Actions Speak Loudest: Keeping Our Promise for a Better World

Ideas, images, and actions to change our children's future--with contributions by household names and everyday heroes * Hope and change were the themes of Barack Obama's historic presidential campaign, but long after his 100-day honeymoon period has ended, America and the world will be faced with the daunting task of translating this stirring sentiment into reality. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDEST is designed to be a starting point in this process--namely, by helping us keep our generational promise to leave the world a better place than we inherited. Harnessing the cumulative power of ideas, images, and actions, it draws attention to some of the major issues facing this and future generations of children, ranging from childhood obesity to climate change. Most importantly, it sets forth workable ideas on how to address them. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDEST delves to the heart of thirty-one issues critical to the well-being of the next generation, with evocative, award-winning photographs; articulate and accessible essays; and attainable, ambitious ideas for action. The contributors--who span all walks of life and fields of work--are not just limited to well-known celebrities, authors, and experts but also include everyday American heroes who have overcome their own personal challenges to make a difference in the lives of youth in their community. These range from a survivor of the Columbine School shooting to a mother on food stamps fighting for more nutritious food options in her neighborhood. Each chapter pairs a poignant photograph from award-winning photographers with a thousand-word essay--and closes with a one-page call to action that gives readers practical advice on how to become involved today in effecting change in their own homes and communities and on the national level. Readers are also invited to visit shareyourlegacy.org, an online community where they can share their own ideas, images, and recommended actions. Actions speak louder than words, Mark Twain once said, but seldom ever do. This book holds open the prospect that our actions will indeed speak louder in our time. Featuring inspiring contributions from 35 committed world citizens, including: * President Jimmy Carter* Bill McKibben* Mia Hamm* Newt Gingrich* Robert Coles* Her Majesty Queen Noor* Jeffrey Sachs* Rachael Ray* Dave Eggers* Jeffrey B. Swartz* Senator Tom Harkinand more

"In this essay collection, a crowd of professionals and activists working to improve the world (including Queen Noor, Dave Eggers, Newt Gingrich, and Rachel Ray) each comment on an issue, and suggest concrete ways readers can make a difference in four arenas of action: world, country, community and home. The volume begins, ambitiously enough, with a typically spirited President Jimmy Carter addressing world peace; his list of actions include teaching children that true strength doesn't come from violence or aggression, celebrating International Day of Peace (9/21) in our communities, and 'asking your representatives the hard questions.' ('Hold them accountable for the conflicts we enter as a nation.') Some of the most absorbing essays are written by ordinary citizen-activists: Richard Castaldo, who was shot at Columbine ten years ago, suggests that readers take reporting violence, especially in schools, seriously ('Eighty percent of victimizations go unreported'). Though some accounts are instantly forgettable, the best evoke genuine outrage, such as the story told by Children's Health Fund co-founder Irwin Redlener, about a homeless eight-year-old identified as 'learning disabled' when his real diagnosis, tragically, was an untreated cleft palate, noted but neglected at infancy. This broad primer on the world's issues, big-scale and small, works as a useful gadfly for social change, appropriate for students and any neophyte do-gooder." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

The essays and photos in this thought-provoking collection address the key issues of today that are shaping the future our children will live with. Essayists include royalty, a single mother, politicians, advocates of all kinds, writers, healthcare professionals, musicians, celebrities, and more. Editor McKinnon, founder and president of YELLOWBRICKROAD, a social change organization, has brought together these essays that address a variety of important subjects, such as tolerance, corporate responsibility, climate change, high school graduation rates, economic sustainability, and more. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

A collection of photos, 1,000-word essays, and calls-to-action on the compelling issues of our day, to leave the world a better place for the next generation, this compendium features contributions by high-profile, concerned citizens including Jimmy Carter, Mia Hamm, Rachael Ray, and others.