Practically Idealistic
blog The title for this blog originated with use of the term “practical idealist”
in this 1996 opinion piece, which asked: “To what kind of work should a practical idealist aspire?” A century and a half earlier, Emerson,
in his 1841 essay Circles, wrote: “There are degrees in idealism. We learn first to play with it academically.
. . . Then we see in the heyday of youth and poetry that it may be true, that it is true in gleams and fragments.
Then, its countenance waxes stern and grand, and we see that it must be true. It now shows itself ethical and practical.” John
Dewey and Mahatma Gandhi embraced practical idealism in the 20th century, as did UN Secretary General U Thant. Al Gore
invoked it in a 1998 speech. In the context of this blog, the term is meant to convey idealism tempered but not overwhelmed
by realism: a search for the ideal on a path guided by common sense.
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Sunday, July 25, 2021
Connecticut CASA News, Cooking for CASA benefit September 10
As Connecticut CASA announced its plans to unify toward statewide growth,
the news was conveyed through: * The same array of Hearst papers ran Connecticut CASA news, once it was published in the New Haven Register.
* Day of New London article
about Connecticut CASA's expansion (quoting volunteer Gina Keifer)
Event sponsors so far including Yale University (lead sponsor),
Claire's, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, NewAlliance Foundation, Russell Hall Co., and William Fusco.
Thanks to these sponsors and to individual donors/participants for their support.
Saturday, July 24, 2021
Miye Oni, Olympian
This
blog has occasionally mentioned Miye Oni, a former Yale student-athlete now on the Utah Jazz and an Ambassador (with Brandon Sherrod) for CASA in Connecticut--with both young men appearing on YouTube to discuss this cause for children.
Now, Miye is an
Olympian in Tokyo. Miye Oni (who grew up in California of Nigerian descent) is competing for Nigeria’s men’s
basketball team. After helping Nigeria upset the U.S. in an exhibition game (Miye hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and guarded U.S. all-stars),
he is playing a significant role in Tokyo—for example, he scored 15 points on five 3-pointers vs. Germany. He
was featured in ESPN and FIBA articles.
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