July Update from the Director

Dear Wisconsin Humanities Friends and Supporters,

This holiday season will be the first since my mother passed at the incredible age of 102. I'm grateful to my mom for a lot of things, but one that stands out is her eternal optimism. Even when she watched the news -- frequently telling me "It's scary!" -- she would quickly turn to something positive. I'm grateful for that insistence on being hopeful, and what it taught me about weathering challenging times.

Seven months ago we thought that Wisconsin Humanities was shutting down. But we all insisted on a positive vision and never gave in to fear. You and other supporters were adamant that our work together to strengthen Wisconsin communities' civic and cultural life would continue. At each of our seven recent listening sessions, we met people full of energy and ideas to make their communities better places to live -- from libraries partnering with food pantries to address food insecurity to local artists and historians looking for ways to support the next generation of youth leaders.

For me, being optimistic is not about hiding from harsh realities. It's about looking at them and then choosing to focus my energy where something good might happen. The humanities give us powerful tools for doing good in the world -- especially when more people have access to them. That's where I'm putting my energy and my hopes. Thanks for doing the same!

Dena

Heading into the holiday season might seem like a peculiar time for us to talk with you about hate. But at Wisconsin Humanities we believe that when community-minded Wisconsinites come together, hate has no place. Some of our most inspiring gatherings of the last couple of years were with hundreds of idealistic teens who participated in a WH program called Stand Up to Hate. With our help, they thought together about how to prevent hate-motivated violence in their communities.
Benny Witkovsky was finishing his Ph.D. in sociology at UW-Madison when he came to WH to work with Chrissy Widmayer, director of Community Powered, to develop Stand Up to Hate. In this episode of Human Powered, he reflects on how students responded to the curriculum he designed, and how its stories of hate crimes in Wisconsin helped them see that hate and violence happen here, not only far away.

So if the news has gotten you down, listen in to hear how our youth are ensuring that their communities are home for everyone. And if you want to bring Stand Up to Hate to your community, let us know. Email contact@wisconsinhumanities.org.

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