Category Archives: The Examined Life

The unexamined life is not worth living.

The Seedling Scholarship: changing the world for the better

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Unless someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It’s not.
– Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel), from The Lorax

As an adult, I have always understood how fortunate I am with the opportunities that have been presented to me throughout my life. My father, who immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines, came as a teenager who only knew the words “yes” and “no.” His academic education ended with the second grade because his father needed him to work in the fields. He came to America, he once told me, to “change his luck.” He began his immigrant life as a farm worker and later spent the majority of his career as a cook. While most would say he achieved a modest goal, he and my mother lived fairly comfortable lives (they were also hard-core savers). The biggest goal my father and mother had was to ensure that their three daughters went to college and had solid careers. When we three graduated from high school and then college, and for me graduate school, they were incredibly proud.

Being in the high school environment again – through Jacob, who started his freshman year at El Cerrito High School last fall – I feel the same excitement of possibilities, of the world opening up. But for many students, the prospect of going to college is either a pipe dream or a journey fraught with challenges and barriers. And one of those barriers is financial. That was the main reason I wanted to establish a needs-based scholarship for seniors. But I want it to be more than that. If our family was going to help create opportunities, then the recipient must also “pay it forward.”

Our family – David, Jacob, Isabella, and I – established The Seedling Scholarship this year to encourage young women and men to act on their compassion and become engaged citizens by making positive contributions and to be of service to their communities – whether it be local, state, national, or overseas. The scholarship recognizes and supports a graduating El Cerrito High School senior whose passion in life is to be a social change agent and whose goal is to make the world a better, more inclusive place for their fellow human beings and/or by being compassionate stewards of and advocates for our environment and the animals on our planet.

Originally, the scholarship was named The Lorax Scholarship because I came across a line from Dr. Seuss’s book and it resonated with me. This, I thought, is exactly what the scholarship is all about. We opted out of trying to secure permission and decided upon the name The Seedling Scholarship, which embodies the same ideas and the desire to nurture our communities.

I sought to create a committee of three to be my readers, so I thank Jane, Lisa, and Kimi with all my heart. I was guided by the nurturing career and guidance counselor Bobbi Griggs in the career center. We all read the 10 applications that came in, and when it came time to run the applications through my admittedly evolving rubric, we all came to the same conclusion: the experience of learning about these amazing kids, the adversities they faced, and the successes they achieved was both humbling and profound. I truly believe that when things come too easily you don’t fully appreciate what you have. When you struggle and you stay in the battle and come out on top, victory is all the sweeter. That’s what we all learned about many of the applicants. When it came time to determine a recipient, we discussed the intangibles that go beyond GPAs and well-written essays. We talked about heart and drive. We talked about what it took to get to where these students are. We discussed who could really make their dreams come true – if they were able to get financial aid.

In the end, our readers voted on choosing two recipients. And I’d like you to meet them.

Congratulating ECHS graduating senior Monet Boyd!

Congratulating ECHS graduating senior Monet Boyd!

Monet Boyd: building a better community and empowering its members
“I have always wanted to uplift and build the people in my community, but never had the tools, network, or platform,” wrote Monet in her essay. “I want to show my people what they are capable of, so that we may grow as a collective group.” By attending Cal Poly Pomona with a dual major in urban planning and African-American Studies, Monet hopes to “promote the importance of Black business and group economics” and “educate my community about our ancestors so that we may have knowledge of ourselves.”

Monet went on to write: “I will teach young Black boys and girls their history/identity so they realize that they are capable of greatness and can change their circumstances like our ancestors have done many times before. I will teach young and old people of the struggle, the pain, the triumph, and the victories of our people so that we may love ourselves as well as one another.”

As an urban planner, Monet wrote, “I will create strategic and specific plans to renew, revitalize, and restore my community. I will make the City of Richmond a stable, eco-friendly city, as well as beautiful in all areas. The City of Richmond would reflect the hearts and the history of Richmond. These improvements will allow citizens of Richmond to understand that they deserve the best for their community; thus wanting more for themselves and others.”

In addition to excelling in academics and volunteering within her church, Monet, who will be the first in her family to attend college, works part time for the City of El Cerrito to help support her family. Among the many leadership roles she held, she was president of the Black Student Union for three years. One of her letters of recommendation cited her “resiliency, determination, and motivation…” Her AP Language and Composition teacher wrote, “Our school was recognized this year for our enormous gains in school climate over the past three years, and with all seriousness, Monet deserves significant credit in the matter for the multifaceted ways she has created community on our campus.”

I was on a business trip when the night of the Senior Awards Night, so I wasn’t there to hand the certificate to her, which truly pained me. When I saw the program, her name was under numerous awards – and for good reason. I was able to meet Monet this past week. The first thing that struck me about her was her kindness. Coupled with that was a quiet resolve. Those two traits will serve her well. In order to achieve the lofty goals she has set for herself, one has to have determination and resolve. But more importantly, one has to be passionate and compassionate. And those are the very things the Seedling Scholarship was created to reward. Congratulations, Monet!

Congratulations, ECHS graduating senior Akeilah Ward-Hale!

Congratulations, ECHS graduating senior Akeilah Ward-Hale!

Akeilah Ward-Hale: turning hardships into strengths
Akeilah and her mother have faced many hardships and challenges, but despite the challenges, she wrote in her essay, “I have learned some valuable lessons that I will carry throughout my life. I have learned to never take things for granted, to appreciate every resource I am given, to try to stay positive even in the worst situations, to work hard, and to be grateful for my mother, someone who has never given up and supported me through everything.”

She continued, “Being this low at a point in my life had inspired me to want to help people that are hurt, in pain or just stressed out…Having that certain experience in my life has pushed me to do well in school and not become another statistic that doesn’t take education seriously.” Akeilah, who will be attending Cal State East Bay in the fall, wants to become a doctor so she can provide healthcare in her community of Richmond, which she points out lacks doctors and medical insurance coverage.

Akeilah’s counselor touted the way she “consistently challenged herself throughout high school by taking Honors and AP courses.” Akeilah had juggled the demanding coursework, a part-time job, tutoring in an afterschool program, and volunteering at her church. Her counselor wrote, “Never once had she indicated that they (her mother and she) were experiencing hardship nor complained about her situation. Clearly, to persist with her education despite these circumstances displays a tremendous amount of grit. Akeilah has admitted to wanting to give up on occasion throughout her high school career, but she stayed focused on her education. To say I am proud of her is an understatement. Akeilah is one of the most inspiring students I’ve worked with in my career….”

What really resonated with me was Akeilah’s statement: “The hardships you go through is just making you stronger to succeed I life.” When I met her on campus on Friday, she exuded that sense of strength through adversity and also wisdom gained from having conquered her adversities. I felt that hard-earned confidence in her presence, and I came away with the knowledge that she will succeed in her goals because she has faced many challenges in her young life and understands what it takes to come out on top. And she believes in herself, as do we. Congratulations, Akeilah!

The Seedling Scholarship is very proud to offer scholarships to these deserving two young women in its inaugural year!

An Evening with Kazuo Ishiguro: remembering and forgetting

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An artist’s concern is to capture beauty wherever he finds it.
 – Kazuo Ishiguro, British novelist of Japanese origin, from An Artist of the Floating World

Being introduced at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley.

Being introduced at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley.

The last time I saw the novelist Kazuo Ishiguro at a reading was 10 years ago at the now-defunct bookstore, A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books in San Francisco, when his then-latest novel, Never Let Me Go, came out. I remembered being stunned that he had advocated against setting novels in a specific time and place. The Remains of the Day, When We Were Orphans, A Pale View of the Hills, An Artist of the Floating World – these novels were set in a specific time and place and they captured that time and place so exquisitely. He advocated for universality because that allowed for inclusivity – more readers to be drawn in interest wise and thus a greater opportunity for the writer to touch a greater number of readers. I wasn’t convinced because I thought then and still think today that themes of humanity can come through successfully from a particular person, time, and place, but any time a great novelist speaks, I deeply consider what he or she says.

Ishiguro was speaking in defense of Never Let Me Go, his science fiction-genre novel, a departure from his earlier works. I confess that I tried to read Never Let Me Go two different times when it first came out, and I just couldn’t get into it. Interestingly, Ishiguro told us that he wrote the novel twice in the 1990s. He wanted to write about characters having to face a limited lifestyle in futuristic England. He had two pieces of the puzzle but needed a “situation to make it work.” “Out of desperation, I wanted to get this thing to work, to get my flying machine to fly,” he told us. “Only when it’s flying do I see so many rich things out there when you’re trying to get your writing to work. There are so many ways to tell a story.” Indeed, there are so many ways to tell a story. There are so many choices a writer makes – what to tell, what to leave out, which are traits of Ishiguro’s first-person narrators that I admire so deeply. Ishiguro deftly shows us flawed protagonists who struggle with what to tell us and what to leave buried.

Discussing his new novel.

Discussing his new novel in this beautiful venue.

The Buried Giant
Interestingly, his latest novel The Buried Giant is set at a time in Britain long after the Romans withdrew from the country in the fifth century. But the theme of his previous novels is inherent in The Buried Giant. He told the capacity crowd that this novel is about forgetting and remembering and exploring these questions: When is it time really to face up to the past? When is it better to remember, when is it better to forget – both as an individual and as a nation? When Ishiguro was working through the theme of remembering the past from a nation perspective, he thought of the potential settings – science fiction, France after WWII, and apartheid South Africa. But he set it in Britain during the country’s “blank history” of ethnic cleansing. “That appealed to me to stand metaphorically for the uneasy peace between two factions,” he explained.

And he took on the genre of a fable – mythic but grounded in the physical. He said he “could do something special” with ogres, wolves, and bears as supernatural characters. Ishiguro confessed to not knowing Arthurian times very well, but he is well-versed in Japanese folk tales, is obsessed with Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey, and has a soft spot for Sherlock Holmes (as a child) and western movies. The samurai comes to a town that has a demon problem. The aging, lonely gunslinger and his horse can’t accept that they’re past their prime.

Talking about his close connection to Berkeley.

Talking about his close connection to Berkeley with novelist Michael David Lukas.

The Buried Giant is also about two people growing old together and wrestling with memory and forgetfulness, against the backdrop of a nation trying to forget what one faction has done to another within its borders. As for the love story theme, Ishiguro was exploring what happens to a couple’s love for one another if and when they lose their shared memories. “There’s a real need on our part to see everything good and bad, to withstand everything,” he said, when two people share their lives.

Reading the first three pages of The Buried Giant.

Reading the first three pages of The Buried Giant.

Berkeley roots, singer/songwriter
Berkeley holds a special place for Ishiguro because after his schooling, at age 29, he came to America and hitchhiked along the west coast in the 1970s. He was a singer/songwriter at the time and landed in San Francisco – specifically Berkeley – with his guitar and his rucksack because that’s where his musical heroes hailed from and it was also the “center” of the American counter-culture. He revealed that he had slept in the hillsides and worked at a baby food factory for six months.

The turning point in his life came when his guitar was stolen in San Francisco. He admitted that the record company rejections also played a hand in his decision to switch from being a singer/songwriter to a novelist. He skipped the “early bad stages” a writer endures because his songs were full of the adolescent angst and experimental purple prose, which often emerge in the works of first-time writers. Being a singer/songwriter aided him as a writer in other ways. “Songs have so few words,” and the words are “below the surface,” according to Ishiguro. He added, “The transaction is very first-person intimate, confessional. It’s the kind of atmosphere created in first-person narratives.” Ah, that makes sense, given how Ishiguro approaches his novels!

Ishiguro was very gracious while signing his books.

Ishiguro was very gracious while signing his books.

Representing humanity
Following the Q&A format with novelist Michael David Lukas, Ishiguro responded to a young woman’s revelation that in her high school world literature course he “represented” Asia. Of course, everyone laughed, including Ishiguro. He admitted that early in his career he couldn’t help but think of himself as representing Japan to British and felt that his job was “explaining the mysterious Japanese mind to the western world.” Although he only spent the first five years of his life in Japan, at a certain point he made a “conscious decision to be a Japanese writer.” But he got very frustrated trying to write about “human questions, stuff that we all share, universal themes” within the narrow framework of “representing Japan” So when he wrote his third novel, The Remains of the Day, it was a turning point in his life. “I don’t want to represent Asia. I just want to be a novelist not a cultural correspondent,” he said at the time and still is his strong belief today.

Ishiguro was very gracious while signing his books.

A Ziploc bag full of pens – he’ll need them with the long line of admirers who were clutching their copy of The Buried Giant and wrapping around the inside of the church.

Ishiguro responded to questions posed by audience members who had read The Buried Giant and wanted him to comment on what he called its “picaresque providential ending.” He said he is trying to leave the reader with a certain emotion but no practical suggestions on how to solve anything. He concluded, “My main ambition is simply to share emotions. It’s not a bad thing. We need fiction. We need music. So people can share emotions with one another. It’s not a huge thing, but I think it is, ultimately.” Indeed, after a wonderful evening of him sharing his backstory and his new novel, I can’t wait to read The Buried Giant.

Me and Kazuo!

Me and Kazuo!

Melody Shah: sharing ‘brain-shattering’ outdoor and classroom adventures

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Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.
– Edward Abbey, American author and essayist

Melody at Snow Tongue Pass, Sierra High Route.

Melody at Snow Tongue Pass, Sierra High Route.

In the summer of 2014, Melody Shah, El Cerrito High School teacher and LUNAFEST East Bay Committee member, and her husband, Sati, spent two months hiking a 600-mile High loop in California’s High Sierra. They started south from Sonora on trails to Road’s End in King’s Canyon at the South Fork of the King’s River in the southern Sierra Nevada, and hiked cross-country on the Sierra High Route back to Twin Lakes in northern Yosemite. Their trip, specifically through the 195-mile Sierra High Route in King’s Canyon National Park, is the subject of their talk at the REI Berkeley store (1338 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702, 510.527.4140) on Wednesday, March 18th, 7 to 8:30pm, and the REI San Francisco store (840 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, 415.934.1938) on Wednesday, March 25th, 7 to 8:30pm. “I want to take our experiences and share them with a larger audience,” she said of her objective for the talks. With the Berkeley event sold out and on waitlist, and the San Francisco event almost sold out, Melody will definitely achieve her goal.

A beautiful view of the Swiss Alps.

A beautiful view of the Swiss Alps.

When the LUNAFEST East Bay committee convenes in the fall to begin preparations for our spring film festival “by, for, about women,” the 10 of us look forward to hearing about Melody’s spring break and summer backcountry explorations. When we meet in January, we get updates of winter holiday adventures. Just to give you an unfairly brief overview, in January 2013, Melody and Sati paraglided with friends in Yelapa, a small beach town in Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco, Mexico. In the summer later that same year, they lived in the Azores and paraglided off of volcanoes. She has also gone paragliding in Indonesia and British Columbia, and traversed the European Alps from west to east, which included flying, hiking, and backpacking across France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Slovenia. On that latter paragliding trip, she launched off of flower-covered mountainsides and glided across valleys. “That perspective of these amazing landscapes is so freeing and other-worldly,” she told me. She’s canyoneered in California’s Sierra Nevada and throughout Southern Utah, including Zion National Park and Escalante National Monument, and toured the backcountry of Eastern Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains. And in 2005, she spent two months completing 700 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail through California’s high country.

Melody and Sati atop Mt. Whitney.

Melody and Sati atop Mt. Whitney.

I haven’t been camping in years and I confess I’m acrophobic, and that’s exactly why I am in awe of and inspired by, what I call, Melody’s acts of courage. Since 2004, she’s chronicled her adventures in her interweb, Range of Light!, which boasts some beautiful images of nature across the continents. When I marveled at how fearless she is, Melody interjected, saying, “I have a lot of fears, but in order to overcome them, I don’t deny fear.” When she first began preparing for her outdoor adventures, she admitted that she was “super terrified.” “I didn’t know I could do these things,” she confided. “But as I went through each adventure and gained strength, knowledge, and skills, my confidence grew. One of the most important goals of the experience for me is becoming more capable and then allowing fear to be a consideration and a way to analyze and strategically approach the risks. Fear keeps me smart and safe about the whole adventure.”

Melody, her two brothers, and her mom at Fundy National Park, New Brunswick, Canada, August 1984.

Melody, her two brothers, and her mom at Fundy National Park, New Brunswick, Canada, August 1984.

Roots: Love of the outdoors, love of design
Melody hails from Merrimac, MA, on the New Hampshire border. Her love of the outdoors can be traced to her mother, Joyce Audy Zarins, artist, sculptor, and children’s book author and illustrator. All of the family vacations taken when her mother was a single parent were outdoor trips, as were many of them after her mother remarried. Melody, her two siblings, her mother, and later, her stepfather camped, hiked, and canoed. “She wasn’t scared to take a bunch of us kids down a river for a few days,” Melody related, with a laugh.

Baiba, Melody, and her mom canoeing the Saco River in Maine, July 1984.

Baiba, Melody, and her mom canoeing the Saco River in Maine, July 1984.

She also inherited her mother’s artistic talents. Melody graduated from Syracuse University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in art media, with a focus on 3D modeling and animation. That summer, she helped put together an exhibit for the annual SIGGRAPH conference on computer graphics and design in Los Angeles. She ended up landing a job in the Bay Area, and she’s remained a California resident ever since.

When Melody began working for advertising agencies, the first Internet boom was ramping up. “Young people were the ones who knew about the Internet, so it was a great time to come out of college and find a job easily,” she explained. In her first job, she designed websites for public and private organizations – including the White House – at a time when websites were just emerging. When her work shifted to online advertising, something she didn’t want to do, she went back to school. At San Francisco State University, she studied lightweight composite design specifically for backcountry snowboarding gear, with the intent on being an outdoor gear designer. With her degree in industrial design, she planned to marry her love of the outdoors with her career.

Melody's students in the ITA at El Cerrito High School.

Melody’s students in the ITA at El Cerrito High School.

While in school, Melody taught college and adult classes at City College and CELLSpace (now Inner Mission), a community-based hub for artistic and cultural classes and events, both in San Francisco. She taught in the motion graphics department at Ex’pression College for Visual Arts in Emeryville. In 2007, she “answered the call” to teach at El Cerrito High School, and since then has been teaching digital art and design classes as the Lead Teacher of the Information Technology Academy (ITA) – one of the local beneficiaries of LUNAFEST’s fundraising efforts – and digital photography ROP classes and media classes within the Media Academy. “I love the idea of having a job where I can share the things that I’m passionate about with people and feel that I’m contributing to the community in a positive way,” Melody said.

Sati and Melody camping - 'home away from home.'

Sati and Melody camping – ‘home away from home.’

Opening up opportunities and the world
Teaching high school students is “a totally different world” versus teaching college students and adults, but Melody pointed out that the goal remains the same: give students an environment to collaborate, solve problems, and create art and design through technology in a way that is meaningful to them. “In the academy setting, I can foster this community within the bigger school and give kids a place of their own, and empower them with skills that help build their confidence and help them shape their identity,” she said. When companies hire ITA students upon completion of their internships because of the skills that the students learned and brought to the table, she enthused, “It’s really powerful and impactful and validating. Those moments are great.” Melody hears often from ITA graduates who are majoring in art and design in universities and colleges or are now in the workforce, working for companies such as Pixar.

Paragliding at Big Sur.

Paragliding at Big Sur.

She illustrates visual design concepts in the classroom leveraging content from her travels. In doing so, she shares her love of the outdoors and her traveling adventures with her students. “It introduces an element of fun, but the kids also appreciate and respect me because they see that I have these skills outside of the classroom,” she explained.

Melody has also engaged her ITA students to participate as volunteers at LUNAFEST. She became involved with the film festival when the East Bay Committee invited her to join four years ago while she was teaching a video class at the school. “I feel lucky to be part of that group, being a part of something positive for the community,” she said, referring to the committee members and their work, as well as fundraising for the ITA and the Breast Cancer Fund. “It’s also important for students to be exposed to positive messages,” she added.

Hiking the Sierra, with a stunning view before them (photo credit: Ki Hong).

Hiking the Sierra, with a stunning view before them (photo credit: Ki Hong).

She likes that the films selected for LUNAFEST offer such diverse viewpoints in storytelling. “I have a love for the telling of a story; a lot of my work with students is helping them articulate and tell their stories,” she said. ITA students who volunteer at the VIP event and the film festival are not only exposed to the good work being done around breast cancer prevention but are introduced to the filmmaking world – using video as the medium to tell a story. The message she imparts to kids about the film festival: It’s possible to have your story shared and celebrated via a platform such as LUNAFEST and become something meaningful to other people. Her students watch the films in class and Melody admitted that many of the films are “outside of the students’ comfort zone,” but she likes challenging them to widen their world and be open to other messages and styles. “They have responded well,” she reported. “They like being surprised.”

Backcountry skiing in the Sierras.

Backcountry skiing in the Sierras.

Teaching, Melody acknowledges, is a “funny job.” “There are some things that are very pragmatic and very black and white that you try to give to your kids, but skills are only part of it,” she revealed. “I hope the kids start to think of life as an adventure. I hope they know that they are empowered to advocate for themselves and communicate with confidence about the things that they can do or that they know how to do. I hope that they foster curiosity about the world outside their comfort zone and learn to recognize that being curious is going to open up opportunities that would be missed otherwise.” When her students adopt her enthusiasm for and philosophy of life – and her graduates are proof of that certainty – her hopes will indeed have been realized. And their worlds will open up like leopard lilies along the Pacific Crest Trail high up in the Sierras.

Launching at Chamonix, the French Alps.

Launching at Chamonix, the French Alps.

10 Reasons to attend LUNAFEST

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A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture, and transform.
– Diane Mariechild, American author and lecturer on women and Buddhism

Only 14 more days until LUNAFEST! The one-evening women’s film festival, hosted by the LUNAFEST East Bay Committee, will be presented on Saturday evening, 7:30pm, at the El Cerrito High School Performing Arts Center, 540 Ashbury Avenue, El Cerrito, CA. If you haven’t gotten your ticket yet to this inspiring film festival, let me offer you 10 inspiring reasons to go.

1. Come to the VIP event preceding LUNAFEST at 6pm, 638 Clayton Avenue, El Cerrito, CA, a block away from the film screening. Mingle with our honored guests, Jeanne Rizzo, RN, president and CEO of the Breast Cancer Fund, and filmmakers Emily Fraser and Katherine Gorringe. This year, personal chef Sirona Skinner Nixon and her wife and partner, Sinead O’Rourke, of S&S Foods, are creating amazing food for our event, which is being paired with wine and beer, donated by local businesses Grey Fox Vineyards (90 Grey Fox Lane, Oroville, CA 95966, 530.589.3920), Trumer Brauerie (1404 4th St., Berkeley, 94710, 510.526.1160) and Lagunitas Brewing Company (1280 N. McDowell Boulevard, Petaluma, CA, 94954, 707.769.4495). Get your VIP tickets here, or contact me.

Sinead and Sirona cheffing a 30-guest dinner.

Sinead and Sirona cheffing a 30-guest dinner.

2. While at the VIP event – or if you are just going to the film festival – find a friendly raffle ticket seller and buy tickets to try to win some amazing prizes, including a Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, donated by the Whittier Education Foundation, and a GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition, donated by GoPro. The LUNAFEST East Bay Committee has been incredibly fortunate to have wonderful local businesses support our fundraising efforts with donations. Check out our raffle board to see other bundled prizes.

3. This year, Tatsumaki Taiko, a group of women Taiko drummers, including breast cancer survivors, will be entertaining attendees before the film festival, in front of the ECHS Performing Arts Center, beginning at 7pm. Taiko is an ancient Japanese form of percussion using large drums that has evolved into a complex musical art form that features tightly choreographed movements that are aligned with Japanese martial arts. Linger outside and appreciate the loud, hard, and fast music!

4. The main beneficiary of the traveling LUNAFEST film festival is the Breast Cancer Fund, whose tagline is “Prevention Starts Here” and whose mission is “to prevent breast cancer by eliminating our exposure to toxic chemicals and radiation linked to the disease.” Please learn more about what this important nonprofit organization – backed by peer-reviewed scientific research – is doing to educate and protect women about the dangers we face in our environment. As the Breast Cancer Fund entreats: “Together we can stop this disease before it starts.” Get educated and be an advocate. Do it for yourself and your friends. Do it for your daughters and granddaughters – and, really, your whole family.

Jeanne Rizzo with Gwen Collman, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, at the Breast Cancer Fund Heroes Celebration.

Jeanne Rizzo with Gwen Collman, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, at the Breast Cancer Fund Heroes Celebration.

5. Support El Cerrito High School’s Information Technology Academy (ITA), the main local beneficiary of the LUNAFEST East Bay Committee’s festival. In the past, LUNAFEST proceeds have enabled the ITA to provide its students with a classroom set of digital drawing tablets, cameras, lights, and a 3D printer. This small learning community is supported by TechFutures, a nonprofit organization established by Mr. and Mrs. Ron Whittier to give underserved West Contra Costa Unified School District students an opportunity to have career-focused courses in digital art and computer systems management subjects. To boot, ITA teacher Melody Shah is also a LUNAFEST East Bay Committee member.

6. Be inspired by our LUNAFEST welcome, which will be given by Jeanne Rizzo, RN, president and CEO of the Breast Cancer Fund. I was honored to have interviewed her in February and learned about her incredibly full life and the passion and compassion fueling it. Learn about her here. Be inspired by her in person. And by all means, meet her in the lobby after the screening. You will go home wanting to fulfill, or continue fulfilling, your own life!

Jeanne Rizzo, RN, president and CEO of the Breast Cancer Fund, giving a TED talk.

Jeanne Rizzo, RN, president and CEO of the Breast Cancer Fund, giving a TED talk.

7. Filmmakers Emily Fraser and Katherine Gorringe, whose short film “Lady Parts” was chosen for this year’s LUNAFEST, will be featured in a brief on-stage interview before the film screening. They will discuss the making of “Lady Parts” – “in an industry dominated by men, Lady Parts Automotive brings a woman’s touch.” Read about these amazing women and what inspires them, and meet them after the screening.

Emily Fraser, Mae De La Calzada of Lady Parts Automotive, and Katherine Gorringe, taking a break from filming.

Emily Fraser, Mae De La Calzada of Lady Parts Automotive, and Katherine Gorringe, taking a break from filming.

8. See eight great short films “for, by, about women.” This year’s selections once again celebrate the diversity of women’s lives and viewpoints as shared through the eyes of nine women filmmakers. One of the goals of LUNAFEST is “connecting women through film,” which is especially urgent and poignant in an industry where women representation is shamefully low. Let’s support women in film – from story to subject to filmmaker to producer to every other aspect of bringing a film to a hungry female audience – and celebrate their creativity, poetry, courage, and perseverance.

Behind the scenes: Emily and Katherine capture Mae's warm and upbeat personality on film.

Behind the scenes: Emily and Katherine filming “Lady Parts.”

9. Stay a bit in the lobby after the screening and engage in conversation with family and friends about the eight great short films we all shared together. Enjoy a fresh cup of complimentary coffee donated by Kevin O’Neil and Jen Komaromi of Well Grounded Tea & Coffee Bar (6925 Stockton Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, 510.528.4709), who have generously supported LUNAFEST and other local fundraising efforts. Indulge in a cupcake or cookie baked by Pam and Ron Braxton of Braxtons’ Boxes, who were part of our Dessert Circle last year and sold out of their wonderfully baked goods. A big shout-out to Zachary Braxton, who charmed attendees with his big smile and great customer service. Support our local businesses on the 21st and beyond!

Delicious cupcakes and cookies at the Dessert Circle - oh my!

Delicious cupcakes and cookies at the Dessert Circle baked with love by Braxtons’ Boxes and served by Zachary Braxton.

10. Seize the evening! Make a women’s night out of LUNAFEST. Share a special evening with your daughter (and/or son!). Bring your whole family. As women – multitasking nurturers and caregivers – we often don’t take time out for ourselves because we’re so caught up on making sure everyone else is fine. Do yourself a much-needed favor and enjoy a relaxing evening full of art across many different forms, beauty, knowledge about our health, friendship, family and community – all of which contribute to making our lives full. We have a lot to be thankful for, so celebrate big.

So this is what it feels like to have a "red-carpet moment." I'll take it!

The LUNAFEST East Bay Committee is ready to roll out the red carpet for our March 21st event. See you there!

Jeanne Rizzo: The Road to the Breast Cancer Fund and LUNAFEST, Part II

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Man’s attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature. But man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself? [We are] challenged as mankind has never been challenged before to prove our maturity and our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.
– Rachel Carson, American nature author, marine biologist, and conservationist

Jeanne Rizzo, RN.

Jeanne Rizzo in her student nursing days.

When I asked Jeanne, in our interview in February, how she came to the Breast Cancer Fund (1388 Sutter St., Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94109-5400, 866.760.8223), she admitted that her biography doesn’t reflect a resume that would align with her current position. She began her career as a nurse, with passionate interest in women’s health and public health in social justice issues. After she was drawn into the music, film, and theater world, which was also a great love of hers, she spent a decade doing pro bono work for nonprofits engaged in health, social justice, and environmental causes.

Engaging in breast cancer activism
While Jeanne produced benefit concerts and other activities during the AIDS crisis, she hadn’t done any pro bono work around breast cancer until she volunteered to produce the premiere of “Rachel’s Daughters: Searching for the Environmental Causes of Breast Cancer” at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre in September 1997. Allie Light and Irving Saraf’s documentary, which was produced by Nancy Evans, was a response to the breast cancer diagnosis handed down to Light and Saraf’s then 39-year-old daughter. The film was named in honor of American marine biologist and conservationist Rachel Carson, who died of breast cancer in 1964, two years after the publication of her groundbreaking environmental science book Silent Spring, which exposed the dangers of synthetic pesticides and thus helped to spur the global and American environmental movements. Reaction to the book led to the ban of DDT for agricultural uses and the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Rachel’s Daughters” highlighted the efforts of a group of activists whose goal was to unearth the science of breast cancer and the politics of the breast cancer epidemic. Light and Saraf wanted to introduce a proactive response to the disease and raise public awareness of known and suspected causes of breast cancer, and potential strategies to reduce the risk of and even prevent breast cancer. This approach proposed a radical shift away from the then-current retrospective public health campaign of detection and treatment.

Left to right, Andrea Martin, Leslie Henrichsen of Clif Bar & Co., and Jeanne in 2002.

Left to right, Andrea Martin, Leslie Henrichsen of Clif Bar & Co., and Jeanne in 2002.

The premiere sold out, and afterwards Andrea Martin, founder and executive director of the Breast Cancer Fund and breast cancer survivor, reached out to Jeanne for help to organize a 1998 mountain climb of Alaska’s Mount McKinley, also known as Denali, and a film about the event. Despite her ongoing work on a project about war widows in Vietnam and a concert with Grammy Award-winning Sweet Honey in the Rock, and despite having never produced a film, Jeanne jumped at the opportunity: “I said yes, I said yes, I would do this.” She was already thinking about leveraging music to help tell the story of 12 women, including five breast cancer survivors, whose mission was to scale the highest peak in North America. With all her connections in the music industry, including the Indigo Girls, Sweet Honey, k.d. lang, Nanci Griffith, and Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jeanne said, “I felt that’s what I could bring.” Her role grew to include fundraising and being executive producer. “Climb Against the Odds” won multiple film festival awards, earned international acclaim, and aired on PBS stations across the country, but most importantly, the documentary raised awareness of breast cancer and the Breast Cancer Fund’s call to action.

Through Breast Cancer Fund board member Donna Westmoreland’s connections, the nonprofit organization partnered with the Lilith Fair, a concert tour and traveling music festival that comprised female-led bands and female solo artists, which allowed Jeanne to further leverage her music connections. Through this partnership, the Breast Cancer Fund was chosen as the nonprofit breast cancer group that would tour with the festival. In the years that it ran, from 1997 to 1999, Lilith Fair raised more than $10 million for various women’s charities in North America. Jeanne played a significant role managing the Breast Cancer Fund’s participation on the tours, while still running her own business. “I just kept getting drawn in to one project after another,” she explained. More importantly, she was also intrigued by Andrea’s work in the area of breast cancer research and the environmental causes of the disease.

Jeanne and her wife, Pali Cooper, with executive producer Betsy Gordon, CA Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, and CA State Senator Mark Leno, 2008.

Jeanne and her wife, Pali Cooper, (to her right) with Geoff Callan (behind to her right), filmmaker of Pursuit of Equality; Betsy Gordon (to her left), who funded the film; CA Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom; and CA State Senator Mark Leno, 2008.

A Shift in focus
Up until 1998, six years after the Breast Cancer Fund was founded, the nonprofit was focused primarily on raising funds and giving grants to researchers who were trying to develop non-toxic treatments and alternatives to mammography, and to support access-to-care issues. While the work was important, Andrea felt that something was missing, Jeanne recalled. “She was really among the first people to raise the question of environmental causation – factors in causing breast cancer that were not the known and accepted risk factors,” Jeanne said. She was fascinated by Andrea’s quest to drill down into environmental causes. Jeanne accompanied her to board meetings and other meetings, conferences, and study groups with researchers and public health officials that the Breast Cancer Fund hosted, all the while still running her business.

When Andrea was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in May 2001, she stepped down as executive director. Given her involvement, Jeanne offered to help on a temporary basis to stabilize the nonprofit that she cared deeply about. When the board asked for an extension, she figured she could stay a year longer. “I didn’t leave,” she said, with a laugh. “I forgot to leave; the board forgot to ask me to leave. And at the end of the year, I thought: This is my calling.” Jeanne dove deep into the science, commissioning a report called the “State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment.” “We had to ask and answer the question: Is there enough scientific evidence to justify this organization focusing on the environment? And that’s what we did,” Jeanne declared. “We said, ‘That’s our mission – to focus on reducing exposure to toxic chemicals and radiation.'” The purpose of raising funds shifted from giving out grants to developing programs “to aggregate, translate, and communicate the science” for the creation of public policy and market-based campaigns, Jeanne explained.

Jeanne speaking at a public forum hosted by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, the Breast Cancer Fund, and the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, February 2013.

Jeanne speaking at a public forum hosted by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, the Breast Cancer Fund, and the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, February 2013.

From Mount McKinley to LUNAFEST
You could say that the seeds of LUNAFEST – or the relationships that were instrumental in the creation of LUNAFEST – were sown on the climb up Mount McKinley in 1998. When Jeanne was helping to organize the mountain climb, which she laughingly admitted she knew very little about, the climbers told her they needed good food – including energy bars – that wouldn’t freeze at the summit. PowerBar, the best-selling energy bar at the time, was already too hard and would be inedible at high altitudes. In a moment of serendipity, Jeanne discovered Clif Bar while on a bike ride in Oregon. When she returned home and found that Clif Bar (1451 66th Street, Emeryville, CA 94608, 800.254.3227) was based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she reached out to founder Gary Erickson, who enthusiastically came on board with the project and supplied the climbing team with his energy bars.

Jeanne (photo credit: Irene Young).

Jeanne (photo credit: Irene Young).

Jeanne and Gary stayed in touch and then got together again in 1999 to discuss the launch of LUNA, Clif Bar’s healthful energy bar for women. Gary, whose mother was a breast cancer survivor, committed to putting the Breast Cancer Fund logo on the bar wrapper and giving a percentage of proceeds to the nonprofit organization. The collaboration continued as the Breast Cancer Fund and LUNA began brainstorming the establishment of an “art reach program” – reaching people through art and building community. During this time, while “Climb Against the Odds” was making the rounds of the film festival circuit, Jeanne noticed that many screenings paired feature films with short films by women filmmakers. She brought her observation back to LUNA, and LUNAFEST, a national traveling festival of short films “by, for, about women,” was born.

In the first year, 35 filmmakers submitted applications. The following year, around 100 films were considered. Now, under the amazing direction of Clif Bar Co-owner, Kit Crawford, LUNAFEST draws nearly 1,000 submissions and more than 150 cities across the country are participating in the 2014-2015 season, validating its legitimacy as a respected, sought-after festival by both filmmakers and film aficionados. The festival also appeals to supporters of breast cancer prevention – the Breast Cancer Fund is the main beneficiary – and local nonprofits – each host city or local organization supports a designated nonprofit to receive a portion of the proceeds.

Jeanne and John Replogle, president and CEO of Seventh Generation, Inc., February 2015.

Jeanne and John Replogle, president and CEO of Seventh Generation, Inc., February 2015.

LUNA and the Breast Cancer Fund determined early on that LUNAFEST would not be a festival about breast cancer films, that the subject matter would not be a criterion for acceptance. “We wanted it to be a combination of showing different filmmaking styles and skill sets,” Jeanne explained. “We wanted stories that felt authentic and were well done.” In the 14 years since LUNAFEST’s founding, every year these stories “by, for, about women” still reflect this authenticity, which, coincidentally, also reflect Jeanne’s personal code – to be honest and true, and, therefore, to be a better person fully present in the world.

Postscript: Jeanne will be an honored guest at the VIP event hosted by the LUNAFEST East Bay Committee on March 21st at 6:00pm, 638 Clayton Avenue, El Cerrito. Following the reception, the LUNAFEST film festival will be shown at 7:30pm at the El Cerrito High School Performing Arts Center, at 540 Ashbury Avenue, one block up from the VIP event. Jeanne will open the festival with the welcome and will be available to meet after the screening. Come visit with her at either event. You can purchase tickets (for the VIP event/film festival or just the film festival) here or contact me directly.

Jeanne Rizzo: Connecting to the indomitable spirit, Part I

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Believe. No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted island, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.
– Helen Keller, American author, political activist, and lecturer

Jeanne Rizzo, RN, president and CEO of the Breast Cancer Fund (photo credit: Irene Young).

Jeanne Rizzo (photo credit: Irene Young).

I first heard Jeanne Rizzo, RN, president and CEO of the Breast Cancer Fund, speak at the San Francisco premiere of the 2013-2014 LUNAFEST film festival in September 2013. She approached the podium on crutches and in her introduction announced that she had pushed back her knee replacement surgery in order to attend the premiere. Jeanne shared with us the responses she received from women when she explained that she had hurt her knee while playing beach Frisbee. The older group of women winced and asked why she had put herself at risk, while the younger generation wanted to know: Did she catch it? Yes, she, indeed, caught the Frisbee. “I had a moment in the air that felt great,” Jeanne shared. “I connected to the indomitable spirit.” That story resonated with me as much as the wonderful short films that were shown that evening.

Taking risks, savoring joyful moments
Jeanne, who turns 69 this year, noted that in her era women’s options of what they could be were severely limited. However, despite growing up poor, she was the first one in her Italian immigrant family to go to college, she related to me in an interview in February. While the previous generation of women and her own followed a predictable life trajectory, Jeanne developed an attitude of doing what she wanted and challenging people who threw up barriers and told her she couldn’t do it. This attitude served her well when she and her partner at the time opened up the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco in the 1970s. “I thought, ‘Well, why not? Why not us? Why can’t we do this?'” she said matter-of-factly. In her eyes, the excitement of trying something new outweighed the risks, and the worst thing that could happen was losing money on a failed venture. “I’m willing to take intellectual, emotional, and social justice risks,” she declared. “I think it’s critical that we stand up and step out.”

Jeanne and San Francisco jazz and blues critic Phil Elwood at the Windham Hill Festival, Greek Theater, Sept. 11, 1983.

Jeanne and San Francisco jazz and blues critic Phil Elwood at the Windham Hill Festival, Greek Theater, Sept. 11, 1983.

Also critical, according to Jeanne, is being attuned and recognizing something special through one’s passion or compassion, and acting on that recognition. In the early 1970s, a guy on a bicycle refused to leave the Great American Music Hall box office until he had a chance to speak with Jeanne, who was responsible for booking concerts at the venue. After he talked his way on-stage for a brief audition and “blew her away” with his singing, she booked him for a gig and agreed to his request for a 100 percent advance on the spot. “I remember going back in and saying, ‘I just spoke to a guy who I don’t know and I gave him his full fee in advance. I have no idea what his phone number is or where he lives or whether he’’s going to come back on his bicycle or not,'” she said, and laughed. But, she added, “There was joy in that. There was joy in being right on, recognizing something special and being willing to be there with it. That was one of the most joyful moments for me.” Oh, and the singer? Jeanne revealed that it was none other than Bobby McFerrin.

We’re all in this together
Jeanne thrives on seeing the best of herself in a situation like that or seeing the best in someone else. And she has that opportunity to bear witness time and again with her colleagues at the Breast Cancer Fund (1388 Sutter St., Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94109-5400, 866.760.8223), whose groundbreaking work and mission is to “prevent breast cancer by eliminating our exposure to the toxic chemicals and radiation linked to the disease.” Any team – be it a production crew for a concert or film or staff at an emergency room or hospital – requires different skills to come together and achieve goals. “There are people who are better than you at every single element of the work,” Jeanne said. “You want people around you who are going to bring something – that spirit – that’s going to make the whole greater.”

Jeanne speaks, with her wife Pali Cooper and CA Senator Dianne Feinstein by her side.

Jeanne speaks, with her wife, Pali Cooper, and CA Senator Dianne Feinstein by her side.

The same holds true for women who go through the journey of overcoming breast cancer, according to Jeanne. After the diagnosis, these women have to turn the corner, so to speak, and find the will to be able to turn the corner. In order to do so, they need to surround themselves with a team that will help them imagine health and wellness. “If you could be one of the people there for them in that moment, why wouldn’t you be?” Jeanne posed, and then repeated, “Why wouldn’t you be?” While Jeanne is not a breast cancer survivor, she understands what “coming close to the edge” feels like as a survivor of a head-on collision with a drunk driver on the Golden Gate Bridge in 1987 and then as a long-term rehab patient. “I know what it’s like to bring yourself back,” she confided.

The Prevention movement: ‘Start with one thing’
Jeanne pointed out that, tragically, women under 40 who are diagnosed with breast cancer have a much higher mortality rate than women diagnosed over the age of 40. These young women are much more vocal, righteous, and impatient, Jeanne has observed, which may be in part generationally driven. “But the thing that gives me hope is that you can worry about survival,” she said. Women can be concerned about every aspect – survival, treatment, access to care, preventing a recurrence, and the legacy of daughters and granddaughters and the next generation of women – because they are not mutually exclusive. “You don’t have to say, ‘Well, I can’t really think about preventing it because I already have it.’ I know more and more women with breast cancer who are very concerned about prevention,” Jeanne said. “It’s their own health and wellness in preventing a recurrence or them not wanting this to happen to one more woman.”

Jeanne and Gwen Coleman, PhD, of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Jeanne and Gwen Collman, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, at the Breast Cancer Fund Heroes Celebration.

When I asked Jeanne what one piece of advice she would give to a woman regarding breast cancer prevention, she prefaced her response by acknowledging that there are so many things that can be done. That said, Jeanne entreated: “Start with one thing. Don’t try to take it all on. Just find something you’re passionate about.” Be conscious about whatever the greatest exposure might be and find that one thing. For example, if you live in an agricultural region where pesticides are sprayed, that one thing might be only buying and eating organic food or establishing a community garden. A mother with young children might get rid of toys in the house that are made with toxic chemicals or drive a campaign to eliminate toxic chemicals in the playground equipment at her children’s school or the local park. A woman may research whether her cosmetics have cancer-causing chemicals and opt for safer products or establish a social media campaign with friends to bring awareness to what chemicals they are unknowingly putting on their faces or their bodies.

“Do that one thing that you can feel good about so that you’re not overwhelmed and paralyzed,” Jeanne said. “If every woman contributes one bit of her energy to one element or one aspect of the toxic exposures that we have, we will have a movement.” People need to voice their concerns and raise questions about, for example, whether their children really need the X-ray that the doctor is ordering. “I can’t say, ‘Don’t microwave plastic and that’s enough.’ I can’t,” Jeanne insisted. But what she can say and does say, is: “Be conscious, be conscious, be conscious.”

Jeanne and her wife Pali Cooper - being 'unassailable.'

Jeanne and her wife, Pali Cooper – being ‘unassailable.’

Being ‘unassailable’
While we were on the subject of proffering advice, I asked Jeanne what she has gleaned from her very full life that she could share with us women. “Self-reflection,” she promptly answered. “Being willing to understand yourself and really being authentic about who you are and who you want to be in your family and your community, and being fully there.” For example, don’t box or stifle yourself by thinking you have to do something or be someone because you’re of a certain age or because it’s the fashionable thing to do. She also called for being open to the possibilities that what is authentic for you today may evolve down the road into something else that may be more compelling for you to become. “Listen to yourself; really pay attention to yourself,” she stressed. “If you stand in your authentic self, you will be in the world a better person. You’ll be a more honest and true person, and you’ll be unassailable. You’ll be unassailable.”

Postscript: Part II of my interview with Jeanne will be posted on Wednesday, March 4th. Jeanne will be an honored guest at the VIP event hosted by the LUNAFEST East Bay Committee on March 21st at 6:00pm, 638 Clayton Avenue, El Cerrito. Following the reception, the LUNAFEST film festival will be shown at 7:30pm at the El Cerrito High School Performing Arts Center, at 540 Ashbury Avenue, one block up from the VIP event. Jeanne will open the festival with the welcome and will be available to meet after the screening. Come visit with her at either event. You can purchase tickets (for the VIP event/film festival or just the film festival) here or contact me directly.