Blog - Page 2 of 2 - Ranae Hanson

Body Care

March 3, 2020 By Ranae Hanson

We are rocking in our body boats as we adapt to the realities (and unrealities) of COVID-19. In counterpoint, the natural world around us breaths more freely when we humans stop skittering about. Canals in Venice flow clear; the sky over Hunan clears; airplane and car noise decreases. Our hearts rush to those who are […]

Watershed Communities

The Watersheds of Oman

May 16, 2021 By Ranae Hanson

Guest blog by Mayadhin Al Abri Mayadhin Al Abri is a chemical engineering student at the University of Minnesota who grew up in Muscat, the capital city of Oman. She plans to address and solve environmental issues specifically water issues in Oman. During my childhood in Oman, rain would fall once or twice a year. […]

Climate Challenge

Sam Grant – Racial and Climate Justice Are One

April 21, 2021 By Ranae Hanson

Watch as Sam Grant, Executive Director of MN 350.org and former instructor at Minneapolis College, explains his vision for climate justice for all. You can view his interview at the second Community Pollinator Interview.

Moving Toward Justice

Former Minneapolis College Student Hindolo Pokawa

February 4, 2021 By Ranae Hanson

Hindolo Pokawa, Earth Justice Leader in Sierra Leone Hindolo was once a student my class. I have learned a lot from him. Hear him in this interview. After earning a degree in Minnesota, Hindolo found he couldn’t get a job other than taxi driving. While in his taxi, he realized that he could return to […]

illustration of boy standing outside cabin in winter looking at a soup pot

Stories/Secrets

Family wisdom from the last pandemic – Here’s my bit; what’s yours?

March 24, 2020 By Ranae Hanson

Illustration by Grace Harnois How my ancestors survived the flu epidemic of 1918-19 has become part of our family’s lore. Can remembering stories like this help us now? Carl, Vera, and Carl’s brother Morris were homesteading in a log house in Polk County, Minnesota, when the winter of 1918-19 arrived. Carl and Vera had […]

Moving Toward Justice

Friendship among women farmers crosses continents

February 26, 2021 By Ranae Hanson

A response to Tropic of Chaos Guest Post by Joan Felice and the Students at El Milagro Women farmers from Guatemalan mountain villages—many of them schoolgirls—watched Tropic of Chaos and came to know of women farmers from the Lake Chad region of the African continent. The girls, who attend a boarding school at a distance from […]

screenshot of tropic of chaos documentary

Moving Toward Justice

Introducing Tropic of Chaos – A Documentary of Central African Trauma and Resilience

June 26, 2020 By Ranae Hanson

When filmmaker Angelo Loy wrote to offer his film to this blog, we all received an immense gift—the voices of and views from dozens of people in central Africa. As you watch Tropic of Chaos you will come to know a vast region. You will meet people living on Lake Chad’s receding shores who invite […]

Watershed Communities

Special Gift – Film about water and salmon and the Winnemem Wintu tribe

November 29, 2021 By Ranae Hanson

Readers of this page have been given One Word Sawalmem, a special gift from Pom and Natasha, friends on the Pacific Coast. Here is 5-day home viewing access to an inspiring, internationally-acclaimed, Native-directed short film made for all ages and peoples to watch. The 20-min film is based on one single question: What’s one word from your sacred […]

Book Suggestions

Book Report #1: Why I Think You Should Read “The Lakota Way”

February 3, 2021 By Ranae Hanson

Enter Joseph M. Marshall III’s book, The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living, to learn how to live wisely with all our relatives – with mitakuye oyasin (“all my relatives” in Dakota). Each chapter of the book presents a virtue through story-telling, some stories from the beginnings of remembered life and some from Marshalls’s […]