What do you call a person who has completed a prison sentence? A felon? An ex-felon? An ex-convict? A neighbor?  How about a returning citizen? At least 95% of those incarcerated in state prisons will return to the community at some point (csgjusticecenter.org/nrrc/facts-and-trends/). We will all benefit from finding a healthy way to reintegrate these individuals into the community and rebuild lives.

An orderly society requires that there be consequences for unlawful actions. There are many issues of (un)fairness in the US criminal justice system. I am considering what happens when persons convicted of a crime complete their time in prison and return to the community.

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples to build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” ― Robert F. Kennedy

It is election season. Active Leaguers are registering voters, staffing candidate forums, talking to friends and neighbors about the value of informed voting, learning about the issues that affect their lives, thinking about how they would like to see them addressed, and seeing where candidates stand on those issues.

The challenges that face our world can seem overwhelming. The momentum built into our political system makes course changes grindingly difficult. It is easy to feel powerless. But while I don’t think that I will be the butterfly who changes history, I still believe that what individuals do for their communities does matter.

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable...Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

Where do you look for insight into tough topics? If one is lucky, every now and then you come across a writer who states things clearly and directly, someone who cuts to the heart of a matter, laying bare human truths. Trevor Noah does that in his memoir of his childhood in South Africa, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood.

What DO we tell our children when the inexplicable happens or tragedy strikes? It has been two years since the shocking, pointless shooting death of Philando Castile put Falcon Heights on the undesirable list of sites of recent police shootings of black men and boys, and that question still lingers in the air. Is the policeman a friend? Or is the policeman yet another danger in an unsafe world? Is there justice after tragedy? What is just? Who defines justice?  Can meaning be found in the senseless? How can anger and pain be channeled so that it does not devour the sufferer?

Or: Reading Across the Generations

Millennials aren’t only more “wired” than many of their elders, they also often read different types of works. One popular option is books combining creative illustrations with smaller amounts of text: graphic novels. This is a different way to look at literature, ideas, and the world. Exploring these books can connect generations. Recently I have begun to dip my toes into the unfamiliar waters of these image-based books written for adults, with help from younger friends and relatives, and I have been intrigued by many of the offerings.

April is National Poetry Month. People often associate poetry with ambiguity, obscurity, and torturous English papers analyzing symbolism. It’s time to look at poetry again. The world is awash in poetry today and some of the poems are quite remarkable. They can helpus to build bridges.

Sample a variety of poets from different communities at the library or on the internet. Ask friends for recommendations and if...no, when you find a poet with whom you connect, keep reading. No one will connect with all poems, but a good poet can find amazing ways to reveal the heart of an issue.

The most disabling thing in our lives is the thing we can do the most about: our attitude. - Jeff Smith, aka Amazing Jeffo, blind magician

You may have seen the athletic wear t-shirts exhorting the wearer to get “attitude” so as to be a winner. We always have an attitude. It can be good or bad, positive or negative, kind or cruel, but we always have an attitude.

Everyone faces challenges. Some are physical and more obvious than others, but as advice columnist, Amy Dickinson, has noted, “Life does not evenly distribute its hardships and joys, and so you should stop keeping score.” We all have challenges and can hopefully seek support and guidance in working through them and respect the choices others make in dealing with theirs.

While picking up a book after an LWVRA program at the Roseville branch of the Ramsey County Library, I spent a few minutes reading the two part messages posted on several tall wire frame display racks. Perhaps you saw this display, too. The messages were both touching and demoralizing.

How do you feel about laundry? It may seem a bit silly, but I can’t do laundry without feeling lucky. The many historical novels I read in my youth made a great impression on me. I feel grateful that I do not have to haul water, heat water, make soap, scrub on a washboard, or even feed things through a wringer as I sometimes did as a child before hanging things on the line. No, I just toss things in the washing machine with magic cleaning agents and then toss most of them into the drier. Hardly anything even needs to be ironed! And when new socks are cheap, who mends much?

Everybody has a story, a story with many branches. Sometimes another person’s storyline parallels our own closely enough that we can easily relate to the twists and turns, detours and redirections that it follows. Other times a life wanders into unfamiliar territory and it is so easy to judge or misinterpret.