Swifties, this one’s for you. It seems like Taylor Swift's Eras Tour has lasted eons. Yet somehow, there’s always something to talk about. Just thinking about how much she’s accomplished while on tour makes me want to buckle down, lock in, and channel my inner girlboss. But while I can’t even be bothered to cook dinner at home after a long day of work, Taylor is accomplishing milestones most musicians can only dream of. Let’s recap.
The Era’s Tour began in March 2023 with its North American leg. It’s set to go until December 2024, with dates in Europe, Australia, Asia, and South America— spanning 152 shows across five continents.
As the queen of multitasking, Swift hasn’t stopped at just selling out stadiums. Since the Eras tour began, she’s released multiple albums — both new and old — and shaken up the tour setlist with each new release. Her list of new releases started on the first day of her tour with “All Of The Girls You Loved Before,” which was quickly followed up by “The Alcott,” a feature on The National’s album — reciprocity for their work on her pandemic era albums, Folklore and Evermore.
She also released Midnights: Late Night Edition (including the iconic collab with Ice Spice), as well as not one but two album re-releases — Speak Now Taylor's Version and 1989 Taylor's Version. As if that wasn’t enough, she announced her latest album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, in a GRAMMY’s acceptance speech. Talk about legendary. Since its release, she’s also been churning out deluxe versions and remixes to keep us on our toes. The Eras Tour was even made into a Blockbuster film that brought Beyonce to its premiere. Star power: confirmed.
But that’s just her work life. Her personal life is just as eventful. She ended her 7-year relationship with Joe Alwyn in April 2023. Then entered into a brief but controversial fling with 1975 frontman Matty Healy. Though it didn’t last long, the relationship was enough to inspire a whole album and catapult her into her current romance with Travis Kelce, aka Amerca’s first nepo boyfriend. Now they’re the American Royal couple — and she somehow had time to fly from tour to his Super Bowl performance.
We all have the same hours in the day as Taylor Swift, but how she uses them will always be a mystery to me. I work eight hours a day and can barely manage a social life. Meanwhile, Taylor has it all — though conservatives are turning on her for daring to be a woman in her 30s who’s not married with kids. If that’s not proof that women can’t do anything right, I don’t know what is.
Clearly, she’s working late because she’s a singer. No wonder Taylor Swift became a billionaire months into her tour in October 2023. Her net worth is currently around 1.3 billion dollars, making her the only female musician to become a billionaire from her music.
Other entertainment billionaires like Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Jay-Z, and Kanye West have joined the three-comma club thanks to ventures like clothing brands, beauty products, and other entrepreneurial pursuits. Rihanna has her FENTY Empire. Kim has her award-winning SKIMS. Ye had Yeezy. But Taylor has an unbeatable catalog of publishing.
But Taylor isn’t just different from other Billionaires because of how she earned her money. She’s the Taylor we know and love because of how she spends it. Her rollercoaster Eras Tour is how she’s made much of her fortune. And she’s using it to give back in monumental degrees. From individual donations to investing in local infrastructure, Taylor is changing lives on a macro and micro scale. And teaching us what to expect from all billionaires in the process.
The Era’s Tour Bonuses — Talk About Workplace Benefits
First to make headlines were the Eras Tour crew bonuses. While some of us get rewarded with a pizza party or a $10 gift card to Starbucks, Taylor casually dropped $55 million in bonuses for her tour crew. The massive sum was paid out to everyone who makes the Eras Tour go around, from truck drivers to dancers and sound technicians.
In fairness, these bonuses are so well-deserved. Taylor’s shows are over three hours long. Imagine dancing for that long — because Swift certainly isn’t the one with the impressive moves — for hundreds of tour dates. Or remembering countless combinations of light cues to go with a setlist that changes daily. Yeah, they’re clocking in. And if my boss had millions to blow, I’d be expecting a comfortable bonus too. But $55 Million? That’s a testament to Swift’s generosity. It's like she's Oprah, but instead of cars, she's giving out life-changing amounts of cash. "You get a bonus! You get a bonus! Everybody gets a bonus!"
It’s similar to how Zendaya gave film equity to every member of the crew that worked on her controversial black-and-white drama, Malcolm & Marie. Filmed in a few days with a bare-bones crew during the peak of the pandemic, the film was Zendaya’s passion project with Sam Levinson, in which she starred alongside John David Washington. Though the film got mixed reviews, it captured the audience’s attention all the same. After all, it was Zendaya — and we’ll watch her in anything. So since the film sold to Netflix for a hefty sum, all the crew members got payouts from the deal on top of their salaries to reward their hard work.
Bonuses and equity payouts are common in many industries, but not entertainment. Even though it’s one of the most lucrative and recognizable American industries, most entertainers don’t make enough to survive. The SAG and WGA strikes last year were proof that there needs to be systemic change in the industry. LA County has even identified show businesses as risk factors for being unhoused — after all, how many stories do we hear of actors who were living in their cars before their big break? And for many, their big break never comes. For even more, they get hired on amazing gigs with giant performers … then go right back to the grind afterward. While individual actions from our favorite stars won’t fix everything, Zendaya and Taylor are providing models for how Hollywood should treat the people who make this town go round.
And in this economy, even a little bit could go a long way. Inflation and the cost of living are not a joke. Especially when, like with many creative careers, you often have to invest in lessons or equipment for your craft. With all this considered, the impact of Swirt’s donations can’t be overstated. Imagine getting a lump sum of cash for dancing to your favorite Taylor Swift tracks? Talk about a dream job.
The Economic Impact of Swift - Swiftonomics, if you will
Like Barbie and Beyonce last year, Swift is still on a tear to boost the economy of the cities she’s in just by traveling there — ad inspiring others to make the trek, too.
The Barbie movie proved that by marketing to women (instead of just making Marvel flops like Madame Web that aren’t really targeted to women at all), the entertainment industry can make giant profits. Barbie fever went beyond the theater. Thanks to a plethora of product collabs, the phenomenon rippled through retail.
Similarly, Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour tour generated an estimated $4.5 billion for the American economy. According to NPR, that’s almost as much as the entire 2008 Olympics earned for Beijing. People were taking money out of their 401ks to pay for Beyonce tickets and the glittery, silver-hues outfits to rock at her shows. Cities even started calling her effect the “Beyonce Bump.”
Swift has the same effect. She’s not just proving her generosity on a micro-scale for the people close to her, she’s having actual, tangible effects on the economy. It's like she's leaving a trail of dollar bills in her wake, and cities are scrambling to catch them like it's a country-pop, capitalist version of musical chairs.
The US Travel Association called it the Taylor Swift Impact after she generated over $5 Billion in just the first 5 months of the Eras Tour. But how does this work? It’s not like Taylor is printing more money at those shows, but it almost is. Her tour dates are pretty much economic steroid shots for local businesses. Hotels are booked solid, restaurants are packed, and let's not even get started on the surge in friendship bracelet supplies.
“Swifties averaged $1,300 of spending in local economies on travel, hotel stays, food, as well as merchandise and costumes,” say the US Travel Association. “That amount of spending is on par with the Super Bowl, but this time it happened on 53 different nights in 20 different locations over the course of five months.” That’s not to say one word about her effect on the actual Super Bowl and the entire NFL season thanks to her ball-throwing boyfriend.
It's like she's created her own micro-economy, and everyone's invited to the party. And unlike some economic theories that rely on wealth trickling down (spoiler alert: it doesn't), Taylor's wealth is more like a t-shirt cannon or the confetti at her shows — showering everyone around.
Donations that truly do good
Taylor isn’t just stepping into cities and calling it a night. She’s also not just throwing pennies at problems - she's making significant contributions that are changing lives. And more importantly, she's using her platform to encourage her fans to do the same.
She kicked off her tour with quiet donations to food banks in Glendale, Ariz., and Las Vegas ahead of the Eras Tour. Once the tour was in full swing, she continued this practice. In Seattle, she donated to Food Lifeline, a local hunger relief organization. In Santa Clara, she showed some love to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. And let's not forget about her $100,000 donation to the Hawkins County School Nutrition Program in Tennessee.
She’s been making similar donations overseas. Taylor Swift donated enough money to cover the food bills for an entire year across 11 food banks and & community pantries in Liverpool. Swift also covered 10,800 meals for Cardiff Foodbank and many more banks across the UK and EU. Her impact is so profound that her numbers are doing more to combat issues like hunger than the government.
Can billionaires actually be good?
One thing about me, I’m always ready and willing — knife and fork in hand — to eat the rich. Because fundamentally, can any billionaire really be good? In our late-stage capitalist horror story, the answer is usually no. Look how many of them are supporting the Trump campaign just to get some tax breaks.
But here's the thing - Taylor Swift might just be the exception that proves the rule. She's not perfect, sure. She still flies private jets and probably has a carbon footprint bigger than Bigfoot. But unlike most of the others in her tax bracket, she's not flaunting her wealth like it's a personality trait.
Take a look around. We've got billionaires trying to colonize Mars instead of, I don't know, helping people on Earth. In this context, Taylor's approach is more like Mackenzie Scott’s — Bezos’s ex-wife. She's not trying to escape to another planet - she's trying to make this one better.
And look, I'm not saying we should stop critiquing billionaires or the system that creates them. But she's just setting the bar for what we should expect from all billionaires. She's showing us that our collective power as fans can translate into real-world change. That our love for catchy choruses and bridge drops can somehow, improbably, lead to food banks getting funded and crew members getting life-changing bonuses.
So sorry to my neighbors who hear me belting “Cruel Summer” and “right where you left me” at the top of my lungs (and range). Just know it’s for the greater good.
Speak Your Mind: the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment
Getting to know your Constitution and the rights it guarantees you.
Can you recite the five central freedoms protected by the First Amendment?
No? Well, you're not alone.
A recent study by the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University revealed that just over half the people surveyed knew that our First Amendment protects freedom of speech, under 25% knew that it protects freedom of religion, under 20% knew that it protects freedom of the press, 14% knew that it protects freedom of association and only 6% knew that it protects the right to petition the government about grievances.
Another survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that 37% of Americans could not even name one right protected under the First Amendment. Back in 2006, one in four Americans could correctly name one, but more than half could name at least two members of the cartoon family, The Simpsons.
Ironically, according to an August 2017 telephone survey, 73% of Americans think the right to free speech is worth dying for. Clearly, there's a disconnect between being willing to die for something and not knowing what it is you're willing to die for–time to bridge that gap. You can't properly exercise, let alone protect, your rights if you don't know what they are.
The First Amendment to the Constitution was adapted into the Bill of Rights in 1791. Here it is:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
In other words, The First Amendment guarantees freedoms relating to religion, expression (speech and press), assembly, and petition.
Freedom of Expression
Self-proclaimed white supremacists marching down the streets of Charlottesville chanting "Jews will not replace us," were exercising their First Amendment right to expression. When Donald Trump stated that there is "No collusion between Trump and Russia" or that "Black homeownership just hit the highest level it has ever been in the history of our country," he was also exercising his First Amendment rights. Speech doesn't have to be true to be protected. Many lies, intentional or not, are protected by the First Amendment, though there are exceptions in cases of libel or defamation of character. Other examples of speech not protected by the First Amendment are:
Obscenity
Fighting words
Defamation
Child pornography
Perjury
Blackmail
Incitement to imminent lawless action
True threats
Solicitations to commit crimes
Plagiarism of copyrighted material
Freedom of Speech
The First Amendment right to free speech is at the center of the national debate about our rights on social media. Is blocking an individual on Twitter or removing unflattering comments (as President Trump has done) a violation of one's right to freedom of speech? Is there even a right to free speech on social media platforms that are owned by private corporations? As reported by Lincoln Caplan in the 10/11/17 issue of Wired, The Knight First Amendment Institute sued President Trump to force him to unblock the people he had blocked. The Institute argued that the President had violated users' rights to free speech because he only blocked people who disagreed with him.
Freedom of Religion
When the Alabama State Supreme Court ruled that then Judge Roy Moore had to remove the 10 Commandments from his courtroom, they were protecting our First Amendment right stating that "government shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion." Because Roy Moore posted the 10 Commandments in his role as a public servant and not as a private citizen, declaring his personal views were a violation of the First Amendment and not an expression of his First Amendment rights.
Freedom of Assembly and Petition
A recent debate is centered around whether or not environmental protesters' First Amendment rights were violated when they were forcibly removed from the Keystone Pipeline in North Dakota. According to Jennifer Cook, policy director of the ACLU of North Dakota, "The right to protest is fundamental to our democracy and the interference with that right by agents of the counties and the state of North Dakota violates both the spirit and letter of the First Amendment. As the courts in this state have recognized, the First Amendment forbids the enactment of laws 'abridging the freedom of speech ... or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.'" The protest at the Dakota Access pipeline is precisely the type of assembly protected by the First Amendment. Peaceful protest is at the core of the First Amendment and restrictions to such activity, such as the closing of highways with the effect of preventing assembly or effective messaging of protesters, should be viewed skeptically. Law enforcement agents have a duty to ensure that the rights of protesters are protected, not just the rights of corporations. While law enforcement officers have a right to ensure the safety of all of our citizens, this goal should be achieved by ensuring that all citizens, including protesters, are protected and that there are enough police in place to prevent violence, but not prevent peaceful protest or assembly."
Applying the First Amendment to real-life situations is not always black and white. For example, law enforcement officials can put time, place, and manner restrictions on protests. Rules can vary from city to city, but law enforcement can require permits for large groups, for marches that black traffic, or for protests that will create a lot of noise. As with most situations relating to rights and laws, First Amendment principles are open and subject to interpretation. But as we watch debates about our freedom of speech and freedom of the press play out in real-time, it's useful and necessary to know what it is that we are protecting.
Getting to Know You: The Third Amendment Explained
Why the only amendment never brought before the supreme court may be more important than you think
You'd be hard-pressed to find someone living in the U.S.A. (and, perhaps in Russia) who could not tell you that the Second Amendment involved the right to bear arms. And, most people understand that something in the Bill of Rights protects them against unlawful search and seizure, even if they don't know that it's the Fourth Amendment that does so. But sandwiched in between these two celebrity amendments is the all-but-forgotten Third Amendment. Since its inclusion in the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments to the Constitution), the Third Amendment has been the subject of a small handful of cases, and not one of them has gone before the Supreme Court.
Here it is:
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Called the "runt piglet" of the Constitution by the American Bar Association, the Third Amendment would seem on the face of it to have little place in our lives. Does anyone think the government is going to try to use our homes as barracks? The idea is almost laughable. At the same time, this anachronistic addition to our Constitution is fundamentally concerned with the same issue as its better-known siblings, namely protecting citizens from excessive government authority and the elemental conflict between the rights of the individual versus the rights of the federal government. As such, the Third Amendment does have some relevance today, and could have even more in the future.
Militarized police force
Written by James Madison in response to calls from several states for greater constitutional protection for individual liberties, the Bill of Rights lists specific prohibitions on governmental power. Its purpose was not to grant rights but to protect rights the framers saw as fundamental and to place specific limits on government power. Third Amendment centers around the individual's right to privacy in their homes and underscores that citizens have the right not to have the government intrude in that sacred space, even in times of war. When the amendment was written in the eighteenth century, quartering troops in private homes would have been top of mind for Americans and Englishmen. One of the many accusations Congress leveled against the king in The Declaration of Independence were his "quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us." One issue then, as now, is a balance between the rights of individual citizens and the needs of the military. For example, what if the military claims they need to occupy a home in order to surveil a suspected terrorist cell next door? Beyond that, what constitutes "military?" Civil liberties activists warn that our nation's police forces have increasingly taken on a military role and that the increased use of police in this capacity is bound to create conflicts.
Back in 2013, a family in Nevada claimed that police had occupied their home to gain a tactical advantage against a suspect in a nearby house, thereby violating that Famil's Third Amendment rights. The case was dismissed in federal court because, among other findings, Judge Andrew Gordon ruled that a municipal police officer is not a soldier. Judge Gordon also followed a 1982 decision that the Amendment does not relate to state governments. But, as the lines between the police and the military are increasingly blurred, if not obliterated, we might expect to see more of these Third Amendment cases being brought before the courts. As Ilya Somin of the Washington Post pointed out in 2015, "The difficult issues raised by the militarization of police forces suggest that it may be time to stop treating the Third Amendment as just a punchline for clever legal humor."
A surveillance society
The Third Amendment is the only part of the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution as a whole, that addresses the relationship between citizens' rights and the military. Scholars have pointed out that it underscores civilian control over the military. That power dynamic would be important in any era, but takes on another layer of significance today when what passes for, and acts in the capacity of, the military is very different from what it was in 1791. We live in a world where people leave a digital trail of data wherever they go, and where we rely on the use of independent contractors, satellite surveillance, and drones for our national defense, and let's not forget about AI. In a not-too-distant future when our military may be more machine than human, what could having "soldiers" in our "homes" mean?
A 2015 article "Could the Third Amendment be used to fight the surveillance state?" quoted law professor Steven Friedland, who had an idea.
"The Third Amendment no longer will be the forgotten amendment if it is considered to interlock with the Fourth Amendment to provide a check on some domestic mass surveillance intruding on civil life, particularly within the home, business or curtilage of each. In the digital era, the dual purposes of the Amendment should be understood to potentially limit the reach of cyber soldiers and protect the enjoyment of a private tenancy without governmental incursion."
Home is where the heart is
While the US Constitution itself does not contain an express right to privacy, the Bill of Rights reflects the Framers' concerns for protecting specific aspects of it, namely; the right to privacy of beliefs in the 1st Amendment, the right to privacy for person and possessions against unreasonable search and seizure in the 4th amendment, and the right to privacy in the home, the Third Amendment.
The right to a private space we call home is not just an American right. It is unquestionably a fundamental human right. The Third Amendment is largely forgotten in today's world of bots, drones, data, and virtual reality, but that "runt piglet" may end up being the very thing we need to call upon to protect it.
June Time Capsule - A look back in history
June 3, 1972 – Sally Jan Priesand is the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi in the U.S.A., (the first in the world being Regina Jones in 1935, who died in Auschwitz in 1944), breaking with thousands of years of patriarchal tradition in the Jewish faith.
June 4, 1989 – Troops in China fire on unarmed pro-reform protesters in Tiananmen Square. The People's Army used tanks, machine-guns, clubs and tear gas on their own citizens. The Chinese government claimed that only 300 people were killed, but estimates point to over 3,000. After the massacre, over 1,600 demonstrators were arrested and jailed. 27 were executed.
June 5, 1968 – Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated while leaving the Hotel Ambassador in Los Angeles following a celebration for his victory in the California presidential primary.
June 6, 1872 – Susan B. Anthony is arrested, tried and fined $100 (which she does not pay) for attempting to vote in a presidential election in Rochester, NY. It would take 88 more years for Congress to ratify the 19th Amendment, granting women this fundamental right.
June 6, 1944 – The largest amphibious landing in history began as Allied forces landed in Normandy, France --- otherwise known as D-Day. By the end of the day, 150,000 soldiers had landed, with 15,000 wounded or killed.
June 7, 1965 – Citing privacy "zones" guaranteed by the First, Third, Fourth and Ninth Amendments, the US Supreme Court strikes down a Connecticut statute which criminalized counseling and other medical treatment to married couples for the purpose of preventing conception. This established a new constitutional right; the right to privacy in marital relations, including freedom from government intrusion into matters surrounding birth control.
June 12, 1898 – The Philippines declare their independence from Spain, only to be invaded and occupied by US forces. The Philippines remains a US colony until after WWII.
June 12, 1963 – Medgar Evers is assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi. The Civil Rights leader had been working to integrate schools and register black voters in the South.
June 13, 1971 – The Pentagon Papers, secret documents that revealed the US strategy in the Vietnam War, are published by The New York Times.
June 13, 1966 – The Supreme Court finds in favor of Miranda in Miranda v. Arizona, guaranteeing that accused people must be told of their rights before being questioned by the police. These rights include the right to remain silent, the right to know that anything said can be used against that person in a court, and the right to have an attorney present during any questioning. These rights are known as the "Miranda Rights."
June 15, 1215 – King John signs the Magna Carta, guaranteeing his subjects basic rights, which become the foundation of all democracies that follow.
June 17, 1972 – Five men are arrested at the National Democratic Headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. An investigation follows which eventually implicates President Nixon and his administration in illegal activities and an extensive cover-up. A House Judiciary Committee adopts three articles of impeachment against the president in July 1974, and in August of that same year, Richard M. Nixon becomes the first US President to resign.
June 28, 1914 – Archduke Ferdinand, The Crown Prince of Austria, and his wife are assassinated in Sarajevo which leads to the outbreak of WWI. Five years later, with over nine million combatants and seven million civilians dead, the war formally ended with the signing of The Treaty of Versailles. The League of Nations was then formed to prevent such a horrible event from taking place again. It failed, and Europe plunged into economic depression which laid fertile ground for nationalism and, eventually, the outbreak of WWII.
June 30, 1971 – A debate over lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, which began in WWII and increased during the Vietnam War, centered on the argument that young men conscripted to fight and die for their country should not be denied the right to vote. This debate concludes on June 30, 1971, with the enactment of the 26th Amendment, which grants all American citizens 18 years or older this fundamental right.
Liberty Project May Time Capsule: A Look Back in History
From labor movements, to free speech, here are some historic highlights for liberty in the month of May
May, 1968— Following the April 23rd Columbia University student protests, May 1968 marked a month of student uprising in Paris. Protesters were critical of everything from France's outdated university system, to lack of employment opportunities and general working conditions. Demonstrations for radical economic and political change began, and, on May 3rd, protesters at the Sorbonne clashed with police and hundreds of students were arrested.
The unrest continued, culminating on May 24th, when students seized the Paris Stock Exchange, and raised a Communist flag over the building. Following these events, President Charles de Gaulle agreed to some concessions, including better working conditions, education reform and higher wages.
May 4, 1886 – Police advanced on workers at a labor demonstration in Haymarket Square in Chicago on May 3, 1886. The next day, a rally in support of those workers, and of an eight-hour workday, erupted in violence when police clashed with protesters. A bomb was thrown, resulting in death and injury to police and demonstrators alike. The event came to be known as The Haymarket Massacre, and is considered the inspiration for May Day observances for workers around the world.
May 4, 1970 – Four students, 19 year-old Allison Krause, 20 year-old Sandra Lee Scheuer, 19 year-old William K. Schroeder, and 20 year-old Jeffrey Glenn Miller, were killed, and 11 others wounded, by National Guardsmen who opened fire on a group of 1000 students who were protesting President Nixon's planned invasion of Cambodia. This event led to campus demonstrations and protests in over 450 colleges and universities across America.
May 5, 1862 – Mexican troops under General Zaragoza, outnumbered three to one, defeated invading the invading French forces of Napoleon III in the Battle of Puebla. This victory is celebrated today as Cinco de Mayo.
May 5, 1961 – Alan Shepard became the first American in space.
May 7, 1945 – General Alfred Jodl signed the unconditional surrender of German forces in Reims, Germany, marking the end of WWII in Europe.
May 10, 1994 – Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the president of South Africa after winning in a free election, and in spite of efforts to derail his election.
May 14, 1607 – The establishment of the first permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown, Virginia.
May 14, 1804 – Lewis and Clark began their 6,000-mile journey across the country to explore the Northwest.
May 17, 1954 – The US Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools and racially separate educational facilities were inherently unequal in Brown V. Board of Education. This landmark case was argued by Thurgood Marshall who went on to become the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court.
May 19, 1926 – Britain's Trades Union Congress called off their General Strike, which had brought the nation to a halt for nine days. Though many thought the strike presaged class warfare, it never actually evolved into a revolutionary uprising.
May 20, 1932 – Ameilia Earhart flew out of Newfoundland, Canada and landed near Londonderry, Ireland, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
May 21, 1881 – Nicknamed "the angel of the battlefield" for her work treating injured soldiers in The American Civil War, Clara Barton founds The American Red Cross after a trip to Europe, where she volunteered for The International Red Cross.
May 23, 1810 – Margaret Fuller was born in Cambridgeport, Mass. She would become the first American woman to work as a foreign correspondent. Her 1845 book, Women in the 19th Century, is considered a groundbreaking feminist statement and was the first of its kind.
May 24, 1844 – Samuel Morse sent the first official telegraph message from the Capital building in Washington D.C. He asked "What had God wrought?"
May 28, 1961 – London lawyer Peter Berenson founds Amnesty International after writing his famous Forgotten Prisoners newspaper article in May 1961after reading about two students in a Portuguese cafe who had been imprisoned after raising their glasses "to liberty."
Liberty Project April Time Capsule: A Look Back in History
Liberty Project Takes A Look Back: These are significant U.S. events from the month of April over the years...
Liberty Project Time Capsule: A Look Back in History
On April 17, 1989 – Polish labor union Solidarity attained legal status after years of struggle, making way for the downfall of the Polish Communist Party.
On April 18 1776 – Paul Revere and William Dawes rode out of Boston at night to warn patriots at Lexington and Concord that the British were coming.
On April 19,1775 – 70 armed militiamen faced off on Lexington Green with a British guard unit. The confrontation is credited by many as the start of the American Revolution.
On April 19, 1943 – Jewish people in the Warsaw Ghetto stage a revolt against Nazi troops attempting to deport them to death camps
On April 25, 1967 – The first law legalizing abortion, outside of cases when the woman's life was threatened, was signed by Colorado Republican Governor John Love
On April 25, 1994 – Multiracial elections held for the first time in South Africa vote in Nelson Mandela as president and F.W. de Klerk as vice president
On April 28, 1945 – Italian fighters shot the dictator Benito Mussolini and end 23 years of Fascist rule in Italy.
On April 30, 1789 – George Washington becomes the first President of the United States of America on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City.
Blame It On Pluto: Finally, an explanation for all the WTF moments of the past decade
Could Pluto be to blame for our current era of upheaval?
If there's one word that describes the last ten years, it's disruption.
Consider the climate: The earth has experienced raging fires, drought, destructive floods, and hurricanes of unprecedented power, as well as earthquakes, mudslides, and record snowfall. And, according to a January 2, 2018 article in Newsweek, there are six active volcanoes across the globe that scientists are monitoring for possible cataclysmic eruptions. Politics: Well, you'd have to be living under a very large rock not to know that we are living in a time of tremendous political upheaval. Once relied upon ideologies, government institutions and accepted social norms have been whirled around faster than a max-extract spin cycle, if not destroyed outright. Russia influencing elections? Donald Trump is President of the United States? Culture: Between #MeToo and the relentless assault on women's reproductive rights, it feels like we're all over the place, like everything we know is changing, all the time. Some of these changes are hopeful; many are terrifying.
Why is so much happening at once? What gives?
Academics and economists point to the widening gap between rich and poor, the scarcity of resources, the stresses of living in a hyper-connected world, the growing numbers of disenfranchised people as well as the stress of climate change and the enormous amount of toxins in the air, earth and water as some of the potential causes of disruption. All of this may be true, but astrologists around the globe agree; if you want to know the root cause of all this disruption and destruction, look no further than 4.67 billion miles away, to Pluto.
Pluto was discovered in 1930 by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.
It was named after the ancient Roman god of the underworld in a contest by Venetia Burney, an 11-year old English school-girl, and designated the ninth planet of our solar system. It had a nice run, until 2006 when Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union because of its diminutive stature. Astrologists, however, continue to hold it in high esteem, recognizing Pluto as an extremely powerful force for us folks here on Earth.
Back in our day..Pluto was a planet! So much has changed...
Pluto, like the ancient god it is named for, represents death, destruction, rebirth and transformation.
Astrologers like to say that Pluto shines a light into the dark recesses of both our individual and collective conscience and demands that the truth be exposed. Pluto's awesome power is particularly evident when it enters into the astrological cycle of Capricorn, as it did in November 2008, the year that saw the U.S. election of the first black president as well as the duel implosions of the housing and financial markets. Capricorn is an earth sign that rules structure, government, monetary systems and tradition. Added to this heavenly hash, the planet Uranus (disruption and revolution) then entered into Aries (individual rights and liberty). Astrologers knew what was coming, warning that Pluto the destroyer would waste no time leveling Capricornian structures. As astrologist Rose Marcus explains, "When that which Capricorn has held in check…is released, it is done with great force. It can be radically so when extreme Uranus in Aries squares destructive Pluto in Capricorn.
This duo is most formidable, eruptive, disruptive, and explosive of all planetary combinations.
Beyond all levels of human existence, its life-altering reach is powerful enough to produce geophysical disturbances and earthquakes. The perilous years when the transit of Uranus in Aries squares Pluto in Capricorn are signature razor's edge times, when both life on the planet and the planet itself undergo major upheaval and critical transition. In addition to the progressive fall-out from global warming, our rage, anger, frustration, and aggression can heat to the boil-over point, the result of which can ignite a particularly merciless episode of man's crimes against man, and against humanity, too. Brutality, ruthlessness, violence, crime, sexual violation, murder, and war can run rampant in such desperate times."
Okay. Wow.
But, say the skeptics, isn't this just coincidence? Perhaps, but take a look at how the so-called Pluto/Capricorn effect has lined up with major events in global history throughout the past centuries.
From 532-551, the world experienced what is known as the Dark Ages. Around 540, a huge volcanic eruption of the Rabaul Caldera caused a cataclysmic series of events. Culture collapsed and earth went into a deep freeze. Winter was coming, and it stayed --- for over two decades. The existing world structure of the Roman Empire fell and Barbarian hordes swept civilizations away.
The years 1517 to 1533, throughout the entire transit of Pluto in Capricorn, coincided with that sweeping and transformative era called The Reformation.
Martin Luther challenged the authority of the Catholic Church by nailing up his proclamation for all to see in 1517, ushering in radical religious and social upheaval. Not that far away, in good old England, Henry VIII established The Church of England, breaking with the Catholic Church to marry Anne Boleyn. This was also the period of the rise of the Spanish empire and the destruction of the Aztec and Incan empires.
The last time Pluto was in Capricorn was from 1762 to 1778.
The world saw the writing of The Declaration of Independence, and witnessed The American Revolution. The United States of America was born, and with it a new and enlightened form of government came on to the world stage. On a darker side, this period gave rise to the barbaric slave trade in Africa, which would eventually lead to the Civil War. In France, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI came to the throne in 1770--and we all know how that ended.
There has been a tremendous amount of upheaval since Pluto once again entered into Capricorn in November, 2008, bringing us up to the present day and the election of Donald Trump. Once accepted social norms, like sexual harassment, are being turned on their heads and exposed for what they are. Yetothers, like open racism from our government officials and attacks on our system of justice, are being tolerated. With every day that passes, it seems that we, and the traditions and structures we've relied upon, are being tested as never before.
The good news is that nothing lasts forever, and, if history is any guide, what comes around, goes around. Though Pluto does have an erratic and long orbit, it will exit Capricorn in six years, in January 2020, at which point many astrologers are predicting a full reckoning. Until then, fasten your seat belts, and blame it on Pluto.
What Water Holds – on memory, perseverance and action
A mother's reflection in the wake of yet another school shooting.
Several months ago, I heard an interview on NPR with a woman who said that water carries memory. When the water freezes, the memories it carries are held in place, and when the ice melts, those memories are released. I don't remember which NPR show this was, nor do I remember the woman's name or what she was being interviewed about, except that she was in the arts, perhaps theater, or music, and she was talking about her most recent project. But, I remembered this one thing she said; that water carries memories, which are held and released, and held and released with the cycling of seasons.
I took a walk this morning. The biting chill in the air was giving way to a cooling thaw, and it felt as if spring might be coming early this year. At Bear Mountain park, near where I live, a grayish-white vapor rose off of the frozen surface of the man-made lake, hovering, stretching out like an altostratus cloud. It was early, and I was the only person on the trail. It was so peaceful – the sounds of the breeze through the still bare trees, their fallen branches reaching out from the underneath the veil of ice like giant hands and the smell of the wet earth, ready to release new life.
In the Bible, water is mentioned over 700 times. It symbolizes cleansing, but also creation and God's awesome power. In Genesis, before there is light, sun, earth, plants, leaving creatures, there was water—it existed before existence itself. In Chinese Taoist philosophy, water is home to our essence. It represents wisdom, and great force, as well as perseverance.
Everywhere I looked this morning, ice was melting, becoming liquid. Bubbles formed underneath the surface of the frozen water on the rocks, sliding and turning over and around the bumps and crevices like tadpoles in a stream. The sound of the melting release was everywhere. The applause of the filling streams running down off of the mountain, the rain storm of the current under my feet. In the distance, there was the crack-crack sound of something breaking --- a giant tree falling, or perhaps the roll of a machine, clearing a path Today, however, it reminded me of gunfire.
I often work from home on Thursdays and Fridays, partly to give myself a break from a grueling two-hour commute to work, but mainly to be home to drop off and pick my daughter up from school and to be present. My child is the most important thing in the world to me. Her infectious laughter, the feel of her cheek against mine when I kiss her goodnight, the furrow in her brow when she's worried, how proud I am of all she has achieved and my hopes for all that is yet to come --- this, and everything else about her is part of me, like the heart in my chest or the soul that lives someplace even deeper.
Six years ago, when she was in second grade, I watched images of grieving, broken parents of Newtown, Connecticut on CNN. I lived in a small town very much like Newtown, and I had a daughter who was exactly the same age as those children who were murdered with an assault rifle. Not a day has gone by since when I don't, at some point, worry that I might drop my child off at school in the morning, and not see her alive in the afternoon. After February 14, 2018, I watched CNN again, and, again, the same images of broken and grieving parents as they endure what no parent should ever have to; the senseless murder of a child.
It is said that everything is cyclical. There are some cycles that ground us; nature, aging, good times and bad. Some that challenge us; sickness and health, success and failure. These can't always be controlled – we just have to go with it. And then there are the cycles of another sort; violence, insanity, corruption, dishonesty, dereliction of duty. These are the kind of cycles that, if not controlled, if not broken, will break us. These are the cycles that Lori Alhadeff, the mother of 14-year-old victim Alyssa Alhadeff inveighed against when she pleaded into the camera, "President Trump, we need action. Now!" It's the cycle that sophomore Isabella Gomez took on when, in response to President Trump's declaration that We are here for you. We are here to ease your pain, that "He really needs to take into consideration gun control."
Memories are our foundation. This is one of the things that is so cruel about Alzheimer's --- it robs a person of their past, and with it, their identity. After Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and the rest of the now over 150 mass shootings*, as a country, it is tempting to say that these horrors keep happening because we are suffering from collective Alzheimer's. But that's not it. We do remember. Who could forget? But what does that matter? Is that the point? We'll never forget you? I am reminded of Susan Sontag's brilliant post-9/11 piece in the New Yorker; "Our country is strong, we are told again and again. I for one don't find this entirely consoling. Who doubts that America is strong? But that's not all American has to be." Who doubts that we will remember mass shootings? If our thoughts and prayers are really with the victims in Parkland, Florida, we need to offer them a lot more than a place in our memories.
Water, like life itself, is full of contradiction. We develop and thieve in a watery womb, yet once we are born that same water will drown us. Rivers and oceans are sources of peace and tranquility, but also of flood and devastation. Of the many qualities water has, perhaps the one that most comes to mind after this latest mass shooting is reflection. In the words of 17-year-old survivor David Hogg, "This is a time for our country to take a look in the mirror and realize there is a serious issue here."
Note: *This is an approximate number, at best. As pointed out in a recent piece in The Atlantic, "The lack of reliable information on school shootings and other gun-related mass violence isn't just a matter of inconsistency in definitions; political factors have also played a role in limiting access to information. Under pressure from the National Rifle Association, Congress in 1996 prohibited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from funding public-health research on issues related to firearms. These prohibitions have largely persisted, and there is still no comprehensive federal database on gun deaths, let alone on school shootings."