Solution based advocacy keeps one hand in the soil while stretching the other to the sky. It addresses the specific social and economic justice issue(s) experienced by a particular group of people, while at the same time expanding opportunities to … Read More
Blog posts by Al
In the Spirit of Easter – Peace Begins With Me
In the spirit of Easter I ask you to vote for my friend Ted Kuntz to become the next spiritual author. As winner, Ted would get a publishing contract with Hampton Roads Publishing, a major publisher of spiritual and self … Read More
What is Solution Based Advocacy? (1)
Many of you have expressed appreciation for my blog posts sub titled: Tips for Solution Based Advocacy. In response to your question: What is solution based advocacy? I offer the following working definition. I acknowledge David Beers who gave me … Read More
More Refreshing than Miley Cyrus
If you want to find out what young people are really up to don't go to Miley's new movie. Instead, I recommend you read Youth-Driven Innovation in Canada by Vinod Rajaseekaran published in The Mark on March 29th. https://www.themarknews.com/articles/1212-youth-driven-innovation-in-canada . … Read More
‘C’ is for Canada – ‘C’ is for Caring (1)
It's time to put caring on the public policy agenda in Canada. By caring I mean the natural, freely giving care providing by individuals, families, friends and social networks. The fact is, more care is provided in Canada by families … Read More
Wiki Says: No Such Thing as the Family Movement!
A good portion of last week was spent searching for independent references for the parent advocacy or family movement because the good folks at Wikipedia ruled we didn't exist without them. This was a surreal experience. As nonsensical as: My … Read More
Geraldo Rivera – unlikely Crusader
I had an effusive e-mail on Friday, from Stefan Lorimer, the talented young communications specialist who is leading our digital media strategy around the family movement. Did you know Geraldo Rivera did an expose of Willowbrook Institution, once the largest … Read More
You Can’t Always Get What you Want… Tips for Solution Based Advocacy (3)
President Obama's health care reform bill provides insights to public policy advocates on celebrating partial victories. The fact is, not all our advocacy efforts are successful; few are transformative; and many are simply incremental, flawed with compromises. It's clear the … Read More
Barb Goode – Unsung Hero of the Disability Movement
I sat with Barb Goode during the Paralympic Opening ceremonies last Friday. As tributes were paid to Terry Fox and Rick Hansen I couldn't help but reflect on Barb's pioneering role in breaking stereotypes toward people who are labeled mentally … Read More
Whatever Happened to ‘Thank You’? Tips for Solution Based Advocacy (2)
Recently we have had a large number of Throne Speeches; Budgets; and other Government announcements. Some of these have contained good news for the community sector but you would be hard pressed to read or hear about it. Have you … Read More