COOL CAUSES
Here are some organizations doing exceptional work to heal our society and to bridge our cultural differences. I fully endorse, support, and help them in the work they do for their communities. Check back to learn more about the other great causes that I’d love for you to know about.
Founded in 1971, the SPLC has a singular vision: to promote racial justice and advance human rights. With the rise in hate crimes against people of color, the LGBTQ community, women, the disabled, and immigrants, the work of the SPLC could not be more crucial. Civil rights belongs to us all and the Southern Poverty Law Center is doing the work to assure those rights remain.
I’ve gotten to know about the Yurok Tribe via my work with Anna Deavere Smith. The Yurok Indian Reservation is located in rural parts of Del Norte and Humboldt counties, in Northern California. The Reservation is located on a one-mile corridor on a 44-mile stretch of the Klamath River from the mouth of the River which empties into the Pacific Ocean to the upriver boundary. The Tribe has purchased additional ancestorial lands to augment the Reservation lands.
The Yurok Tribe is California's largest surviving Native American Tribe. According to www.yuroktribe.org, their mission is to exercise the aboriginal and sovereign rights of the Yurok People to continue forever the Tribal traditions of self-governance, cultural and spiritual preservation, stewardship of Yurok lands, waters and other natural endowments, balanced social and economic development, peace and reciprocity, and respect for the dignity and individual rights of all persons living within the jurisdiction of the Yurok Tribe.
Their spiritual center is the Klamath River which had, at one time, an abundance of salmon and sturgeon. Now, with global warming, the River is dying, and extinction of salmon is a real possibility within just several years.
I urge you to learn more about the Yuroks, spend time on this sacred place on earth, and support their work.
Established in 1920 as an outgrowth of the movement to give women the right to vote following the passage of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the League has expanded its mission to support environmental issues, the fight against poverty and discrimination, the civil rights movement, reproductive freedom, health care reform and became a major advocate for campaign finance reform.