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Here’s a theological twist on a classic riddle: Which comes first, the “revolution of the mind” or the “revolution of the heart”? To me, the answer is clearly: Yes and yes.
In his essay on radical libraries and literature, Matthew Vega talks about the former. Building on the apostle Paul’s words in Romans 12 (“be transformed by the renewing of your minds…”), Vega cites poet Gil Scott-Heron, who said in an interview: “You have to change your mind before you change the way you live.” Yes.
In an oft-quoted line, Catholic Worker co-founder Dorothy Day speaks to the latter: “The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us.” For Day, this kind of heart-revolution starts with becoming proximate to all who suffer and engaging in concrete actions of solidarity. Also yes.
The stories below speak to the necessity of both kinds of change — or perhaps, in a binary-rejecting move, they remind us that real transformation is always a both/and, inward/outward, heart/mind kind of process.
1. One Year After the Election, I Won’t Let Nobody Turn Me Around
In November 2020, we demanded bold change; but ever since, Black voters have been told repeatedly that we must wait. By Adam Russell Taylor via sojo.net.
2. Could Robots Save Recycling?
Meet the young innovator who thinks there's an answer for the nearly 300 million tons of waste America produces every year. Produced by Janet Weinstein and JP Keenan, via abcnews.go.com.
3. Libraries Are Tools for Revolution
Libraries can be tools for spreading radical imagination, whether through abolitionist or biblical texts. By Matthew Vega via sojo.net.
4. Is This Braves Country?
The Braves won the World Series but to see the Hammers do it would have been even better. By Ed Southern via bittersoutherner.com.
5. Husband, Dad, Christ Follower Writes Instagram Tribute to Wife
Okay, now how do I tag your mom in this? By Jenna Barnett via sojo.net.
6. The Many Lives of H. Rap Brown
He sits in prison after decades of fighting for Black liberation, forgotten by the nation that never understood him. By Rembert Browne via time.com.
7. Clutching Graveyard Crosses, Hundreds March for Women in Mexico
The “Day of Dead Women” protest was in response to a 130 percent increase in femicides between 2015 and 2020. By Jake Kincaid via sojo.net.
8. Five Young People Stopped Eating To Get Grown-ups To Start Addressing the Climate Crisis
Their two-week hunger strike ended this week, but only after serious health scares. By Theresa Vargas via washingtonpost.com.
9. Mapping the Way to Climate Justice
Cartographer Molly Burhans is leveraging GIS technology to transform the Catholic Church’s land use. By Élan Young via Sojourners.
10. OR-93
The wolf has traveled a thousand miles in two months. A director of a wolf-advocacy group said his arrival here is “something akin to the [first] moonwalk.” By Teddy Macker via The Sun.
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