“…whatever/ returns from oblivion/ returns to find a voice.”
― Louise Glück, winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature
Community partners
Our exuberant NW Noggin outreach volunteers are busy in Portland this fall, enthusiastically working alongside our 2020 Community Partner, p:ear.
We helped p:ear plant a vibrant brain garden, examined and held our noggins, and discussed some deep and powerful questions with young Portlanders who have no safe places to sleep.
LEARN MORE: The world, filtered
LEARN MORE: A brain garden grows @ p:ear
LEARN MORE: Noggin @ p:ear
And of course Tuesday, November 3, 2020 is Election Day in the United States, and some current government policies clearly worsen both houselessness and inequality.
“The vote is precious. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it.”
― John Lewis
Republicans suppress votes
The Trump/Pence White House and their Republican allies in Congress and state legislatures also deliberately suppress the right of many citizens – including houseless youth – to express themselves at the ballot box to make change.
“Let’s be clear: Voter suppression is real.”
― Stacey Abrams
“To be rendered powerless does not destroy your humanity. Your resilience is your humanity. The only people who lose their humanity are those who believe they have the right to render another human being powerless. They are the weak. To yield and not break, that is incredible strength.”
― Hannah Gadsby
LEARN MORE: A Campaign of Voter Subtraction
LEARN MORE: Systemic Inequality: Displacement, Exclusion, and Segregation
LEARN MORE: Republican voter suppression efforts were banned for decades. Here’s what changed.
LEARN MORE: At risk of losing Texas, Republicans scheme to limit Democratic votes
LEARN MORE: How the GOP keeps cheating its way into power
LEARN MORE: Trump’s encouragement of GOP poll watchers echoes an old tactic of voter intimidation
LEARN MORE: Five Ways Trump And GOP Officials Are Undermining The Election Process
LEARN MORE: Republicans have already packed state supreme courts
LEARN MORE: How the Supreme Court revived Jim Crow voter suppression tactics
LEARN MORE: The Supreme Court Is Helping Republicans Rig Elections
Voting, Brains, Art – & PIZZA!
This week Noggin returned for a lively, masked, physically distanced pizza party!
“We all have to vote like our lives and the world depend on it, because they do. The only way to be certain of the future is to make it ourselves.”
― Billie Eilish
Our enthusiastic, expert volunteers included Zoie Harpole, Alex Phanphackdy and Ashley Keates from Portland State University, Jasmin Mabry from PSU and the NIH BUILD EXITO program, Lidia Echeverria-Garcia from the University of Oregon, Cam Howard from the National University of Natural Medicine, Mark Rutledge-Gorman from Oregon Health & Science University, and Jacob Schoen and Aaron Eisen from both NUNM and OHSU.
Voting is good for your brain
Together we explored the substantial brain benefits of access to evidence-based information, inclusion, and community investment – and agency over our own environments, including the chance to vote for elected representatives.
“Your voice will be heard. And speaking as a bit of a singer myself, I know that can be a pretty good feeling.”
― Eddie Vedder
There is a growing research literature on the positive, therapeutic benefits of civic engagement – of reaching out, connecting and supporting each other and pursuing collective change.
Taking informed, valued, effective action can improve our mental health.
LEARN MORE: Your brain on preparedness
LEARN MORE: Addressing Health Disparities Through Voter Engagement
LEARN MORE: Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States: A Health Equity Perspective
LEARN MORE: Examining Civic Engagement Links to Health
LEARN MORE: Voting, health and interventions in healthcare settings
LEARN MORE: Political Engagement as an Element of Social Recovery
LEARN MORE: How to empower a community? Helping communities take control of their health destiny
P:ear helps people engage in local and national elections, providing a brick and mortar address for young Portlanders without housing to register, and who face additional hurdles, often intentional, to participating in American democracy.
LEARN MORE: As few as 1 in 10 homeless people vote in elections – here’s why
LEARN MORE: Legal and Practical Barriers to Voting for Homeless People
LEARN MORE: The Homeless Have Voting Rights but Face Many Hurdles
LEARN MORE: Homelessness and the Brain
LEARN MORE: Seeing us all through research & art
LEARN MORE: Trump’s Plan to Criminalize Homelessness Is Taking Shape
LEARN MORE: Portland has criminalized poverty and mental illness
LEARN MORE: Losing ground – How the Trump administration has reversed U.S. housing policy
LEARN MORE: PSU students struggle with housing, food insecurity
Noggin Vesicles!!
Given stressful times, and active exclusion, we wanted to act, join and do more, so we put together our NOGGIN VESICLES!
“Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. stay eager.”
― Susan Sontag
These Northwest Noggin vesicles are easily transported, screen-printed shoulder sacks filled with hand-stitched brain masks, KN95 masks, art supplies, 3D printed brains, “brain” socks, first aid kits, hand sanitizer, some Noggin t-shirts, toothpaste and toothbrushes, and emergency blankets!
Vesicles are also membrane bound bubbles of neurotransmitter clustered at the ends of our neurons (the “axon terminals”), which release their stored chemical messages upon the arrival of electric currents (“action potentials”).
This exchange happens at “synapses,” where our neurons link up – a perfect metaphor for connecting our communities across boundaries and gaps.
“Thank you all for bringing the magic of Noggin to p:ear. It is a wonderful thing to witness the young people who are experiencing homelessness take a break from survival and find interest in science and learning.”
― William Kendall, Art Program Coordinator, p:ear
LEARN MORE ABOUT VESICLES: Synaptic Vesicle Pools and Dynamics
And we are astonished and awed by the generous support we received for stocking our targeted vesicular gifts. We raised over $1000 in less than two days!!!
And if we receive more action potentials (i.e., donations) we can release more vesicles 🙂
LEARN MORE: Nonprofit Noggins!
From p:ear Art Coordinator, Will Kendall: “Thanks again for the magical visit. The bags were amazing. So special for a youth who gets very little in the way of treats.”
By voting and serving, including and connecting, expressing and listening, and basing our public policies less on privilege and prejudice, and more on evidence-based research, perhaps we’ll start making real positive change – for all our brains.
“You’ve got to vote, vote, vote, vote. That’s it; that’s the way we move forward.”
― Michelle Obama
