Power Angel to the rescue

 Luis Gutierrez' story (above) pretty much tells it all.

The artist's Power Angel caught my eye in a building on the ASU campus. I love the blue background, the powerful fist thrust into the air, the wings.   It wasn't until I'd read Luis's story about feeling a little lost in Germany that I noticed the Power Angel walks with a cane.

I love how the wings helped Luis reframe how he felt in Berlin.  His imagined angel wings gave him purpose and confidence.

And the Power Angel he painted after he came home stands strong in this busy building in Phoenix, offering others a way to tell themselves and others they are there for a higher purpose.

Robin, Phoenix

The Death of a South African Journalist

We started this blog last year because we wanted to share some of the great moments in life. We wanted a chance to share stories about perfect moments, whether they are the birth of a child, the perfect catch, or an amazing day spent lazing away on the couch. Perfect moments.

Well, today I want to share some sad news. This week a young journalist that I met last year on a trip to South Africa died in a crash. Her name was Lungile Dlamini. She was an amazing young woman, and would have told amazing stories as a journalist.

I met Lungile on my first night in Johannesburg after I had checked into a dorm room for my stay at Wits University. I was having trouble logging onto a computer, and she was kind enough to try and help me, this stranger from America.

There are two things I really remember about Lungile, her amazing smile, and her committment to becoming a journalist. Over the next two weeks I got a chance to spend time with Lungile, and I tried to absorb her passion for journalism.


I talked one of my students into doing a story on Lungile, as a 21 year old person in the world with a lot to say. We were just able to get the story shot before we had to get back to the states, and I am so happy we got Lungile, and her smile and her passion on tape. Emily Graham put together the story, and she has now posted it on YouTube.

Lungile believed in telling people's stories, and she believed in the goodness in people. Both attributes that I hope will live on in all of us who were fortunate to have known her. As well as those of you who will meet her for the first time in this story.

Susan Green, Tempe

I am a proud American

My family is full of these things: Irish, English, German, Spanish, Hawaiian, Chinese, Black, White, Jew, Christian, Catholic, atheist, young, old, gay, straight, tall, short.

My America is full of these things too and much more.

I know who I voted for. But I really don't care who any one individual voted for. I care more that you voted.

We don't know the outcome yet. But, no matter the result, today's election shows to me that millions of Americans are ready to begin to move away from our racist legacy.

As Michelle Obama correctly said, and was so unfairly jumped on for saying, I have never been so proud to be an American.

Robin, Tempe