One of the main purposes of my blog is to raise awareness about poverty and world issues. I will promote awareness by the use of thorough documentation of the appearance and living standards of the many people I meet throughout my trip. Additionally, I will conduct interviews with professors, activists, politicians, and other people involved in social causes.

My first interview was with a woman named Dona Spring, who is a member of the Berkeley City Council and a long-time member of the activist community. Dona was involved in protests and rallies as a student at UC Berkely in the 1970s. She later developed a progressive immune system disorder which causes her body’s immune system to attack her own body. As a result of this disability Dona has spent years in a wheelchair.

Dona has been active in local and national politics since her college years. Dona explained to me that as a progressive city, Berkeley was the first city in the U.S. to cut down curbs at street intersections to allow better access for wheelchairs. Dona was a major proponent of rights for disabled people during the 70s and 80s, and continues to work for fair treatment of various minority groups. A list of some of Dona’s past achievements can be found here in a May 2002 article from the Berkeley Daily Planet.

I found Dona to be an extremely strong-minded, independent woman. We had a wonderful discussion about topics ranging from Vegetarianism to the Arms Race, from Ghandi to George Bush.

I was caught completely off guard when Dona told me about the virtues of vegetarianism. She did not appeal to my sense of disgust at animal cruelty, nor to my sense of a need for personal health. Rather, she made an extremely reasonable request.

She told me that whenever you eat lower on the food chain, you use less of the Earth’s energy and resources than when you eat higher on the food chain. She did not try to convert me to vegetarianism, but rather she urged me to make small, ongoing efforts to eat lower on the food chain.

Another concept which impacted me was Dona’s idea that U.S. cities have the ability to cause change on a national level. The City of Berkeley is spearheading a national City Council-based effort to pass a significant national initiative. The initiative has not gained support in D.C. with either the House or the Senate, and therefore Berkeley and other cities are pursuing the initiative through other resources. I will be interested to see how the initiative progresses. I am a firm believer in the power of cities and local communities to cause major economic and political changes.

There were many other enjoyable aspects of my interview with Dona Spring. I will edit and post video footage before the end of September. I am quite sure that visitors to this site will find her to be an insightful, energetic political figure.