Shine99, 54

Creating a new culture Activism is a way of being for me -- I love working for a just, fun, passionate, spiritual, and open world. The earth is a gorgeous gem, and ecology is becoming a core focus in my life. I am especially looking at how to connect our urban lives with the earth and our local ecology. I am part of a collective called "Source to Sea" that connects the activist, artistic and spiritual communities in San Francisco with these communities on the Yuba River in the Sierras. It is a fun project that cross pollinates the solace, grounded life and front line activism of the mountain activists with the wild, artistic, intellectual and ribald activism of the Bay Area.

I have been a community organizer for 20 years. My work has been in race/class in education, ecology, and in the queer community. I am also a dancer and an artist. Sustainable, joyful activism is another core focus for me. We know what the problems are, what are the solutions? We need to hear and connect to the stories of victories and solutions that activists are creating every day. The world is full of amazing people succeeding at creating a new culture. The world is starving for these real, grounded successes. There is deep spiritual power in people sharing their victories solutions and visions. I am working on how all of us can communicate those stories out into he world so that we can change the framework of all of our political discussions.

"Our anger brings us together, but our parties keep us together."