Art Print Issues

Poverty 2008 - Blog Action Day - One Person Can Make a Difference

The timing for this annual event is either the best or worst of times depending on your perspective. I think it comes at the best of times to remind those of us who have the means and time to read blogs how fortunate we are. Many, in not all of us, are rightfully concerned about the financial gyrations val rocking the globe with ghastly news and predictions a meltdown not seen in the lives of any of us under the age of 80 or so.

Perhaps not such good timing to ask people to dig into their dwindling assets and help others, I realize this and that is why I chose to republish the list below. One Person Can Make a Difference.

"There is no limit on the amount of good one turned on person can do." - Stepen Covey

Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

One Issue, Thousands of Voices

Global issues like poverty are extremely complex. There is no simple, clear answer. By asking thousands of different people to give their viewpoints and opinions, Blog Action Day creates an extraordinary lens through which to view these issues. Each blogger brings their own perspective and ideas. Each blogger posts relating to their own blog topic. And each blogger engages their audience differently

And use it. It’s called Blog ACTION Day for a reason.

Thank you to all who contributed ideas.

Thank you to our huge list of over 80 supporting organisations (here, here and here).

May Blog Action Day 2008 be absolutely unforgettable.

Got poverty relief idea to add to this list? Know how we could improve and/or spread this list? Leave your ideas in a comment below or email us at central@blogactionday.org.

88 Ways to Take Action Against Poverty Right Now

1. Eat meatless meals 2x a week. Donate that grocery money to a local food bank. - TarotByArwen
2. Be homeless for a day/night. - Lex
3. Stop putting off adopting a child through an organization like Compassion International (or adopt another one). - Lex
4. Make a loan on Kiva, or buy a couple gift certificates and give them away to friends. - Lex
5. Get a group together to go door-to-door collecting canned foods for your local soup kitchen/shelter. - Lex
6. Take a homeless person to dinner and actually sit/talk with him. - Lex
7. Stop being lazy. Find a way to do your job better so that you can save an hour a day, or be that much more productive. - Alex Shalman
8. Stop buying junk to make yourself look pretty and donate it to homeless people and hungry people. - Craigsnede
9. Make flyers to stick in the local library. - Craigsnede
10. If you have a musical instrument you no longer use, donate to the still-struggling musicians and students in New Orleans, who are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. A few great organizations that will accepts musical instruments are Tipitina’s Foundation (www.tipitinasfoundation.org) and The New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund (www.nomrf.org/donations.html).
11. I’m interviewing a Capuchin monk vowed to Poverty about his work with Detroit’s poor for my blog, and I’m trying to arrange a fund raiser with my author and PIVTR radio station friends.
12. Find a gripping picture or video having to do with poverty and publish it on the Web.
13. Stop drinking Coke and bottled water for a day and save on plastic. Will save a lot of plastic if each of us does it for only one day.
14. Share your skill or knowledge, so they can improve their knowledge to increase their life/prosperity.
15. Visit an orphanage.
16. Stop being lazy.
17. Give comfort to the poor.
18. Donate.
19. Check your closet and make sure that anything you have not used last winter is taken to a charitable organization. Ask your friends and neighbors and volunteer to pick up the clothes, launder them and deliver them to those organizations. They will do no good in your closet and a world of good to someone in need.
20. On one day only eat food that you have asked someone for directly or for the money you need to buy it. Pay attention to the feelings.
21. Have a “sponsor me” day. Donate money to a poverty relief cause for everyone who leaves a comment on your blog that day.
22. Designers for Blog Action Day group on Flickr. Submit your designs: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bad2008design/
23. Organize a Hunger 101 Program for a local youth group. Our Girl Scout community learned about what they could do to help the working poor in our community. http://spedr.com/da5f This inspired them to organize several Take Action events: http://spedr.com/krfw
24. Add the “Women Rock” badge to your website or Facebook page.
25. if any of us knew or aware about any organisation which can help educate them, like, skills centre, entrepeneurship centre..u know, stuffs they do to help these pople actually do something to improve their life, we might try to collect name carsd from these organisations (NGOs or ministries), and walk around and passed these cards to them, with of couse, maybe some donations of any supplies.
26. Skip a weekly trip to the grocery store and donate the money saved to a food bank. I do this once a year for my family of 5. For that week we only eat what is left in the pantry or fridge. By the end of the week, pickings are slim and we get a sense of what it feels like to not have the luxury of tasty, well balanced meals every night.
27. Make a personal fundraising page in 5 minutes on Firstgiving.com. Raise money securely online for any US-based nonprofit committed to ending poverty in the US or around the world. Here’s an example page: http://www.firstgiving.com/bapbwm.
28. Have dinner on the floor and make it a very small meal (like chicken broth, watered down milk, and maybe a small piece of bread?) Talk about the blessings you have and that the meal represents those who don’t get to eat “big” on a daily basis.
29. Volunteer at a soup kitchen!
30. Play freerice.com!
31. If you have take out coffee, skip it for an entire week, donate the savings!
32. Give 5 bucks to a homeless person who looks hungry!
33. Talk with your children about poverty and who it affects.
34. Save your old stuff and sold it for charity
35. Support charity organization in your country. Reducing poverty may start in your nearest region.
36. Do something to touch 3 people or to reach out to 3 people and get them to pay it forward.
37. Give a gallon of water to each of 3 people who need it?
38. Give a $10 gift certificate to each of 3 homeless, single mothers so that she and her children can have one hot meal at a fast food restaurant?
39. Ask 3 entrepreneurs to each make a donation to 3 people or causes?
40. Holding perhaps daily or weekly community classes for imparting knowledge from our side and educating the local masses is something we all can do by coming together at grass root level.
41. Avoiding overconsumption.
42. Contributing to relief funds which can assist this cause.
43. Host a 1 day famine and collect donations. With the donations, pass it to a Welfare/Poverty Organisation.
44. Plan a pot luck/BBQ or a get together inviting close friends and neighbours, to bring awareness and also to raise funds for a shelter home. Funds can be used to purchase the necessary groceries for the home.
45. Pray for the comfort and safety of the world’s poor. Pray for the strength, wisdom and courage to help each of them find prosperity.
46. Combat corruption!
47. Don’t just talk to your kids about poverty - get them involved by having them go through their toys and clothes to find concrete things to pass along. The next time they want you to buy something for them - talk about what that money could buy for someone who had no food… then follow through and donate the money you didn’t spend.
48. Donate your time and expertise to teach a class to those trying to find a new way to earn a living.
49. To add to the previous suggestions, rather than just donate money to homeless people, why not use the money you would use on yourself for a coffee to buy one for someone else. If you get coupons for free beverages or meals, keep them with you and give them to someone in need.
50. As you find organizations to which you like to donate food, clothing, etc., spend some time volunteering for that organization. Contribute to the organizations you are already supporting in other ways.
51. Educate others. If you are a teacher, talk to your students about poverty. Get their opinions. Inspire them. If you work in other areas, strike up a conversation with your colleagues in the lunchroom or lounge. Get educated so you can answer questions and provide information that might spur others into action.
52. Visit The Hunger Site every day and click the link to feed the hungry. It’s fast and it’s free and there’s absolutely NO excuse not to do it every day you’re online!
53. Be compassionate.
54. Invite friends to watch documentaries how poverty destroyed ones life,family and their future.
55. Do not waste water on that day.
56. Express your love and compassion for one street child by having an enrollment conversation with her.
57. Ask your child to share her food with the child of your maid on that day.
58. Make a list of five items you haven’t used for long and have no plans to use them in future either. And distribute them among local poors with all humility.
59. Compose a poem on the theme ‘Making Poverty A History’ and get it published in a local magazine or paper. Also, ask your baby to recite the poem in her school.
60. Talk to your five relatives about the poverty issue and invite them to come up with their suggestions to eradicate poverty.
61. Organize a drawing competition for kids on the poverty theme and exhibit their works in a local school or community centre.
62. Do not overeat on that day.
63. Save electricity on that day and contribute the equivalent savings to a local charity.
64. Contribute your one day salary to a child rehabilitation centre.
65. Get a few friends, gather all your unused items, sell it and buy something a meal for the poor in your neighborhood.
66. Si tan solo los gobiernos hicieran mucho mas por este flagelo, la pobreza se reduciría en un 70% por no decir 100%. Observo como a algunos gobiernos que han prometido en sus campañas electorales que acabarían con este mal, luego de llegar al poder y por motivo del oro negro les entran grandes cantidades de dinero, ¿y que es lo que han hecho con el, en vez de ayudar al pais? Financiar con ese dinero (que se supone es del pueblo), proyectos políticos solo para sus intereses personales… da tanta tristeza ver cuanta gente tirada por la calle, sin tener que comer, o donde dormir, mientras estos señores se gastan el dinero de tantos ciudadanos, comprando poder para satisfacer su ego.
67. Travel to a poor country or area. Look for ways to make a difference on the ground there.
68. On your next off day from work, go to a homeless shealter and help serve food to those who are there, talk with them, listen to their stories, you will find that they were at one time, alot like yourself.
69. Let’s learn to love and respect one another, and to give to those who have less.
70. Pictures. It’s one thing to say that the milk my son spilled at lunch this afternoon was more than some kids get. But some people don’t see how real that is unless they’re looking at a picture.So, I’m looking for them.
71. Talk about poverty.
72. To most Americans, it’s not real unless we see it. I’m going to be revamping my blog so that poverty is prominent, and I’m talking about it more often.
73. Don’t stop at the generalities. War, famine, corruption, etc. all happen, and should be resisted. However, let’s dig deeper and go into the specifics. Not just talking about thousands of people dying of thirst … let’s talk about a real person.
74. Pull out the hearts of the readers, and make them confront what they know is right and wrong.
75. Instead of video games and other toys, give your neighbors and friends gift certificates for classical music lessons. For every $1 spent on music education, by my calculations, you get a $4.57 return on your investment from age 4-22 and that investment can never be taken away from you. Throughout one’s lifetime it pays much, much more. Take the money you save and give it in music lessons to the next person.
76. Go to your school board meetings and demand better music education. The arts are part of the core curriculum of “No Child Left Behind” and as I’ve been telling people for a few months now, the less we have to pay for health care and crime, the more we have to spend on food and shelter and doing good for our neighbors.
77. The more intelligent we are and the more productive we are, the more fruitfully we can spend our time, and the more we can produce to give away.
78. The reason why poverty still exist in Indonesia is because people is giving cash money to the poor at the streets and those money usually being used for things that usually destructive/not good (buying drugs, etc.) In order to stop poverty, the government already got their program to fight it but it didn’t go successfully for people still think that they are better off at the streets and there’s this what-so-called ‘mafia’ that organize these poor people at the streets.
79. In order to fight this, the people started to give food/meal/clothes to the poor instead of cash money so it would stop the process.
80. I think in order to stop poverty is to give what the people really need, not just giving it away for the sake of ‘being kind’
81. Fund educational programs for women.
82. Ensure that women have legal protections.
83. Educate people about the plight of women around the world.
84. Educate yourself on one aspect of poverty that affects women, whether it’s educating yourself on what’s going on with rape or abortion legislation in your own local area, or finding out what you can do to help women in other countries attain the basic human rights they deserve, by doing research on organisations that help women and contributing to those organisations in some way.
85. Do a campaign of creative advertisements for public awareness and a call to action. Do a poster, do an ambient campaign, write a radio or TV spot.
86. Breadline Africa is launching a Blogger Bake Off to help raise awareness and funds. If you want to do something on Blog Action Day, you should turn your talking (which is very worthwhile) into action: donate to a charity. Organisations that use funds directly in poor communities will be using your money where it can do the most good: at the grass roots level.
87. Educate yourself.
88. Prepare a space in your home for the poor to stay as needed.

Well, what are you waiting for? Pick something from this list. Go NOW. Do it.

Do it.

And the world will be richer in mind and body.

photos by uncultured, babasteve, Aaron Dieppa

Wyland Stands Up for Artist's Rights and the Environment

Marine environmental artist, Wyland, is no stranger to taking on powerful interests. He also is one the canniest and most successful visual artists to ever pick up a brush. In his decades long quest to paint 100 whaling walls around the globe, he has battled with General Motors over covering his 108 foot mural in Detroit. When the Aquarium of the Pacific opened in Long Beach, it attempted to have his 116,000 square foot whaling wall that covers the nearby Long Beach Sports Arena removed. Officials there initially thought too many people would be confused and think it was the aquarium.

Wyland's latest battle is with the California Coastal Commission. For more than a decade on a handshake agreement, the commission has used one of his most popular and enduring images, "Tails of Great Whales", on California vehicle license plates. Vehicle owners pay a premium to use one of 11 different specialty plates like Wyland's, which is one of the most popular. The extra income is distributed to groups for such things as beach cleanups, environmental education and wheelchairs able to move in the sand.

Earlier this year, Wyland requested a percentage of the profits from sales go to fund his nonprofit ocean conservation foundation. The Coastal Commission rejected the idea and the result is a flurry of news stories in California media regarding the brouhaha. Wyland was quoted in a recent LATimes.com news story:

"At the end of the day, the whale tail is my art and my idea, and I own the rights to my intellectual property," Wyland said in an interview Tuesday from his Laguna Beach studio. "I won't be stepped on: I'm sticking up for artists' rights, for the common person. I'm sticking up for the oceans and the coast big-time. We're not going away."

This issue is likely to be where most will take sides. It's unfortunate to see this happen as up to this point it appears to have been something very good for both Wyland and the California Coastal Commission. Wyland's success as an artist, environmentalist and entrepreneur are admirable, enviable and well deserved. He is mentioned in my book as an artist whose business and marketing is one any artist seeking to establish a global presence as an artist can emulate. His success is easier to observe and recognize than to duplicate, but it nevertheless is worthy of studying for those with great ambition.

I, for one, hope a compromise can be reached. The relationship has been profitable for all involved to this point. It would be sad to see it dissolved when a mutual agreement was possible. Wyland isn't asking for th money to profit himself, but rather to promote his foundation which does worthy work in helping create awareness for the fragility and beauty of marine life. But, compatible profitable relationships have been ruined over much less than what constitutes this argument, so it remains to be seen how the situation will play out.

Creatively Borrowing Eclectic Link Karma #1

With apologies and admiration, I creatively borrow the Link Karma concept popularized by uber blogger, Brian Clark. He publishes the widely read and wildly popular Copy Blogger blog. If you haven't yet availed yourself of his offerings, here is a perfect example of why you should: Ernest Hemingway's Top 5 Tips for Writing Well.

Please enjoy the following eclectic list of links presented to inspire, inform and entertain you:

♦ Heifer International - Ending Hunger, Caring for the Earth: Ten Things You Can Do Today to End World Hunger

♦ With his Art Business Thoughts blog, Myron Arndt continues to provide invaluable insights from a successful art publisher's unique perspective. Here is one of his latest posts: Reproduction Glut and On-Demand.

♦ There once was a fellow from Sarasota
A retired art rep who always made quota
Now he produces podcasts
Full of wit and wisdom so fast
So his eager students miss not one iota -- for my friend, Dick Harrison, who shares his invaluable experiences and limericks (I trust he won't find the above too lame.) through his Sales Tips for Artists blog and podcasts. His latest missive is: Skills that Will Help You Sell Yourself and Your Art

♦ Clint Watson's Fine Art Views blog is one of the best online resources for visual artists. This recent post clearly shows why: Life and Art, Recursively

♦ The inimitable Art Biz Coach, Alyson Stanfield, who adds so much to the community of visual artists, generously provides a FREE 9-week program for setting up an Art Marketing Salon in your area. It's a terrific concept and a thorough program. Go ahead, get involved and make difference in your community.

♦ Art.com offers this fun program to bring out the inner artist in anyone. Careful, it can be addicting. Is there something you can do to create an interactive experience for your site visitors?

♦ Last, but far from least, The Positivity Blog, which I heartily recommend regular reading, provides: Mark Twain's Top 9 Tips for Living a Kick-Ass Life

Enjoy!