by WhatAre Progressive Values [courtesy of Blog for America]

(This is part of an ongoing series of interviews of progressives telling personal stories about their values for the "What are Progressive Values?" documentary project - ProgressiveSpirit.com ).

I ran into Joe Brewer cleaning the streets of Oakland on Earth Day. Joe works as a fellow at the Rockridge Institute in Berkeley, California.  He says empathy is the basic progressive value and tells a personal story about his experiences growing up in a small town and his visit to India.

by WhatAre Progressive Values [courtesy of Blog for America]

I attended the East Bay CA,  DFA training on March 1 and 2, 2008 and video taped the first 11 or so hours of the 18 hour training. After talking with DFA Training Director, Matt Blizek, we decided to place these sections online.

In the introduction video, I also asked participants what they felt Progressive Values are. These values are the essence of what they are working to actualize in our society. They talked about Justice, Fairness, Equality and Participatory Democracy. DFA training gives progressives the nuts and bolts tools to turn these values into reality.  Please do help get the word out about the online training videos.

BTW, Joan and I will be going to Take Back America Progressive Conference in Washington DC next week.  We'll be holding a workshop session on What are Progressive Values? Tell Your Personal Story .  Monday, March 17, 2008 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM , RM 2  If you're there, keep an eye out for us and stop by, say hello and be interviewed for our documentary.

Below is a 10 minute introduction to DFA Training I edited together and 9 of the unedited training sections.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

by Sharon Kyle

Fast forward 20 years after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision and we find ourselves embroiled in yet another school desegregation controversy. The more things change…

It was September 1973, I was about to enter the 11th grade in a new state, a new city. A transplant from the East Coast, I had recently moved from Queens, New York, to Long Beach, California. Feeling somewhat at a disadvantage entering school a full year after the rest of the class, I was determined to find my place in this strange new environment 3,000 miles away from what I still considered home.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Mary Stompe

Should a terminally ill person have the right to end their life with a doctor’s assistance?

I had reservations about this until I saw firsthand the suffering someone can go through at the end of their life when they have a terminal illness.

No one should have to experience what my father went through during his last month of life.

Diagnosed with terminal Stage 4 esophageal cancer that had metastasized, with no chance of any recovery, he was forced to suffer. A 35-centimeter tumor grew in his esophagus, stopping his ability to eat, drink and swallow.

As his daughter, there was nothing I could do for him.

He was an 80-year old man who led a healthy lifestyle, who was active and never smoked, but his years of acid reflux eventually turned cancerous.

When my father went home to die, I took a leave of absence from my job to be by his side.

He suffered terribly, every day pleading with me to find a way to end his suffering. Desperate to help him, I researched alternatives for him. I learned there was nothing I could do legally to help him but be by his side and comfort him.

His pain intensified and he began to lose a lot of weight. Once a strong man, his body was fading away before my eyes as he lay starving. The intravenous feeding tube was removed because it made him so ill.