Another Year, Another Transgender Day of Rememberance
You know, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender – people are people.
Judith Light
This is my third year writing about Transgender Day of Remembrance. I feel that each year it’s important that we take some time to reflect on those who lost their lives over the past year for being different; not fitting the cookie cutter mold the world tries to force upon them . This year is a big year in particular for the LGBTQ community as so many people have lost their lives due to suicide and murder based on sexual orientation, gender identity or their perceived orientation or identity.
I would like to encourage each one you reading this to think about how this year you can take a stand and do something to help stop the deaths, hate, injustice of people just for being different. What can you do on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis to change the lives of others around you?
Getting Thirsty [Blog Action Day]
Recently I had a unique experience. I woke up, used restroom, turned on the water to wash my hands the only problem, no water. It turned out they were just doing some work in my building and the water was only out for about 30 min. I will say trying to get ready for work in the morning without water is not an easy task and really got me thinking about those less fortunate than me.
Today marks the 4th Annual Blog Action Day (and my third participating in.) Blog Action Day is a day where a theme is chosen and the blogosphere is encouraged to reflect, write, and educate others about what we can do to change the world. This year that theme is water.
So what can we do as a community to help the almost 1 billion people without clean water?
The simplest thing we can do is give. After my experience without water I donated $20 to Charity: Water. According to the organization $20 is enough money to provide one person clean water for 20 years. A small donation can make a huge difference. If you’re low on dough you could fundraise or get friends/family together to each pitch in a few dollars to make a difference. Perhaps give up drinking bottled water and use the money to provide others with water.
Don’t want to give, then conserve. A recent TriplePundit report states Americans drink on average of 200 bottles of water each, per year. That’s a lot of water! It takes over 17 million barrels of oil are needed to manufacture those water bottles, 80 percent of which will never be recycled. By giving up bottled for the tap water you’d be doing something good for the environment as well as saving money.
I encourage you to think about water today. What would you do if you didn’t have clean water? What other things can you do to help those without it? Leave your ideas and suggestions in the comments.
Conan O’Brian and Earthquakes
NBC Photo: Timothy White
I wanted to take a moment and deviate from the normal format of this blog and talk about a few recent events. I’ll start by expressing my thoughts on Conan O’Brian’s resignation from the host of NBC’s The Tonight Show. I might be bias as Conan has always been my favorite late night talk show host, growing up I remember waiting for David Letterman to end over so I could switch over to NBC and watch Conan. For the record: I am not, never was, and never will be a Jay Leno fan.
It saddens me to watch Conan walk away as host, however, I’m very proud that he was able to take a stand for what he believed in and walk away with such thankfulness and pride for all he’s been given over the last 20 years. One thing that really inspired me was night after night, after the jokes about his future, late night, and us current events he would have a serious moment and say something along the lines of “Look what I do is silly, it’s Hollywood, I’m a talk show host, there are real people dying in Haiti right now who need our help.”
The two organizations Mr. Brian announced on air were Ben Stiller’s StillerStrong.org and George Clooney’s HopeForHaitiNow.org (which is also supported by Tom Hanks and Robin Williams and I’m sure a slew of other stars.) Sure you can argue that a lot of stars are doing what they can to help in this time of need for Haiti, which is true, yet to me it the way a man who just lost his job (sure there was a 40 million settlement in it for him and his staff) to still be supportive and care about people just spoke to me. His letter to the Press and Farewell speech both spoke to me in a way in which lends him my support for years to come. To put it in a way that you, the internet will understand: I’m on Team COCO.
© Matthew McDermott / Polaris / eyevine
I also wanted to personally urge you to do something to help out the people of Haiti. I have to admit that I’m often guilty of turning the TV off or avoiding the news for a few days waiting for the whole thing to “blow over” but with tens of thousands dead and missing. According to sources ((http://www.nowpublic.com/world/haiti-earthquake-death-statistics-update-eu-says-200-000-dead-2559557.html)) over 1.5 million are homeless. Even if all you can do is give a few dollars every bit helps. You may also want to read the The DOs and DON’Ts of Disaster Donations. I truly believe it is our duty as one of the richest nations to help out.
There are many organizations you can support here are just a few:
World Vision – http://www.worldvision.org
Red Cross (Text HAITI at 90999 to donate $10) – http://www.redcross.org
Hope For Haiti Now – http://hopeforhaitinow.org
Stiller Strong – http://stillerstrong.org
Clinton-Bush Haiti Relief Fund— http://clintonbushhaitifund.org
Supporting an organization you wish to share or have something to say? Leave it in the comments.
Heating Up [Blog Action Day]
If you’re anything like me I’m sure you’ve noticed that each year we are having colder winters and hotter summers. Why is this? Well I’m not a meteorologist, environmentalist, or scientist but the ones I know all say it has to do with climate change. Climate change just happens to be the topic of Blog Action Day 2009 (http://blogactionday.org.)
I don’t know a lot on the subject of climate change, I do however, know that it’s not a good thing. I have decided maybe the best approach would be to list five (5) count them 5 things you can do in your to help stop climate change.
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Change your light bulbs to energy star (energy effective) bulbs. Even though this is just a small step if everyone does it we can save a ton of energy in the years to come.
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Reduce, reuse, and recycle, the three R’s that I know you’ve heard before. By collectively taking these steps we make the planet a brighter place.
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Take the bus, I know the bus is a pain but by taking it you are helping reduce the amount of carbon emissions in the are and creating cleaner air. For those of you who refuse carpooling is also an option.
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Look for “ENERGY STAR” certified products. These products have been certified to reduce the amount of energy they use.
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Conserve water, it takes a lot of energy to purify then get the water to you, heating the water is also an issue. Reducing the amount of water you use is just another way to help save energy.
Source: for more information on ways you can reduce energy and help prevent climate change http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd
Most importantly make sure you spread the word about climate change, by telling your friends and family you can make a difference in their lives as well.
$23 for Twenty Three
Well it’s that time of the year again where I’ll be having another birthday. September 8th to be exact. I’m gonna be 23 this year, time seems to be something that as much as we want to, try to, dream about we can’t change. This year I’ve decided to focus on an issue that I feel that I can help change. Although, birthdays aren’t about gifts and presents I’ve decided that I can use my birthday to give the present of clean water to people across the globe.
I’ve created a page at mycharity:water which is part of the parent organization Charity:Water a non-profit, tax deductible, organization with the simple goal to provide clean water to people everywhere. My goal is to give $529 by getting 23 people to all give $23. If you would like to join me in this endeavorer please visit http://mycharitywater.org/BandonRandon.
Well it’s that time of the year again where I’ll be having another birthday. September 8th to be exact. I’m gonna be 23 this year, time seems to be something that as much as we want to, try to, dream about we can’t change. This year I’ve decided to focus on an issue that I feel that I can help change. Although, birthdays aren’t about gifts and presents I’ve decided that I can use my birthday to give the present of clean water to people across the globe.
I’ve created a page at mycharity:water which is part of the parent organization Charity:Water a non-profit, tax deductible, organization with the simple goal to provide clean water to people everywhere. My goal is to give $529 by getting 23 people to all give $23. If you would like to join me in this endeavorer please visit http://mycharitywater.org/BandonRandon.