Howard Zinn

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something.

The late historian, Howard Zinn

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  1. Being hopeful in the very worst of times is reaching for our fullest potential as humans.

    A friend recently told me that when he was a child, all they had to eat for 3-4 months a year was the fruit of prickly pear cactus – prickly pear fruit – for every meal. In his part of Ethiopia, now largely populated by women and children as a result of war, they still eat prickly pear fruit if the food aid does not arrive. The government wants them moved; they have lived there for 700 years. These Ethiopian women are linked through prickly pear to at-risk women in Tucson, Arizona who cook the cactus pads for their kids meals. They are also linked to the rich woman in Tucson who uses $8 bottles of prickly pear syrup in her margarita.

    Prickly Pear Cafe is a social enterprise concept tying these women to each other – through a restaurant,cafe which will support job/financial literacy/life training for women in Tucson and, a food/income security project focused on prickly pear production in Ethiopia.

    We are hopeful. we have a fiscal agent. But, we need resources. Any thoughts, connects would help!

  2. It is amazing how much more courage it takes for the human race to be compassionate as opposed to cruel.

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