Shawn Gallaway is a minstrel of health, wholeness, hope, & love, a message and mission that opened its stride to cover more of the Earth with his anthem, I Choose Love. His music is soul-deep, a power conveyed clearly through his crystal vocals and heart-opening lyrics. Shawn is a long-time resident of Nashville emanating his Transformational Music across the country and world. He was a top-ten finalist in the 2017 Songs For Social Change contest featured by RAWA.net.

Matthew Walker shares his journey to find nonviolence while taking an Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) workshop.

Music generously donated by Bensound.com

Malinda Maynor Lowery's new book is The Lumbee Indians: An American Struggle. Malinda is Associate Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is also a member of the Lumbee Tribe, the largest Native American tribe east of the Mississippi River. Malinda gives a glimpse of the rich Lumbee history and their on-going struggle for federal recognition of their nation.

Jason Horowitz of The Whiskey Farm penned the tune that beat out 100's of competitors to win the Songs for Social Change 2017 contest. Weekdays he's mild-mannered child psychologist Dr. Horowitz, but on stage he and the other musicians of The Whiskey Farm exert superpowers of joy, healing, & transformation through Americana music flavored with country, rock, & bluegrass highlights.

John Peck is Executive Director of Family Farm Defenders, which supports sustainable agriculture, farm worker rights, animal welfare, consumer safety, fair trade, & food sovereignty. In addition, John teaches Economics "against the text" and also Environmental Studies at Madison College, runs a farm, does poetry, and thinks deeply.

Past/current religious/spiritual influences:
Catholic Worker, Pagan, Unitarian Universalist

Amanda Udis-Kessler is part of EverySoul, and their music has a message, often a counterpoint to narrow, doctrinaire, theology and thought. Having explored the highways & byways of the religious & spiritual world, Amanda identifies as Unitarian-Universalist, appreciating diverse points of view, but strongly rooting in love & hope. Her song, The Difference, was a finalist in the Songs for Social Change 2017 of RAWA.org. She is Director of Assessment and Program Review at Colorado College.

Essential parts of our history have been willfully suppressed & ignored, but we can only be the best nation we can be by facing the facts - alternative facts won’t do. That has been the work of sociologist, historian, writer and teacher James Loewen. His work has included ground-breaking research about racism where & when we haven't acknowledged it, in the Sundown Towns outside of the traditional South, and his analysis of the failings of our history curriculum, Lies My Teacher Told Me.

Tara Button is the founder of BuyMeOnce.com which helps connect people to durable, dependable, well-designed & built products, to live sustainably. Her new book is A Life Less Throwaway: The Lost Art of Buying for Life, and it provides a wealth of info & exercises to help people find the optimal material life for themselves.

Past/current religious/spiritual influences:
Catholic, Sunday Assembly

Dada Veda uses a couple different taglines. One is Meditation, Music and Social Vision, and the other is Eastern Mysticism meets folk, country, and world music. He is a monk at the Ananda Liina Spiritual Eco-Community in Urbana, Illinois, where he teaches meditation and promotes the activism of his community through music. He is central in the work of RAWA (Renaissance Artists & Writers Association) and their Songs for Social Change contest, and broadcasts music on-line via RAWAradio.com.

University campuses in the USA are the training grounds for collective action leading to systems changes. Since 2012 a group of students at the University of Delaware have taken on a big idea--to transform their large lush heavily chemically treated lawns into an organic public green. The Green the Green initiative has required thoughtful strategy, community building, public education, and lots of persistence. Climate advocates can learn a lot from their methods.