Updated: Sunday, 23 September 2007
"America after all it is you and I who are perfect not the next world.
Your machinery is too much for me. You made me want to be a saint."
Allen Ginsberg, in his poem "America"
TEN MINUTES OR LESS HEROBIC WORKOUTS
1) Money Yoga Workouts
Start by giving a little something to one of the groups on the good guy list that follows, here, or to a group you like that is dedicated to alleviating suffering.
Most groups ask for $15 to $35 to be a member. If you can't afford that, send a little something, even postage stamps. What's important is the act of making a contribution. Just sending a note that says "Keep up the good work!" and a few stamps will cheer up the troops at what may turn out to be your new favourite charity.
Benefits: Develops the superego, works the "gimmee" muscle. it's quick, detached, really important and deeply appreciated. The act of giving gives you a long afterglow of feeling good. You don't get your hands dirty or your heart stuck in the machinery. Oh, and hey --- some stranger out there gets food, water, medicine, freedom, hope, etc.
Heavier workout: Give a little more so it hurts a little.
Eclectic workout: Send one cheque to one good guy group per month, so you support 12 different charities per year. At year's end, review all 12. Revise? Step up support to certain groups? Add more?
Commitment workout: Dip your toe into local or national or international meetings of your group(s) as an attendee or volunteer.
Vacation workout: Visit your favourite charity HQ when you travel.
The Good Guy List
(This is the short list --- it'll grow fast. Watch this space!)
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
(The ACLU)
132 West 43rd Street
New York, N.Y. 10036-6599
AMERICANS
FOR DEMOCRATIC ACTION Compassionate America
1625 K Street, Suite 210,
Washington, D.C. 20077-2458
AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND
11 Penn Plaza, Suite 300 New York, NY 10001
Tel: 212.502.7661
TDD: 212.502.7662
Fax 212.502.7777
AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE
1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Tel. (215) 241-7000 / Fax: (215) 241-7275
AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL Fights for Human Rights and Against Torture
322 Eighth Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10001
Tel. 212 807 8400
ANIMAL RIGHTS MOBILIZATION
PO Bo 6989
Denve CO 80206
Tel. (303) 388-7120
CAMPAIGN FOR A LANDMINE
FREE WORLD
VVAF
P.O.Box 98713
Washington, D.C. 20077-7689
CARE
PO Box 13677
Philadelphia PA 19101-9027
THE
CARTER CENTER President Carter's Peace Negotiation Centre
One Copenhill, Atlanta, GA 30307
Tel. 404 420 5119
THE CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE
717 E. River Rd.
Minneapolis MN 55455
Tel. 612.626.1400
COALITION
FOR THE HOMELESS (Protects, and provides
info, baths, advice, legal, food, etc.)
89 Chambers Street, NYC
Tel. 212 964 5900
COLLEGE FUND (United Negro College Fund)
8260 Willow Oaks Corporate Dr.
PO Box 10444
Fairfax VA 22031-4511
Tel. 703.205-3400
COUNCIL OF INDIAN NATIONS
PO Box 1800
Apache Junction AZ 85217-9981
COVENANT HOUSE
JAF Box 2973
New York NY 10116-2973
(212)613-0300
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
(MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES)
P.O. Box 110
New York, N.Y. 10277-1218
- AND -
11 East 26th Street Suite 1904
New York, N.Y. 10010
Tel. 212 649 5861 AND 212-679-6800
DYING PROJECT How to help
people who are dying
Box 2228
Taos, NM 87571
Tel. 505 758 1181
EASTERN PARALYZED VETERANS ASSOCIATION
7 Mill Brook Road
Wilton, New Hampshire 03086
Promotes medical research in search of a cure for spinal cord injuries and diseases. Helps
veterans and people faced with disabilities.
FARM SANCTUARY
(Dedicated to ending the exploitation of animals on farms. Operates two shelters for
farm animals)
Farm Sanctuary - EAST
P.O. Box 150, Watkins Glen, NY 14891
Tel. 607-583-2225 Fax: 607-583-2041
Farm Sanctuary - WEST
P.O. Box 1065, Orland, CA 95963
Tel. 530-865-4617 Fax: 530-865-4622
FOOD FOR
SURVIVAL
Hunts Point Co-Op Market
355 Food Center Drive
Bronx, N.Y. 10474-9939
Tel. 718 991-4300 FAX 718 893-3442
FRESH AIR FUND
1040 Ave. of the Americas
New York NY 10138-0079
GAY MEN'S HEALTH CRISIS (GMHC)
129 W. 20th St.New York NY 10011
GOD'S
LOVE WE DELIVER Food to the extremely ill
895 Amsterdam Avenue
NYC 10025
Tel. 212 865 6500 Fax 212 865 4901
HALE HOUSE CENTER
Cares for babies in Harlem
152 West 122nd Street
NYC 10027
Tel. 212 663 0700 Fax 212 749 2888
HANUMAN FOUNDATION
Uncorrupted spiritual info centre
Box 928
Soquel, CA. 95073
For tapes: Box 61498 Santa Cruz, CA 95061
THE HEMLOCK SOCIETY
PO Box 101810
Denver CO 80250-1810
Tel. (800) 247-7421
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Tel. 202 628 4160
INTERNATIONAL PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION
WESTERN HEMISPHERE REGION (IPPF/WHR)
120 Wall St., 9th flr. New York NY 10005-3902
INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS
(American Red Cross: Tel. 1 800 842 2200)
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE
(founded by Albert Einstein) 122 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10168-1289
Tel. 212 551 3000
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE UNITED STATES
1730 M St., NW, Suite 1000
Washington DC 20036-4508
LEGAL AID SOCIETY
15 Park Row
NY NY 10038
Tel. 212 577 3300
MEALS ON WHEELS (Nice hot food for
wrinklies)
P.O. Box 6920
New York, N.Y. 10128-0016
MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY (You can still
help Mother Teresa's work out by contributing a few rupees to the order at the following
address)
Acharish Jagdish Chanda
Bose Rd.
Calcutta, West Bengal State
India
NATIONAL
COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS (Protects, and provides
info, baths, advice, legal, food, etc. )
1012 14th St. NW, #600
Washington DC 20005-3410
Tel. 202.737.6444
NATIONAL CRISTINA
FOUNDATION (donate your computer stuff to)
591 West Putnam Avenue
Greenwich, CT 06830
Tel. 1-800 274 7846 Tel. 203 622 6000 Fax. 203 622 6270
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN
PO Box 96825
Washington DC 20077-7455
NATIONAL
RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION (Jesse Jackson HERE!)
930 E. 50th St.
Chicago IL 60615
Tel. 773.373.3366
Fax. 773.373.3571
OXFAM
Founded in 1970 to respond to the Bangladesh cyclone disaster. Works with the world's
poor.
Main Office: 26 West Street
Boston, MA 02111-1206
Tel. 617 482 1211 Fax 617 728 2594
West Coast Office: 4797 Telegraph Avenue Suite 201
Oakland, CA 94609
Tel. 510 652 4388 Fax 510 652 4497
PETA (People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals)
P.O. Box 42516
Washington, D.C. 20015-0516
Tel. 301 770 8950
Tel. 301 770 7444
POPLAR SPRING ANIMAL SANCTUARY
PO Box 507, Poolesville MD 20837
Tel. (301) 428-8128
RECORDING FOR THE BLIND AND
DYSLEXIC
20 Roszel Road, Princeton, N.J. 08540
609-452-0606
THE SALVATION ARMY
They will pick up furniture, clothes, etc. Please call 212 757 2311
East 50's, local, New York Tel. 212 758 0763
SAVE THE CHILDREN
PO Box 9161
Chelsea MA 02150-9852
SEVA FOUNDATION (Eye
hospitals in India and Nepal, other projects in Guatemala, etc. Ram Dass' group.)
108 Spring Lake Drive
Chelsea, MI 48118
Tel. 313 475 1351
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER
Tel. 334 264 0286
400 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36104 (Protect people from Ku Klux Klan and other militia groups. Morris
Dees, director.)
UNICEF (UNITED NATIONS
CHILDRENS FUND)
PO Box 9729
Washington, D.C. 20077-7660
Tel. (800) 367-5437
UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
1616 P Street NW Suite 310 (Protecting the environment.)
Washington, D.C. 20036
-or-
2 Brattle Square P.O. Box 9105
Cambridge, MA 02238
UNITED FARM WORKERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO
(More than 75 % of California's grape growers still violate labour laws,
esp. minimum wage.)
P.O.BOX 62,
Keane, CA 93531
Tel. 805 822-5571 FAX 805 822 6103
SIMON WEISENTHAL CENTRE
9760 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035-9979 (Holocaust and anti-Semitism issues)
women
for women international
733 15th Street NW, Suite 340
Washington, D.C. 20005
888-504-3247 or 202-737-7705
Fax: 202-737-7709
Do you know an heroic group that deserves to be on this list? Let us hear from you!
HEROBICS SITE AWARDS***TOP TOURIST/TRIP MUST-SEE OF
1998: The
National Civil Rights Museum
Memphis, Tennessee
Nixon once said, "Jesse Jackson is a poet. Mike Dukakis is a word processor."
Marshall Frady's virtuosic work misses none of Jesse Jackson's complexity or controversy in this examination of the Sisyphean struggles and stunning successes of an enigmatic American genius and international hero. A masterpiece of scholarship, and emotional depth, this Frady's Jesse is not a hagiography.
Sometimes, after I reading a little early in the silence of the summer mornings, I'd notice that later on in the day I had unexpected courage to speak up for human rights to people with whom I would have normally kept silent, and "polite". This book is profoundly inspiring, for the awesome words and undeniably heroic deeds of the remarkable Mr. Jackson; also for the nuanced delicacy of Mr. Frady's writing. When I finished reading this extraordinary book, there was nothing left to do but to collapse sobbing. And then, of course, to somehow sniffle on out there and "Keep hope alive!" some more.
Don't miss this one. It will change you and fire you up! DK-S
copyright 1996-2003 Norman Schreiber + Debbi Kempton-Smith