Saturday, January 12, 2019

Overcoming Ageism’s Divisive & Harmful Consequences

Bioneers Pulse – updates from the Bioneers Community
Greetings fellow Bioneers! 
In American culture, age plays a large part not only in how we are perceived by those around us, but also in how we value ourselves. The oldest and youngest among us feel the effects of ageism most—dismissed for being “out of touch” or lacking necessary experience. These assumptions, however, are false and harmful. At any age, we have the right to feel valued and have our ideas, efforts, and contributions valued by others. In this week’s newsletter, we hear from Bioneers of all ages—including youth activist Edna Chavez, writer and activist Ashton Applewhite, and climate activist and 350.org Executive Director May Boeve—who lead the way in championing intergenerational camaraderie within causes that affect us all.
P.S. Starting this week, the Bioneers Pulse will be delivered on a bi-weekly basis. We look forward to an exciting year of conversations with you!

The Big Question: Ageism In the Workplace

Age discrimination is illegal according to U.S. law, but that doesn’t mean it’s not commonplace. In 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 20,857 formal complaints of age discrimination. How are older workers most often affected by workplace age discrimination? (Read to the bottom of this email for the answer.)

Wise Words

“The climate crisis is front and center in the mess we are living through right now. The climate movement is a vital part of the resistance when we can see how it connects to everything else. We are in an epic battle to see if we can avoid what we’re on track for, a planet we don’t recognize, a democracy in name only, and a set of relationships among each other and the creatures we share this planet with that are degenerative. It is an epic battle to create a just transition to 100% renewable energy.”
—May Boeve, climate activist and executive director of 350.org, from her Bioneers 2018 keynote address. Read more of her speech here.

Video to Watch: We Are All Aging, So Let’s End Ageism

What’s a surefire way to make activism more effective? Make it intergenerational. What’s the biggest obstacle? An ageist culture that pits old against young and bombards us with messages that wrinkles are tragic and old people useless. Aging is not a problem to be “fixed” or a disease to be “cured.” It’s a natural lifelong process that unites us all, and a world that’s better to grow old in is better for everyone. Debunking myth after myth about late life, author and activist Ashton Applewhite passionately urges us to come together at all ages – and dismantle ageism in the process.

This Week on Bioneers Radio & Podcast

Youth movements are rising to restore people and planet. De’Anthony Jones, a former President of the Environmental Students Organization at Sacramento State, Chloe Maxmin, co-founder of Divest Harvard, and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, hip-hop artist and Youth Director of Earth Guardians, say there’s no better time to be born than now because this generation gets to rewrite history. It could be known as the generation that brought forth a healthy, just, sustainable world for every generation to come.
Subscribe to the Bioneers podcast now: iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube

Help Bioneers Continue This Important Work

Exciting news! An anonymous donor has offered to match all donations to Bioneers, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000! We're 75% there! Support Bioneers now with Venmo or Paypal by giving to donate@bioneers.org or click the button below:
Help Us Meet Our Match!

Person to Know: Edna Chavez

In her passionate Bioneers 2018 keynote address, youth activist and gun control advocate Edna Chavez shares how the pain in her life and the life of her peers have served as motivation. She calls on the older generations and those in office to create room for youth leaders to help move us toward a better tomorrow. Below is an excerpt from her keynote address:
And it was then, after the election, that my whole world shattered — just like many of my peers — from policies that impacted us, policies that impacted our family, policies that impacted my father, leading to him having to leave us due to his legal status, not by choice, but because of how the system works.
I was 16 years old when I lost my father to immigration. Years before that, I always asked my mother, “Why isn’t Daddy here?” But because of him, I started creating Know Your Rights workshops, making sure that no family member has to leave their family ever again due to their legal status, because we are human. We are family. We are power. We are strength.
I have lived in South LA my entire life, and have lost many loved ones, whether it’s because of their legal status or to gun violence. I have fled from gun violence. When I spoke at the anti-gun rally March for Our Lives in Washington, DC, I was nervous, but also I knew I stood with students and survivors of gun violence from Parkland, Chicago, Detroit, South LA, and all around the country. We shared our stories to make change because we realized enough is enough. Read more here.

Don’t Miss: Winter of Wellness

It can be difficult to know where to turn for trusted wellness resources—particularly when searching for practitioners who are experts in their fields and are able to support you in achieving your individual wellness goals by addressing your unique needs. To learn how to take your health into your own hands, join Winter of Wellness, a FREE online event taking place from January 14-18. This unparalleled health, healing, and wellness series will feature talks from today’s top health experts. Bioneers co-founder Nina Simons will be one of more than a dozen featured speakers offering innovative solutions to your most pressing health concerns, from diet to mental clarity and focus. Interested in joining? Click here to RSVP now.

What We’re Tracking:

  • Bioneer Paul Stamets outlines the potentially huge benefits of antiviral properties in common wood conk mushrooms when it comes to treating viruses in bee colonies. (Paul Stamets via The New York Times) Stamets’ first presented this idea at Bioneers.
  • Ohio’s Olney Friends School requires all students who pass through its halls to learn how to farm, harvest crops, and preserve food. (Mary Ann Lieser via Yes!)
  • In this excerpt from her new book, Nature, Culture and the Sacred, Bioneers co-founder Nina Simons discusses the importance of cultivating ourselves as leaders and how she hopes she can inspire others to join her in working toward a better tomorrow. (via Bioneers)

The Big Question, Answered: Ageism In the Workplace

According to a survey conducted by AARP, for older workers, age discrimination typically means not getting hired at all. This was followed by being passed over for a promotion and being laid off. It’s currently legal for prospective employers to ask both your age and graduation date during an interview. Though a 2009 Supreme Court made it more difficult for those affected by ageism in professional settings to take action, the survey also found that most Americans over 50 would like to see Congress pass stronger legislation to prevent workplace age discrimination.
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Some Tweets from Sarah Abdallah


  •  5 hours ago
    Happy that Rahaf Mohammed made it safe to Canada. Let us not forget about Saudi female human rights activist Israa Al-Ghomgham, who, Saudi Arabia has kept in a dungeon for 37 months, and is calling for her to be beheaded merely because she participated in a peaceful protest.
    18 replies219 retweets461 likes
     
     
  •  6 hours ago
    What is disturbing is how we’re asked to believe, over and over again, the same deceptive mainstream media that paved the way for the catastrophic wars in Iraq and Libya, and told us Al-Qaeda jihadists were “moderate rebels” in Syria, without any questioning.
     
     
    Tulsi Gabbard’s disturbing and singular denialism of Assad’s role in the brutal butchering of his own people, obliging a meeting with him and spreading his propaganda should be disqualifying.
    12 replies183 retweets392 likes
     
     
  •   Retweeted
     11 hours ago
    Nobody is perfect but Tulsi Gabbard is more perfect than almost any Democrat I know and her candidacy will put a badly needed focus on the catastrophic US foreign policy driven by both Parties. I’m not going to blindly support ANY candidate but Tulsi definitely deserves a chance.
    BREAKING: Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard says she will run for president in 2020
    265 replies610 retweets2,312 likes
     
     
    Show this thread
  •   Retweeted
     Jan 11
    When we stand together, united by our love for each other and for our country, there is no challenge we cannot overcome. Will you join me?
    2,019 replies2,790 retweets8,777 likes
     
     
  •  24 hours ago
    Welcoming news! Tulsi Gabbard has been a powerful critic of US regime change wars, especially in Syria, and a consistent voice against the arming of Al-Qaeda terrorists and Saudi Arabia’s genocidal war in Yemen.
    BREAKING: Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard says she will run for president in 2020
    143 replies700 retweets2,100 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 11
    Breaking: Israel violates Lebanese and Syrian sovereignty, yet again, and launches missile attacks on Syria’s capital of Damascus. Looks like someone isn’t happy with the US withdrawal and is clearly aiming to prolong the war.
    83 replies928 retweets1,153 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 11
    Adam Schiff, a man who championed the Iraq war lies, supported Obama’s destruction of Libya, wanted a no-fly zone over Syria and is funded by numerous defense contractors, is siding with Bolton on opposing the US withdrawal from Syrian soil? Simply cannot contain my shock. 🙄
    Troop withdrawal from Syria has already begun, over the objection of our military and despite John Bolton’s statements last week. The Trump Administration's foreign policy is as deeply flawed in its…
    57 replies489 retweets905 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 11
    Good news for Syrians, Americans, and the world: Despite the neocons’ most strident efforts, both inside the administration & across the mainstream media, the US withdrawal from Syria has begun. A real step towards peace after 8 years of terrorism & war.
    45 replies458 retweets966 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 10
    Not a joke. Pompeo says America is a good & liberating force for the Middle East. The same America that invaded Iraq on a lie, armed terrorists wreaking havoc in Syria & is backing Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen—killing & displacing millions in the process.
    97 replies588 retweets1,039 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 10
    Tulsi Gabbard: “Congress must end its support for Saudi Arabia’s genocidal war in Yemen, exercise our constitutional authority over matters of war and stop putting profits of the military-industrial complex before the lives of the American people and people around the world.”
    77 replies925 retweets1,902 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 10
    So glad that women are going to be the ones signing off on the drone-bombing of villages and the arming of terrorists now. A truly triumphant moment for feminists everywhere. 🙄
    1:05
    The CIA's highest level positions are now all held by women — another stride towards progress 💪
    104 replies968 retweets2,133 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 9
    Macron wants to crack down on ordinary French citizens protesting against the ruling Paris elites, claiming it’s to “reduce the violence”. But he’s fine with supporting head-chopping jihadists causing death and destruction across Syria. Let that sink in.
    71 replies714 retweets1,131 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 9
    Says the woman who’s helped destabilize no less than half a dozen countries, turning millions of women and children into refugees. Save us the false empathy.
    Want to fight back against Trump's ridiculous address tonight? Send some support to organizations that help kids at the border.…
    87 replies1,247 retweets2,941 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 9
    You know the foreign policy establishment in Washington is totally broken when it isn’t the neocons, like John Bolton, who brought us the catastrophic Iraq and Libya wars, that are feared... But non-interventionists like Rand Paul.
    23 replies129 retweets293 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 8
    When your national security advisor actively attempts to thwart the efforts you’re making to de-escalate a conflict, implement peace and bring troops back home where they belong, it’s time to send him packing.
    106 replies500 retweets977 likes
     
     
  •   Retweeted
     Jan 7
    This will upset the DC elite. They are explicit in their desires for endless wars. They pose more danger-to the world-than Trump.
    Endless Wars, especially those which are fought out of judgement mistakes that were made many years ago, & those where we are getting little financial or military help from the rich countries that so greatly benefit from what we are doing, will eventually come to a glorious end!
    4 replies45 retweets130 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 8
    Anyone else disturbed that John Bolton is openly and brazenly undermining a sitting president and preventing troops from departing land they’re illegally occupying, all so he and his neocon friends can keep the machine of endless war running? 🤔
    236 replies1,067 retweets1,932 likes
     
     
  •   Retweeted
     Jan 6
    U.S. military involvement will be never ending unless stops listening to pro-war radicals like Bolton. He will create an inexhaustible list of conditions for withdrawal. Meanwhile, a necessary condition for going to war was never met: congressional approval.
    BREAKING: President Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, says the U.S. military withdrawal from Syria conditioned on defeating the remnants of the Islamic State group, and Turkey assuring the safety of Kurdish fighters allied with the U.S.
    121 replies690 retweets2,023 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 7
    That must be why you’ve pursued warmongering policies that have destroyed the lives of millions of women and their families in Iraq, Honduras, Haiti, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Ukraine and beyond.
    0:39
    Hillary Clinton: "I fiercely believe, as I said more than two decades ago, that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights."
    46 replies612 retweets1,196 likes
     
     
  •   Retweeted
     Jan 7
    Yosemite Sam invokes the spectre of yet another false flag.
    Yeah. With nearly all of Syria liberated from terrorists and US troops illegally present on Syrian soil finally preparing to leave, Assad’s just going to launch a chemical attack and trigger a NATO response.…
    1 reply76 retweets154 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 7
    Yeah. With nearly all of Syria liberated from terrorists and US troops illegally present on Syrian soil finally preparing to leave, Assad’s just going to launch a chemical attack and trigger a NATO response. This only makes sense in the minds of endless-war-fanatics like Bolton.
    Bolton warns Syria against use of chemical weapons
    146 replies1,144 retweets2,154 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 6
    Horrifying. Saudi female Rahaf Mohammed, who’s being held at Bangkok airport, is facing deportation back to Saudi Arabia where she may be killed because she fled her abusive family. Why is this regime still sitting on the UN Women’s Rights Commission?
    142 replies1,502 retweets2,261 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 6
    Not to be found on Western media today: Merry Christmas from the Armenian community in Syria’s liberated Aleppo, celebrating its third Orthodox Christmas in a row free of Al-Qaeda and ISIS jihadists.
     
    28 replies431 retweets962 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 6
    That awkward moment when you think you have the moral-superiority to lecture Syria on how to govern its affairs - AS IT FIGHTS TERRORISM - while your own approval rating sinks to 25% & tens of thousands of your own people call for you to go.
    38 replies390 retweets780 likes
     
     
  •  Jan 6
    Nothing says “female empowerment” like running an agency with a history of interfering in sovereign nations’ internal affairs, staging coups and overthrowing governments worldwide, arming terrorists and executing drone strikes. Yay women. 🙄
    All three CIA directorates will now be headed by women
    45 replies514 retweets1,022 likes
     
     
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