Author: rchappell

Full time artist, creative director and entrepreneur Jenie Gao said when opinions, clash people often want to find common ground to bare solutions. 

Gao, however, sees it differently. 

“From personal to professional to political spaces, I have paid attention to disputes between people who plead for common ground yet gloss over perspectives and leave issues unresolved. I have wondered that if instead of common ground, we should advocate and claim space for identities and representations that are rare,” Gao said. 

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Mellowhood Foundation, a non-profit organization nestled in Madison’s Meadowood neighborhood, received a grant to empower youth and create deep understandings of the community. 

In early July, the Madison Common Council awarded close to $120,000 as a part of a U.S. Department of Justice grant to the organization for its “People on Premises” initiative. 

“I feel blessed but also a major responsibility,” said Tutankhamun “Coach” Assad, the executive director of Mellowhood Foundation. 

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In a union of sports, prayer, community and culture, the Tibetan communities of Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota gathered in Madison to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 84th birthday in a three-day event earlier this month.

The Wisconsin Tibetan Association, in collaboration with Deer Park Monastery, hosted a variety of events for the annual Midwest Picnic gathering, which ran from July 5 through 7.

This year, for the first time, the high monk Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche visited the city hosting the event to give Tibetan Buddhist teachings as well as support the community in the Midwest. 

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Freewheel, a Madison non-profit which advocates for making bikes accessible for everyone within the community, was distinguished by eBay as one of eight SHINE Awards winners, and is now up for the grand prize — but needs votes to get there. 

The SHINE Awards aim to honor small businesses and non-profit organizations who are using eBay as a partner for fundraising initiatives. Freewheel sells bikes on eBay and invests the revenue in providing free bikes and bike maintenance to those in need here in Madison.

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Several hundred people gathered at Brittingham Park in Madison across two events on Friday evening to speak out against the detention of children and families at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

A rally hosted by the Close the Concentration Camps Coalition met earlier in the evening at a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, and marched about a mile to the park for a candlelight vigil held in conjunction with Lights for Liberty.

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Gretchen Underwood is a parent and a preschool teacher. Countless times, she’s set up crafting projects for kids and her students, but now it’s her turn to get crafty. Revel, in the Parkside building on Hamilton Street in downtown Madison, brings meaning to the idea of a “craft bar” by featuring do-it-yourself projects for adults in a casual, social setting. “Where else can you do anything like this?” Underwood said. “This is my cup of tea. I put things out for my students but I never get to create with them, so it’s pretty exciting.” 

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