A Gift

The debate over global warming and man’s influence on climate change masks a truth that all of us no matter what nationality, race, religion, or political persuasion must acknowledge -- we have done damage to our planet. We have polluted our skies, rivers, lakes and oceans, made the earth a landfill for our endless garbage, and in our careless disregard for the ecosystem of which we are a part, degraded the biodiversity of the environment in which live.

Throughout human history man has battled nature to survive and thrive on this earth. Modern man ultimately learned to harness the forces of nature and put them to work in the service of mankind. But all along, man’s ability to gain dominion over nature exceeded his understanding of his place in the natural world. Unless mankind learns to live in greater harmony with nature there will inevitably come a time when the world can no longer meet man’s physical needs, let alone those essential spiritual needs met by the natural beauty – the shear majesty -- of our remarkable planet..

So let us step back from the debate on climate change for a moment and consider what gift we can give our children and children’s children, and all who come after us – a world unspoiled. Let us seek common ground on promoting sustainable approaches to the use of renewable natural resources; supporting more efficient generation of energy; reducing pollution; and protecting wilderness areas and wild populations in order to build a future in which human needs are met in harmony with nature. Such a gift – of majestic mountains, shining seas, clear skies, and abundant wildlife – is imbued with what is surely our most precious gift – love.

I am black

For the first time in the history of this nation, we have a man of African American descent as the nominee of a major American political party for the highest office in the land.∗ We have a black as the Democratic candidate for president. Or do we?

My paternal grandparents emigrated from small villages in southwestern Sicily in the province of Palermo around the turn of the 19th Century. My wife and I visited the region in 1992. I brought along the usual tourist guides, but also a book on the history of Sicily and the ethnicity and culture of its people.

We stayed in a little coastal town called Marinella on the southwestern coast of Sicily. Just down the road from our hotel were the ruins of Selinunte, a major city-state founded by the Greeks sometime between 651 and 628 BC. We walked to the site and made our way along a broad expanse leading to the gigantic ruins of the Acropolis of Selinunte. All along the way we were surrounded by huge columns lying scattered about like a child’s building blocks.

In its time, Selinunte had rivaled Athens in its splendor, but like Sicily itself, was subject to the predations of Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, French, Germans, and Spanish, among others. Often the occupier de jour imported black slaves from Africa. The result today of this ethnic turnstile is a hardy race of… Of what?

I have over the course of many, many years filled out innumerable forms listing my race as “white.” Given what I discovered on my travels to and readings about the “old country,” perhaps I could just as easily have written black or African-American. Who knows -- my grandparents may well have had the blood of black slaves running through their veins. I’d have to admit, I’m not very black. My olive complexion, American-Italian socialization, and lack of jumping ability would belie any claim to the contrary. More importantly, I have not lived the black experience in American society.

Still, it’s an interesting thought, isn’t it? Especially when one considers that DNA studies from the National Geographic Genographic Project, suggest that all humans descended from a single African ancestor who lived some 60,000 years ago.

So perhaps Barack Obama, with a black Kenyan father and a white Kansas-born mother, is not our first major African-American presidential candidate. Perhaps others have “passed” and preceded him. More to the point, should it matter? It doesn’t to me. I am black.

*There have been black candidates for president: Shirley Chisholm, Senator Carol Moseley Braun, Lenora Fulani, Jesse Jackson, Alan Keyes, and Al Sharpton.

Reflection

Socially Responsible Investing

After the Exxon Valdez

Socially responsible investing (SRI) in the United States is now growing at a much faster pace than the broader universe of all investment assets under professional management (Report on Socially Responsible Investing Trends in the United States, SIF). From 2005 to 2007, SRI assets increased more than 18 percent, while all investment assets under management edged up by less than 3 percent.

SRI is a broad-based approach to investing that now encompasses an estimated $2.3 trillion out of $24 trillion in the U.S. investment marketplace. SRI recognizes that corporate responsibility and societal concerns are valid parts of investment decisions. You may also hear SRI-like approaches to investing referred to as mission investing, responsible investing, double or triple bottom line investing, ethical investing, sustainable investing, or green investing.

For more information, go to the Social Investment Forum

Signs of Spring

It snowed, then hailed, an hour after I took this picture of tulips basking in the sun. Ah spring.

Milky Way Black Hole

In the middle of our own Milky Way Galaxy, lies a black hole. Two hundred billion stars revolve around it, drawn by its inexorable power -- a power driven by a mass four million times that of the sun. No one has ever seen a black hole, for no light can escape their boundless depths, but they do emit X-rays. The photo above shows X-rays made visible in an image of the Milky Way’s black hole, with matter swirling towards it. Have you ever wondered what's on the other side of a black hole?

%%%%%

For more on the story, see the April 2008 issue of Smithsonian

Condor

We watched this giant bird

soar so far above us

Surely its wings

would shade us from the sun

and beating the air

would cause the birch to sway and bend

the leaves to flow along the dry river bed

and soaring into the heavens

would bring us rain

So great a creature

we made it a god

%%%%%

The California condor is an impressive and ugly bird -- with a bald, leathery head, red eyes and a big, razor-sharp beak. It's the largest living thing flying over North America -- with a nearly 10-foot wingspan. Listen to a special report and read about it on NPR.