little light listening while walking literature door-to-door, here you go:

The Whistle-Blower Complaint Released by the House Intelligence Committee, 9/26/2019 Read by Saskia Maarleveld

03/13/2019

Many of you Unified Progressives were there when we had Ellen Smith as a guest at DrinkUP to talk about No One Left Behind -- an organization whose mission is to resettle Afghan and Iraqi interpreters and support personnel who served U.S. and NATO forces, and arrive in the U.S. under the Special Immigrant Visa program, as authorized by the U.S. Dept. of Defense.

Consider attending this fundraiser for their continued support of these families in the Rochester area!

They're also seeking auction items, FYI.

Join No One Left Behind's Rochester NY Chapter for our 3rd Annual Fundraising Dinner MC'd by News10 NBC's Berkeley Brean! We will have a sit down dinner, musical entertainment performed by Bob Sneider, Rabbi Peter Stein and accompanying SIVs, engaging speakers including General John Batiste, silent....

01/04/2019

HAPPY 2019, from all of us at Unified Progressives! Enjoy Christy's reflection.

Tonight, I tuned in to watch a recap of this historic day, and I was surprised by tears. I had to stop what I was doing, give my attention to the TV, and watch…

11/10/2018

This is a nifty visualization of how districts shifted in the 2018 election. (If 45 is going to make it feel like 1950 in this country with his rhetoric, we’re slipping back to the slang of the time.)

The shift to the left in the House in the 2018 Midterm elections went well beyond the districts Democrats flipped.

11/08/2018

UNIFIED PROGRESSIVES! Let your voices be heard TODAY!

5:00 at the Federal Building.

BREAKING: PROTESTS CALLED FOR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 5 PM LOCAL TIMEDonald Trump has installed a crony to oversee the special counsel's Trump-Russia investigation, crossing a red line set to protect the investigation. By replacing Rod Rosenstein with just-named Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker a...

10/30/2018

Do your weekends sometimes evaporate before you know what happened to them? This happens when we go into the weekend with no real plan--it's Friday night, then all of a sudden it's Sunday afternoon.

Election day is one week away. You can have all the right intentions, but unless you look at your calendar for next Tues. RIGHT NOW, and put a block of time on your calendar to vote, chances are good the day will come and go and you will miss your opportunity to participate in one of our most basic rights as Americans. It is a right that if you are a white male, you have always enjoyed (yay you). It is a right that if you are a minority, woman, or native of this great land was hard-fought in a time not that far away in our country's rear-view mirror. Please stand on the shoulders of those who fought for your right to cast a ballot--be a magnifier of their efforts!

We're not here to dictate which way you vote, just that you do it.

✅ Do it early, if you can!
✅ Go with your partner and/or kids before school and work.
✅ If you need a ride, plan for that today, too.
✅ Get them all out of your hair and then go grab a coffee with a neighbor (pref. in your district!).
✅ Make a plan with some friends to vote in your respective districts and then meet for a drink to cheers your effort over lunch.
✅ Barrel into the parking lot of your polling location on two wheels and e-brake slide into a spot to race inside and vote at the last minute.

There are so many ways to squeeze in this exercise. What's your plan? Comment 👇

09/27/2018

GreenSpark Solar is a long-time member of Unified Progressives -- and they have a great event TONIGHT! Learn all about Commercial Solar for YOUR company. Check it out!

Join us on Thursday, September 27 from 4:30 to 6:30 for our Solar Means Business Happy Hour at Long Acre Farms. This is a great opportunity to learn more about how easy it is to power your business with clean, local energy