Brave new what?

I’ve been thinking about trees a lot recently and enjoying some of London’s rare trees from my desk via this this web site which launched this week. I’ve also been looking back at old travel photos to try to not mind that I’m going nowhere fast.

Coronavirus is devastating the Navajo Nation which now has highest per capita infection rate in the US, surpassing New York and New Jersey states. Here’s the Navajo Nation President, Jonathan Nez, discussing what his people are facing. The Navajo Nation straddles areas of Arizona, Utah and new Mexico and is the largest land area retained by an indigenous tribe in the US. It’s also a place where at least 15% of people have no access to clean running water, clearly a huge issue in combating the virus. The loss of Native American Elders will also be a disaster for culture and language.

This week, to mark International Diversity Day on May 21, the BBC’s Director of Creative Inclusion, June Sarpong, hosted a discussion about ensuring inclusion remains a priority at this time. You can watch it on UN TV here.

Charity So White issued an update to their campaign calling for equitable COVID19 emergency funding distribution in the voluntary sector. It makes for interesting reading and I very much welcome the campaign’s commitment to transparency and accountability. I hope to see more progress from existing funders soon.

While we’re waiting, Resourcing Racial Justice announced a dedicated fund to support individuals and communities working towards racial justice.

I’m doing some research into “lived experience” and what that term means to people. If you’ve got a few minutes to answer some questions for me here, I’d be very grateful. Thank you. And if you’ve no idea what “lived experience” means, that’s exactly my point. It’s a term that’s often used but that I fear means different things to different people.

This article made for a disturbing read about how the far right is exploiting this time of lockdowns.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned before, but I started a collection of stories from Corona-time. There are quite a few on here now.

Learning points:

That assume positive intent lesson from a few weeks ago is getting harder as our fellow citizens emerge from lockdown.

What am I reading?

I’ve been dipping into the “management book of the year”, Aaron Dignan’s “Brave New Work” this week. As people are beginning to plan going back to work after lockdown ends - in whatever mode they do that - it’s interesting to look at how others have found different ways of doing things.

What am I listening to?

I love Connie Shi’s quarantune.

Joy-giving things

The stork eggs at Knepp have hatched! The first time that storks have nested in the UK since 1416. Listen to them clacking their beaks here. We went camping at Knepp last summer. Looking forward to going again one day.

Have a lovely long weekend everyone. If you like, you can wish me a Happy Lockdown Birthday. I’ll be celebrating in my kitchen with Sophie Ellis-Bextor.