Shari Della Penna
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"Small acts of kindness can change and humanise our world."
   Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks 1948-2020
   ​Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, 1991-2020
                         Author, Advocate, Advisor

All Kinds of Immunity

4/27/2021

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    “My name is Starr. I’m the one who saw what happened to Khalil,” I say into the bullhorn. “And it wasn’t right.”
                                    .   .   .
    “Everybody wants to talk about how Khalil died,” I say. “But this isn’t about how Khalil died. It’s about the fact that he lived. His life mattered…”
                                                   from The Hate U Give
                                                         by Angie Thomas
                                                     Balzer + Bray, 2017
    I found four different definitions of immunity in my on-line American Heritage Dictionary.
  1. [An] inherited, acquired, or induced resistance to infection by a specific pathogen. We all know about the COVID-19 vaccines.
  2. Exemption from certain requirements of law granted to special groups to facilitate their public functions. Think diplomatic immunity and judicial immunity.
  3. Exemption from prosecution granted to a witness to compel that witness to give potentially self-incriminating testimony. Here’s where the Fifth Amendment is applied. 
  4. A condition conferred upon a contestant that prevents that contestant from being eliminated from a competition for a certain time period.
    But none of those describes qualified immunity. The term has come up so often recently that I decided to look a little more closely. Here’s my take.
    According to the American Bar Association’s blog, December 17, 2020, “[q]ualified immunity is a judicial doctrine created by the Supreme Court that shields state actors from liability for their misconduct, even when they break the law.”
    In cases of qualified immunity, a court must decide two things: 
        a constitutional right has been violated AND     
        that right was clearly established at the time of the conduct.
    Qualified immunity is a balancing act. On one side is the need to hold public officials accountable for their actions, especially if their power is wielded irresponsibly. On the other hand, those same public officials deserve to be protected from unnecessary or excessive harassment and distraction from an individual or the public when their duties are carried out responsibly.
    Shortly after the Civil War, Congress gave Americans the right to sue public officials who violated their civil rights. The language Congress used in the Civil Rights Act of 1871 was very clear: “Every” state official who causes a “deprivation of any rights” guaranteed by the Constitution and laws “shall be liable to the party injured.” The Act was also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. It was a protection especially provided to Blacks who were still targeted in the South.  
    But ironically, during the Civil Rights movement I remember, 1967 saw the Supreme Court put parameters around those state officials by inventing qualified immunity. The Court described their change as a moderate exception of the 1871 Act for officials who, acting in “good faith,” accidentally injured (physically or otherwise) someone. In other words, those officials (most usually police officers), were immune from prosecution if they believed they were acting legally.
    But, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to prove intent.
    Fifteen years later, the law was reinterpreted again. Now, even an officer who knowingly violates someone’s civil rights, (unless the victim can provide a prior judicial opinion in a previously decided case involving the same “specific context” and “particular conduct,”) the officer is immune from prosecution. In other words, unless the target of the police action can point to a judicial decision that proved an officer guilty of the same conduct in the same place, the officer will be shielded from liability. 
    And that’s where we are today. An officer doesn’t have to prove s/he was acting legally. It is presumed that the officer knows the law, and if a person’s rights are trampled in upholding that law, it’s up to the trampled person to prove the officer was wrong. Whether using excessive force, conducting an unwarranted search, or controlling a crowd, officers hold enormous power. And they are protected from their actions by qualified immunity when they exert that power. 
    The National Police Support Fund claims that qualified immunity benefits the public because it creates trust. I’m not so sure. How can a police force ensure that, because s/he has qualified immunity, “a police officer will take the best actions needed to maintain law and order and keep communities safe”? https://nationalpolicesupportfund.com/qualified-immunity-pros-and-cons/ 
    Again from the ABA’s blog (12/17/2020) “Police officers rarely face meaningful consequences for their misconduct, and the public’s accurate perception of this fact has contributed to what can best be described as a crisis of confidence in our nation’s law enforcement.” https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/publications/insights-on-law-and-society/volume-21/issue-1/qualified-immunity/ 
    Many police departments are looking hard at themselves. They are evaluating their training procedures and policies. Some even seem to understand that the best course of action may be to call for help from a different agency, one that does not shoot guns. 
    According to a Forbes article published March 4, 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicksibilla/2021/03/04/house-passes-new-bill-to-abolish-qualified-immunity-for-police/?sh=23565f572daf the House of Representatives has just approved the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (H.R. 1280). It is a massive overhaul of American policing that includes the elimination of qualified immunity for all local, state, and federal law enforcement officers. The bill has been endorsed by the Biden administration. There may even be some bi-partisan support. 
    The bill is not perfect; it is not finished. But people are talking about it. Politicians, and regular people, too.
    The wheels of change turn slowly.
                                             -—stay curious! (and patient)    
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I Speak For the Trees

4/20/2021

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And all that the Lorax left here in this mess
was a small pile of rocks with the one word…
“UNLESS”
Whatever that meant, well, I just couldn’t guess.
                    .    .    .
“But now,” said the Once-ler,
“Now that you’re here,
the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear.
UNLESS someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It’s not…”
                                                        from The Lorax
                                                             by Dr. Seuss
                                                      Random House, 1971
                                    accessed on YouTube April 19, 2021
    I like to believe that no one is as mean and as greedy as the Once-ler who only wanted to make more and more Thneeds, a clothing item that nobody really needed. He used up a resource until it was gone, then packed himself up and let his factory go to rack and ruin while the nearby forest, pond, and the very air suffered mightily.
    I like to believe that, but I know it’s not true. There’s plenty of greed fed by over-consumption, thoughtless disregard for natural resources, and careless disposal of trash. Who knew that cigarette butts are the largest source of plastic pollution? According to EARTHDAY.ORG, as of August 28, 2020, 4.5 trillion butts are littering the world. It takes 10 years for the plastic in the filters to completely degrade. The toxic chemicals stay in the ground much longer.
    I’ll stop myself before a rant begins about the deplorable state of the world and the humans who inhabit it. Look around. Lots of good is going on.
    In two days it will be April 22, the day the whole world celebrates Earth Day.
    Gaylord Nelson, a senator from Wisconsin who served from 1962 to 1980, decided to pivot the energy college students displayed in their anti-Viet Nam War protests, civil rights protests, and women’s rights protests to the growing environmental movement. 
    He was concerned about the spewing smokestacks, overflowing garbage dumps, and oil spills. In January, 1969, he witnessed a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California and the destruction that followed. Nelson and a fellow Congressman recruited Denis Hayes, an activist, to lead teach-ins on college campuses. April 22, a date half-way between Spring Break and finals seemed a likely time to reach lots of students. 
    The name Earth Day caught the ear of national media who shared the story far and wide. On April 22, 1970, over 20,000 people attended the first Earth Day celebrations across the US, over 10% of our entire population. Earth Day grew and continues to grow.
    Earth Day went global in 1990. Recycling efforts worldwide got a huge boost and countries began to mobilize for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
    President Bill Clinton awarded Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995, for his role as Earth Day founder.
    Thirty years after the first Earth Day, the millennium year saw citizens around the world sending a clear message to their leaders to take “quick and decisive action on global warming and clean energy.”
    Today EARTHDAY.ORG provides volunteer opportunities and outlets for civil engagement to over one billion people in 193 countries. Earth Day is widely recognized as the largest secular observance in the world.
    According to their website, “The social and cultural environments we saw in 1970 are rising up again today — a fresh and frustrated generation of young people are refusing to settle for platitudes, instead taking to the streets by the millions to demand a new way forward.”
    Digital and social media are bringing people together as never before, “catalyzing generations to join together to take on the greatest challenge that humankind has faced.” 
    This year’s world-wide celebration begins at noon eastern time on April 22, 2021, and can be accessed here: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2021/ 
    Scroll down to find the Global Youth Summit beginning today (April 20, 2021) at 2:30 ET. Continue your scroll to find the rest of the three-day-long activities.
    Further down the page you’ll come to the Five Pillars of Restore Our EarthTM where you’ll find hundreds of ways to be informed and involved. 
    Since 2010, the Canopy Project has planted millions of trees all over the world in communities most at-risk from Climate Change and in communities cleaning up after natural and human-caused disasters.
    During The Great Global Cleanup you can register your group or yourself to clean up a lot or a little and get a pin on the world map. Their slogan is “Sign Up, Show Up, Clean Up.”
    The Global Earth Challenge is a citizen science initiative to explore current issues like plastic pollution, changes in insect populations, and how air quality differs in different locations.
    And EARTHDAY.ORG is not the only organization working hard. Here’s a list (in alphabetical order) of organizations whose missions make our Earth their priority. 
    The Arbor Day Foundation https://www.arborday.org 
    Audubon Society https://www.audubon.org 
    Environmental Defense Fund https://www.edf.org  
    Greenpeace https://www.greenpeace.org/international/ 
    NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) https://www.nrdc.org 
    Sierra Club https://www.sierraclub.org 
    The Wilderness Society https://www.wilderness.org 
    World Wildlife Fund https://www.worldwildlife.org 
A very handy source to find information about your favorite nonprofits and charities is The Charity Navigator. https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3671 Type in the organization’s name and discover their mission, their history, their staff, how much of their donations go to programming, salaries, and how much it costs them to earn each dollar.
    Celebrate our Earth on Thursday (and every day.)
                                -—stay curious (and hug a tree, or two!)
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I Speak For the Trees

4/20/2021

1 Comment

 
And all that the Lorax left here in this mess
was a small pile of rocks with the one word…
“UNLESS”
Whatever that meant, well, I just couldn’t guess.
              .    .    .
“But now,” said the Once-ler,
“Now that you’re here,
the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear.
UNLESS someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It’s not…”
                                                          from The Lorax
                                                              by Dr. Seuss
                                                       Random House, 1971
                                     accessed on YouTube April 19, 2021

    I like to believe that no one is as mean and as greedy as the Once-ler who only wanted to make more and more Thneeds, a clothing item that nobody really needed. He used up a resource until it was gone, then packed himself up and let his factory go to rack and ruin while the nearby forest, pond, and the very air suffered mightily.
    I like to believe that, but I know it’s not true. There’s plenty of greed fed by over-consumption, thoughtless disregard for natural resources, and careless disposal of trash. Who knew that cigarette butts are the largest source of plastic pollution? According to EARTHDAY.ORG, as of August 28, 2020, 4.5 trillion butts are littering the world. It takes 10 years for the plastic in the filters to completely degrade. The toxic chemicals stay in the ground much longer.
    I’ll stop myself before a rant begins about the deplorable state of the world and the humans who inhabit it. Look around. Lots of good is going on.
    In two days it will be April 22, the day the whole world celebrates Earth Day.
    Gaylord Nelson, a senator from Wisconsin who served from 1962 to 1980, decided to pivot the energy college students displayed in their anti-Viet Nam War protests, civil rights protests, and women’s rights protests to the growing environmental movement. 
    He was concerned about the spewing smokestacks, overflowing garbage dumps, and oil spills. In January, 1969, he witnessed a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California and the destruction that followed. Nelson and a fellow Congressman recruited Denis Hayes, an activist, to lead teach-ins on college campuses. April 22, a date half-way between Spring Break and finals seemed a likely time to reach lots of students. 
    The name Earth Day caught the ear of national media who shared the story far and wide. On April 22, 1970, over 20,000 people attended the first Earth Day celebrations across the US, over 10% of our entire population. Earth Day grew and continues to grow.
    Earth Day went global in 1990. Recycling efforts worldwide got a huge boost and countries began to mobilize for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
    President Bill Clinton awarded Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995 for his role as Earth Day founder.
    Thirty years after the first Earth Day, the millennium year saw citizens around the world sending a clear message to their leaders to take “quick and decisive action on global warming and clean energy.”
    Today EARTHDAY.ORG provides volunteer opportunities and outlets for civil engagement to over one billion people in 193 countries. Earth Day is widely recognized as the largest secular observance in the world.
    According to their website, “The social and cultural environments we saw in 1970 are rising up again today — a fresh and frustrated generation of young people are refusing to settle for platitudes, instead taking to the streets by the millions to demand a new way forward.”
    Digital and social media are bringing people together as never before, “catalyzing generations to join together to take on the greatest challenge that humankind has faced.” 
    This year’s world-wide celebration begins at noon eastern time on April 22, 2021, and can be accessed here: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2021/ 
    Scroll down to find the Global Youth Summit beginning today (April 20, 2021) at 2:30 ET. Continue your scroll to find the rest of the three-day-long activities.
    Further down the page you’ll come to the Five Pillars of Restore Our EarthTM where you’ll find hundreds of ways to be informed and involved. 
    Since 2010, the Canopy Project has planted millions of trees all over the world in communities most at-risk from Climate Change and in communities cleaning up after natural and human-caused disasters.
    During The Great Global Cleanup you can register your group or yourself to clean up a lot or a little and get a pin on the world map. Their slogan is “Sign Up, Show Up, Clean Up.”
    The Global Earth Challenge is a citizen science initiative to explore current issues like plastic pollution, changes in insect populations, and how air quality differs in different locations.
    EARTHDAY.ORG is not the only organization working hard. Here’s a list (in alphabetical order) of organizations whose missions make our Earth their priority. 
    The Arbor Day Foundation https://www.arborday.org 
    Audubon Society https://www.audubon.org 
    Environmental Defense Fund https://www.edf.org  
    Greenpeace https://www.greenpeace.org/international/ 
    NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) https://www.nrdc.org 
    Sierra Club https://www.sierraclub.org 
    The Wilderness Society https://www.wilderness.org 
    World Wildlife Fund https://www.worldwildlife.org 
A very handy source to find information about your favorite nonprofits and charities is The Charity Navigator. https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3671 Type in the organization’s name to discover their mission, their history, their staff, how much of their donations go to programming and salaries, and how much it costs them to earn each dollar.
    Celebrate our Earth on Thursday (and every day.)
                             -—stay curious (and hug a tree, or two!)
1 Comment

April 13, 2021

4/13/2021

0 Comments

 
I had a wonderful long weekend with my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters, 
reconnected with friends,
I learned  about ZOOM school,
and met our new grandpuppy, Roger.
Still basking in the afterglow.
See you here next week!
                                                  --stay curious! (and safe)  
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Poetry…What Does it Even Mean?

4/6/2021

0 Comments

 
I copied that BEST 
poem
and hung it on my
bedroom wall 
right over my bed
where I can
see it when I’m
lying 
down.

Maybe you could
copy it too
and hang it
on the wall
in our class
where we can see it
when we are sitting
at our desks 
doing our stuff.


                                                   from Love That Dog
                                             written by Sharon Creech
                                                      HarperCollins, 2001
                                                       (ebook, pub 2014)
    [Poetry: a] literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature. (definition from Google on-line dictionary)
    In April 1996, the Academy of American Poets instituted National Poetry Month to remind us all that poets have an integral role to play in our culture and that poetry matters. In 2021, we are celebrating the Academy’s 25th anniversary of National Poetry Month.
    Since 2008, the Academy of American Poets has called attention to poetry in all 50 states with Poem in Your Pocket Day, this year on Thursday, April 29. If you don’t have a favorite poet, try one of mine. Mary Oliver, Robert Frost, Allison Pitinii Davis.
Here’s how you can participate: 
  • Tweet a poem using the hashtag #PocketPoem 
  • email a poem to your friends and family, local government leaders, and neighbors
  • Add a poem to your email footer 
  • Read a poem out loud from your porch, window, backyard or any outdoor space
  • Copy out a poem and carry it in your pocket

You can sign up for A Poem A Day in lots of places, too.
Poetry Foundation https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/154719/april-1984 
Academy of American Poets https://poets.org/poem-a-day 
Cuyahoga County Public Library https://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/Services/William-N-Skirball-Writers-Center/Poetry/Read-Write-30-Days-of-Poetry.aspx 

Why even do it? 
Sara Letourneau, https://saraletourneauwriter.com/2018/07/25/five-reasons-daily-poem-reading/ has five reasons. Her reasons, my comments.
  1. It’s easy. Most poems are short. They fit into small slots of time.
  2. Morning, bedtime, or anytime in-between, reading poetry shapes your day. A poem provides a “second breakfast,” exercise for your body—take your mind on a walk, or fertile fodder for dreams and problem solving.
  3. Poetry opens our eyes to new ways of seeing the world. Poetry confines itself to a limited scope and a sense of complexity. By combining old images in new ways and providing unusual comparisons, poetry is full of fresh perspectives, gifts to our imaginations.
  4. A poem can change your life, really.
  5. Reading poetry helps focus us on the musicality of our word choices, rhythm of our sentences, and voice we share with the world. Reading poetry makes us better listeners, talkers, and writers.
    Some people feel afraid of poetry.  Maybe they won’t understand it. Maybe they think they’ll miss what the poet meant. Any number of reasons can keep poetry apart from a person. But take the old Life cereal commercial to heart. “Try it, you’ll like it!”
    Sometimes it is a poem’s sound, its visual look on a page, or a stand-out image that gives me a smile, a nod, or an a-ha.
    Here’s a poem I wrote about not being able to write a poem. And I had a deadline. 
                         Stuck, Unstuck
            When a palm, potted and rootbound
            pursues the clouds,
            its fronds clatter applause.

            When a ship, bottled and corked
            dreams of tides,
            its sails luff in song.

            When this poet, soft-brained and pliable 
            explores the past,
            her synapses spit encouragement.

            When a pen, ink-heavy and uncapped
            sits impatiently, full of promise,
            a poem appears.
   
​    I’ll leave you with one of my favorites.
               
               Keep A Poem In Your Pocket 
               Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
        Keep a poem in your pocket 
        And a picture in your head 
        And you'll never feel lonely 
        At night when you're in bed.

        The little poem will sing to you 
        The little picture bring to you
        A dozen dreams to dance to you 
        At night when you're in bed.

        So - Keep a picture in your pocket 
        And a poem in your head
        And you'll never feel lonely
        At night when you're in bed.
                                          stay curious! (and think spring)
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         I'm a children's writer and poet intent on observing the world and nurturing those I find in my small space .

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