Joanna Colwell
-
Ways of Seeing: Refilling the joy coffers
“Immigration officials and law enforcement are participating in atrocities every day.”
-
Ways of Seeing: From plantations to prisons
Can we spend at least a little time each day “making our minds vast, like the sky” and envision a world where we hold life to be precious?
-
Ways of Seeing: Musical Chairs teaches a scarcity mindset
The economic system we live under is one of ruthless competition. Everything is monetized, even the most basic necessities of life.
-
Ways of Seeing: In defense of being messy
“When we are brave enough to be a little messy in public, other people benefit.”
-
Ways of Seeing: Students are on the right side of history
I challenge anyone to come up with a widespread student movement that was not proved morally correct over time, even if it was vilified by college administrations and…
-
Letter to the editor: Heffernan vote lacked kindness
Out of the entire Vermont State Senate, only five senators declined to vote “yes” on the resolution condemning the use of masked agents to kidnap students like Mohsen…
-
Ways of Seeing: A fresh look at Queen Esther
We have just passed the Jewish holiday of Purim, a time to commemorate the story of Queen Esther, who saved the Jewish people by persuading her husband that…
-
Ways of Seeing: Who are our actual criminals?
Recently I read a statistic that really blew my mind. If you add up all the theft that happens in the U.S. annually, shoplifting, car break-ins, robberies, burglaries,…
-
Letter to the editor: Criticizing Israeli regime is not antisemitism
I would like to offer another (Jewish) perspective on the Apartheid Free Communities measure on the Vergennes town meeting ballot.
-
Local project that pays people of color to do yoga is thriving
In 2020, Joanna Colwell launched a radical program at her yoga studio in Middlebury. The Yoga Equity Project would pay people of color to take classes there. The…
-
Ways of Seeing: Crises showing our vulnerability
Have you heard of the Thin Veneer Theory? This is the idea that underneath a thin layer of civility, inside we are all selfish brutes. Veneer Theory holds…
-
Ways of Seeing: Harris should apply Leahy Law
It’s a rainy Monday afternoon in Ripton, and outside I hear crickets chirping. Tonight is the beginning of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and my heart is…
-
Ways of Seeing: ‘His will that every need be supplied’
If you ask me how I am doing these days, I don’t know how to answer. My heart is breaking for Palestine. And my heart is breaking for…
-
Ways of Seeing: Let’s connect the dots for peace
It has now been more than six months since the Hamas attack of October 7, and about six months since Israel began raining bombs onto the people of…
-
Vermonters join march for peace
Joanna Colwell and Lindsey Berk have for years faithfully rallied around humanitarian and environmental causes at the local level.
-
Ways of Seeing: On preventing future suffering
I taught my first yoga classes over thirty years ago, when my teacher and mentor Gayna took her annual two-month long winter trip to Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and asked…