September 2016

Criticism can trigger psychiatric symptoms for some individuals who interpret feedback in unhealthy ways. How you handle criticism may affect your relationships with others, your self-esteem, and your opportunities for personal growth. Through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), you have the opportunity to discover a new perspective and develop new skills to respond to criticism with a more healthy, productive approach. People generally have one of three potential reactions to criticism. Two...

We like to imagine our friendships are invincible. That they’ll somehow always be warm and entertaining, without ever being touched by conflict. But unlike the sitcom characters who use clever banter to fully resolve issues with their friends by the end of the 30-minute episode, our relationships don’t always clear life’s hurdles with as much ease. Reality is this: We have different opinions, observations, and internal thought processes than even our closest friends. This means, if we are...

What makes a hero? Brainpickings explored this in a recent issue that quoted Walter Lippman, journalist and essayist, who said heroes were people “ who pit themselves not against their fellow beings but against the immensity and the violence of the natural world, who are brave without cruelty to others and impassioned with an idea that dignifies all who contemplate it.” Today, I introduce you to one of the 10,753 heroes who are part of ACEsConnection — Leisa Irwin. She’s our new community...

I am posting a publisher’s opinion from the Arctic Sounder, a rural Alaska Weekly newspaper. Editor Carey Restino discusses an effort by Recover Alaska to collect success stories about recovery from alcohol addiction. In her article, Ms. Restino addresses the very high rates of addiction in rural Alaska, and our need to address it. She is absolutely right, and I commend her for writing about it. When I returned to Alaska in 1978, my first public service volunteer activity was serving on the...

Sixty-five people were shot in Chicago over the Labor Day holiday weekend. Thirteen died, including a retired pastor. It was one of the deadliest holiday weekends in the city, with the top cop pointing to a sense of hopelessness among Chicago’s poorest residents. That’s a feeling Krishaun Branch understands, and one education ultimately helped him overcome. “I know I have to get out of here,” says Branch, one of the young African American teens featured in the new documentary All the...

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced long-awaited legislation today that would strengthen the key federal law protecting youth in the juvenile justice system. The Supporting Youth Opportunity and Preventing Delinquency Act (HR 5963) aims to help local and state officials better address the needs of youth by preventing their involvement with the juvenile system, protecting them in custody and helping them transition back into the community. The provisions are part of an overall...

When it comes to children's brains, Rahil Briggs describes them as ... sticky. "Whatever we throw, [it] sticks. That's why they can learn Spanish in six months when it takes us six years," says the New York City based child psychologist, "but also why if they're exposed to community violence, or domestic violence, it really sticks." Briggs works at the Healthy Steps program at the Montefiore Comprehensive Health Care Center in the South Bronx, screening children as young as 6 months for...

Driving around this small city, I stopped at a red light at W. Civic Center Drive and N. Ross Street in downtown. In one corner is the concrete building that houses the Public Defender’s office, across the street is a bail bonds storefront, across from that is a private law firm with its name in big gold letters. Perpendicular to that is the city’s homeless encampment , from where hundreds of people live out tenuous lives steeped in poverty in the heart of one of the country’s richest...

America’s Hispanic population has grown dramatically: In 1990, Latinos comprised 8.8 percent of the U.S. population; by 2010, that figure had swelled to 16.4 percent. As they fanned out across the country, these newcomers have changed the economic and political landscape . But a comprehensive new analysis of the Census data by the Pew Research Center finds that a slowdown in immigration from Latin America—particularly from Mexico —plus a drop in Hispanic birth rates after the Great Recession...

Four foundations will join forces to fund civic projects in four cities for a full $40 million. But instead of big anchor projects, this initiative is focusing on the little guys—on a bet that the investment will pay off in equitable revitalization, to be enjoyed by many, not just neighborhood elites. On Thursday, the JPB Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation are launching a new initiative, “Reimagining the Civic...

A few weeks ago, Snapchat released a new photograph filter. It appeared alongside many of the other such face-altering filters that have become a signature of the service. But instead of surrounding your face with flower petals or giving you the nose and ears of a Dalmatian, the filter added slanted eyes, puffed cheeks and large front teeth. A number of Snapchat users decried the filter as racist , saying it mimicked a “yellowface” caricature of Asians. The company countered that they meant...

The Department of Justice released a startling 163-page report last month that details widespread discrimination and excessive use of force in the Baltimore Police Department. The report concluded “the relationship between the BPD and many of the communities it serves is broken.” The year-long investigation uncovered shocking statistics about the systemic abuse and racial bias by police in Baltimore, such as: 90 percent of excessive force incidents reviewed by the Department of Justice...