Quote of the Day: “Love the giver more than the gift.” – Brigham Young
Photo by: Shafi Muhammed
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
2,772 years ago today, the Neo Babylonian king Nabonassar assumed the throne of the great city, which isn’t necessarily good news in itself, but 747 BCE is a date of tremendous importance, since it allowed the scientist and historian Claudius Ptolemy (100-175 CE) to provide for modern scholars a fixed date in history on which our conceptions of ancient years can be made accurate. The reason for this is that astronomers were able to prove claims of celestial phenomena like eclipses in an extant work from the time period called the Babylonian Chronicles. Combined with Ptolemy’s work Almagest, dates line up, and give us today an accurate way of counting backwards in time. READ more… (747 BCE)
In December of last year, when snow covered the ground and a man’s breath turned to frost in the air before his eyes, a small plain in Manitoba hummed with the thudding of hooves.
The Birdtail Sioux Dakota Band of southern Manitoba, Canada, welcomed 11 bison onto their tribal lands for the first time in over 100 years.
Received as a gift from the much larger Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, also located in Manitoba, the mini herd included a sacred white calf, a symbol of fortune for the tribes when times are bad.
Released into the pasture to the sound of the bison song, members of the Birdtail Sioux cried out in celebration as the herd stampeded out over the frosty plains in a video shared on Facebook.
Birdtail Knowledge Keeper and land-based coordinator Doug Hanska asked those in attendance, “can you feel that energy?”
The significance of a white calf—gifted from another nation no less—is great. The story goes that long ago, the prairie nations were starving as the buffalo had vanished. A beautiful woman in white came to the Lakota tribe one day and taught them how all things on the Earth are connected.
ANOTHER STORY LIKE THIS: Absolutely Epic: Watch the Release of a Wild Bison Herd onto Blackfeet Tribal Land
When the lessons concluded, she transformed into a white buffalo calf and brought a massive herd of bison to the people, promising to return in that same form in times of need.
Photos of the Sioux Valley Unity Riders arriving on horseback to escort the bison to their new home were posted on the Southern Chiefs’ Organization’s Facebook page.
WATCH and LISTEN to the return of the buffalo…
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Imprisoned in a “miscarriage of justice,” a Hawaii man has been released from prison after DNA evidence exonerated him.
Behind bars for 30 years, Gordon Cordeiro’s first desire was to visit the grave of his mother, who died of ALS just before he was arrested.
Cordeiro was freed based on advocacy from the Hawaiian Innocence Project, which seeks to free those wrongfully convicted by more closely examining the evidence of settled cases.
Cordeiro stood two trials in 1994 for the murder of Tim Baisdell during a drug deal-turned-robbery on the island of Maui. The first ended in a hung jury, with only one juror voting to convict, while the second saw him convicted and sentenced to life without possibility of parole.
There were tears in the courtroom when Judge Kristin Hammam ordered the suspect released.
“He cried, we all cried,” Kenneth Lawson, co-director of the Hawaii Innocence Project, told CBS News. “He believed that he was going to be exonerated … but having gone through two trials, you lose faith in the justice system. To finally hear a judge say, ‘I’m vacating your convictions,’ that’s when it hit him.”
“The police botched this case from the beginning and turned the No. 1 suspect into the state’s star witness, resulting in a 30-plus-year nightmare and miscarriage of justice for Gordon and his family,” Lawson added.
According to court documents filed by Cordeiro’s attorneys seen by CBS, the state sought to prosecute Cordeiro despite the 22-year-old having four alibis, by relying on four jailhouse informants motivated by promises of reduced sentences, something which the Innocence Project described as “prosecutorial misconduct.”
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Blaisdell had gone to an area of Maui called “Skid Row” to buy a pound of cannabis with a man named Michael Freitas. Blaisdell was found dead in a ravine the following day, and Freitas, the “No.1 suspect” according to Lawson, altered his story several times before shifting blame onto Cordeiro and becoming the “star witness.”
A DNA profile of an unidentified person was found on the inside pockets of Blaisdell’s jeans, which when combined with other DNA findings, put the possibility of Cordeiro’s involvement squarely within reasonable doubt.
MORE STORIES LIKE THIS: Freed After 28 Years of Wrongful Conviction, Man Meets Pen Pal Who Never Stopped Affirming His Innocence
To put Cordeiro’s nightmare into perspective, he walked into the courthouse with a pager. “Now everybody’s on their phones,” he told Fox News Digital.
He visited the grave of his mother on Friday, February 21st, in Makawao, Hawaii, hours after a judge ordered his release, with the AP reporting he thanked her for watching over him. His mother died of ALS at age 49.
SHARE This Incredible Second Chance Thanks To Determined Advocacy…
A museum in the Netherlands has announced it will return 119 bronze artifacts looted from the old Kingdom of Benin in West Africa.
One of the most notorious and ongoing disputes over looted art during colonial activities, most of the hundreds of Benin Bronzes stolen from the kingdom by the British in the 19th century reside at the British Museum.
Dozens have also made it across the Atlantic to institutions in the US, while dozens more were distributed around Europe.
The Museum Volkenkunde in Leiden, or folk art museum, has made an agreement with Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments to facilitate the repatriation.
The Kingdom of Benin has no connection to the modern nation-state of Benin, and is located in the Nigerian state of Edo
“We thank the Netherlands for their cooperation and hope this will set a good example for other nations of the world in terms of repatriation of lost or looted antiquities,” Olugible Holloway, the commission’s director, said in a statement.
Other Dutch museums have also been busy repatriating artifacts looted during colonial times—from the Dutch East India Company’s holdings in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
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In total, the repatriations include the ‘Lombok treasure’, consisting of 335 objects from Lombok in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, four statues from the Javan Hindu kingdom of Singasari, 132 objects of modern art from Bali, and from Sri Lanka—a cache of ceremonial weapons from the city-states of Kandy and others including a royal canon made of gold, silver, and rubies.
“Cultural heritage is essential for telling and living the history of a country and a community,” Eppo Bruins, the Dutch culture and education minister, said in a statement. “The Benin Bronzes are indispensable to Nigeria. It is good that they are going back.”
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In 2022, Nigeria made formal requests to museums around the world for the return of looted artifacts. Institutions in the UK, US, and Germany, have all sent back Benin Bronzes, but never has the nation received so many and at one time.
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Can you remember the day, perhaps the moment, you met the person who would become your spouse?
Well for an unnamed Chinese woman, it’s a day extremely difficult to forget—because she probably thought it would be her last.
Whilst crossing the street on an electric bicycle, the 23-year-old looked over and saw a car flying towards her at inevitable speeds. The driver, reported with only the surname Li, was driving fast through the streets of a city in Hunan Province because of an emergency.
At that moment, Cupid swapped his bow and arrow for Li’s car. The woman was hit, and the impact broke her collarbone. Li rushed over to her to apologize and call an ambulance but received a surprising reply from his victim: “No worries” she said.
Li said she seemed to be a very kind person. The woman’s parents absolved him of his guilt and opted not to press charges, South China Morning Post’s Fran Lu reports. Feeling the obligation, Li visited her at the hospital every day to make sure she had everything she needed, during which time they grew close.
Three weeks after the collision, the woman confessed her love to the man who nearly killed her in a story that has lit up Chinese social media. At first, the 36-year-old Li rejected her, saying he was too old, however, they remained in touch and eventually went out to see a movie together.
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She discovered she was pregnant in September, and, bedecked in the reds and golds of traditional Chinese raiment, were married in February.
Li said marriage was not in his life plan before he met her. He thanked his wife in a social media post for her “bravery.”
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Moving in with his wife’s parents as they lived closer to his work, Li reports that they refused the still-used “bride price” of Chinese custom, knowing their son-in-law to be in debt. Instead, they told him to invest it in his business.
It was the sixth such road incident the man was involved in, but since striking his wife on that fateful day it has been the last.
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Quote of the Day: “The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Photo by: Sam Schooler
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
100 years ago today, President Calvin Coolidge invoked the Antiquities Act to protect Glacier Bay, a long narrow fjord bisecting the Fairweather Range and Takhinsha Mountains lined with the mouths of glaciers. Originally established as Glacier Bay National Monument, the inestimable value of the unspoiled Alaskan coastal ecosystem saw the property expanded into a National Park and Preserve, and eventually a UNESCO Natural Heritage Site—one of the largest on Earth at 3.3 million square miles. READ a little about the history of its protection… (1925)
When presented with an unresponsive acquaintance, a mouse may attempt to revive them by pawing and gently biting at their face, scientists recently reported.
A third behavior was also seen, however, and that involved the attendant mouse removing the unconscious peer’s tongue in a manner nearly identical to ‘clearing the airways,’ the first step in human CPR.
Together the demonstration shows how mice and other animals may be far better caregivers than previously thought.
Li Zhang at the University of Southern California introduced caged mice to a comrade who had been anesthetized, and watched as the mouse spent nearly half of a 13-minute observation window attending to the sedated individual.
“They start with sniffing, and then grooming, and then with a very intensive or physical interaction,” says Zhang. “They really open the mouth of this animal and pull out its tongue.”
The grooming interactions often involved licking the mouse’s eyes. In the case of the tongue removal maneuver, this was observed in more than 50% of all the trials run by Zhang.
Once this behavior had been established, Zhang and his team inserted non-toxic plastic balls into the mouths of the mice after sedation, and watched how in 80% of the encounters, the attendant mouse removed the ball.
Behavioral changes were also observed. Caregiving or attending behavior stopped once the sedated mouse became responsive again, whilst the sedated mouse began moving faster, quicker than a mouse that awoke without an attendant.
Mice spent more time attending to mice they knew better.
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“I have never observed these types of behaviors when we run experiments in the lab… ” Cristina Márquez at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology in Coimbra, Portugal, told New Scientist, who also commented on how Zhang’s findings were replicated in two other studies recently.
“The fact that three independent laboratories have observed similar behaviors indicates that this is a robust finding. However, we should be really careful about anthropomorphising too much what we observe in non-human species or attributing intentions that go beyond what is observed.”
Zhang compared the behavior to using smelling salts (or a slap) to wake someone, and clearing the airways is one of the most basic steps after arriving at an unconscious person.
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Neuronal activity during the behavior shows that it was driven by a release of oxytocin in the regions of the brain called the amygdala and thalamus. Oxytocin is an important signaling hormone related to caring, love, and empathy.
The research makes one hearken back to the Ploughman Poet’s immortal words:
I’m truly sorry man’s dominion
Has broken nature’s social union,
And justified that ill opinion
That makes you startle
At me—thy poor Earth-born companion, and fellow mortal.
Robert Burns—To a Mouse on Turning Up Her Nest with a Plough.
WATCH the behavior on video from New Scientist…
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From the rooftop of a Rio de Janeiro slum, amid sheet after sheet of corrugated iron, one man reclines amid succulents and ficus.
His name is Luis Cassiano Silva, and he is the progenitor of the Teto Verde Favela, or Green Roofs Favela initiative, described by one academic as an exercise in “insurgent citizenship.”
Rio’s famous favelas are informal settlements neglected by the government that suffer from the urban heat island effect even more so than the city’s metropolitan core.
Winding alleys and corridors of exposed brick, metal, and concrete, without a tree to be seen, the favelas absorb heat from the Sun and radiate it out into the neighborhoods rather than out into space like a forest.
Taking responsibility for improving the lives of the community, in 2014 Cassiano began teaching and planting, gardening and growing, all over Parque Arara, one of Rio’s large favelas. Green roofs are used widely in Europe to climate-proof buildings.
They not only lead to a reduction in the heat island effect, but also contribute to slowing rainwater runoff, keeping indoor areas cooler, and keeping outdoor air cleaner and more moist.
While the informality of favelas makes it all but impossible for centralized government to implement similar plans at scale, and while rows and rows of rooftop plants make it difficult to film the next Jason Bourne movie, spontaneous community-led planning and self-reliance can succeed in insulating low-income earners from climate change’s worst effects, and according to one academic, should not be interfered with.
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“City officials are concerned with addressing UHI in order to keep privileged areas of the city welcoming to outsiders, since a big portion of Rio’s economy is reliant on tourism, and tourist attractions are commonly found in the more privileged areas of the city,” writes Matheus Cardoso at the University of Texas in a review article.
“Green Roof Favela, then, challenges dominant approaches to planning by shedding light on the UHI effect in the marginalized peripheries of the city.”
Cassiano’s work has attracted the attention of multiple international news outlets, including NPR, Sky, and others.
Cassiano himself wrote that as much as the project aims to combat the urban heat island effect, his initiative mostly involves teaching people how to garden.
OTHER EFFORTS IN OTHER SLUMS: The Largest Landfill in Latin America has Been Turned into a Mangrove Forest
“Most children in the favela have no interaction with the forest and do not respect it… It’s a culture of destruction. We must educate them, slowly,” Cassiano describes. “In the favela, there are two colors [red and gray]. There are studies on color that say that red [signifies] passion, force, tension, explosion. But there is also gray—more melancholic, sad, depressing.”
“The favela is this: samba and love, but also sadness because it is poor. The color green will reduce violence. When we’re close to green space, we feel good. Favelas need this.”
SHARE This Great Green Initiative In Rio With Your Friends On Social Media…
Reprinted from permission from World at Large
A breakthrough in packaged tuna preparation has been found to reduce mercury content in the fish by 35%.
Consumption of tuna has long been limited, especially by pregnant women and nursing mothers, for the known fact that the fish accumulates mercury throughout its life.
If canned with a water solution containing high amounts of the amino acid cysteine, the tuna meat was found to have 35% less mercury than normal canned tuna.
It’s one of a variety of breakthrough packaging inventions collectively referred to as “active packaging” which reacts with the food being preserved to help increase its shelf-life and nutrient density.
GNN has reported on some packaging that also contains elements that interact with the food to create a vivid color that will warn consumers if the food inside has spoiled.
In this case, the cysteine in the tuna can draw out the mercury and prevent it from binding to human tissues.
“Our study shows that there are alternative approaches to addressing mercury contamination in tuna, rather than just limiting consumption. Our goal is to improve food safety and contribute to enhanced human health, as well as to better utilize food that is currently under certain restrictions,” says Mehdi Abdollahi, Associate Professor at the Department of Life Sciences at Chalmers and coordinator of a project called Detoxpak.
In science, sometimes disagreements can emerge when comparing empirical truth with observed effects. For example, mercury exists in tuna—of that there can be no doubt—but a growing mountain of evidence suggests that it’s either too low to affect the health of even a fetus, or that there’s something in tuna that’s already protecting us from the maleffects of mercury.
Take for example a long-term monitoring study from 2001 to 2018 which looked at mercury concentrations in the flesh of three tuna species in the Pacific. The study found consistent mercury levels independent of the increasing amounts of mercury in the ocean due to the increase in coal burning among the nations bordering the research area.
In other words, this study casts significant doubt on the idea that mercury enters the fish through environmental contamination.
Tuna meat is rich in selenium, an irreplaceable and essential nutrient for early childhood cognitive development. Selenium also happens to be part of why cysteine works to reduce mercury content in the new tuna packaging: selenium and cysteine form the amino acid selenocysteine, which methylmercury, the compound found in tuna flesh, binds to in the can (and in the human brain) but since the fetal brain doesn’t contain reserves of selenium, it has no natural defense against methylmercury inhibiting selenocysteine’s vital activities in the brain.
A 2024 study however looked at mercury and selenium concentrations in the umbilical cords of fetuses in Hawaiian mothers who ate lots of seafood containing both molecules.
The cord blood samples exceeded the EPA’s mercury toxic reference level of 5.8 ppb, but selenium concentrations were orders of magnitude higher, thus conferring, in theory, all the necessary protective elements to prevent that mercury from affecting the fetus.
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The study stated the finding “clarifies the reasons for the contrasting findings of certain early studies,” namely those listed in a systemic review issued by the National Academy of Science called ‘The Role of Seafood Consumption in Child Growth and Development.’
The review lists numerous studies and meta-analyses that show consumption of seafood known to contain mercury is associated with mostly positive neurodevelopmental outcomes in children, with one study showing an associated increase in IQ of 2 to 5 points. Others report a mix of positive and negligible associations between seafood consumption in young children and infants and neurodevelopmental outcomes.
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Another meta-analysis identified by the review identified 29 studies representing 24 unique cohorts. Of the 29 studies, 24 reported beneficial outcomes associated with maternal seafood consumption and neurocognition on some or all the tests administered to children. Based on their analysis, the authors reported moderate and consistent evidence for an association of consumption of a broad range of amounts and types of commercially available seafood during pregnancy with improved neurocognitive development in the offspring as compared to not consuming seafood.
There’s certainly every reason to remove mercury from the human diet, but it looks like the science behind the threat of seafood-born mercury is undergoing a seachange.
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From the sands of Egypt’s Western Desert, a nearly complete skull of a prehistoric apex predator offers scientists the chance to understand ever so much about how climate change affects animal extinction.
Belonging to a fully extinct order of carnivores called Hyaenodonts (hyena-teeth), the dozens of individuals that make up this lineage have been illustrated as weasel-like, cat-like, dog-like, and hyena-like, reflecting the order’s diversity.
There were Hyaeodonts as big as rhinos that weighed more than 500 pounds, and others the size of terriers, but Bastetodon syrtos, the order’s most recent addition, definitely skewed more to the slim and agile side of the spectrum.
Discovered by Shoruq Al-Ashqar from the American Institute of Cairo, she named it Bastetodon in homage to the Ancient Egyptian cat goddess Bastet.
“It was an amazing moment,” Al-Ashqar said. “This skull is important to us, not only because it’s complete and three dimensional, and actually it’s a beautiful one, but also it provides us with new traits to know more about this extinct group of carnivorous animals.”
“We can frankly say that Bastetodon was the king of the ancient Egyptian forest,” she told CNN.
Dating back 30 million years ago to the late Oligocene epoch, the species originated within the sub-family Hyainailourinae, one of several offshoots of the order Hyaenodonta containing dozens and dozens of species across Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America.
Hyainailourinae means Hyena-cats, and these more feline-like creatures first appeared in Africa about 47 million years ago when the deserts of Egypt were covered with lush tropical rainforest.
In general, Hyaenodonts like Hyainailourinae were strangely shaped animals to our sensibilities today; possessing enormous skulls, yet long and slender jaws, long tails, and very short necks. They covered a wide spectrum of sizes, and some members adapted to running on their toes, while others ran with planted feet.
One Hyaenodont was estimated to weigh in at over 600 pounds, while another was found to be the size of a large pine marten. Bastetodon probably weighed as much as a leopard or hyena. In general, it can’t be ignored how much illustrations of the creature appear like the rodents of unusual size from The Princess Bride.
In general, CNN writes, it’s easier to find herbivore fossils, and much harder to find carnivore fossils, because in a naturally balanced ecosystem, there are far more of the former than the latter.
The discovery of such a large and complete skull will help confirm concretely how large the animal’s brain was, how much muscle was attached to its jaw—and therefore bite force—and even what its sense of smell might have been.
“The fact that they lost out to cats and dogs in their evolution is still a mystery but might be caused by their highly specialized dentition,” Dr. Cathrin Pfaff, a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Palaeontology at the University of Vienna in Austria who wasn’t involved in the discovery, told CNN in an email
“Because of this, such a complete find as described here brings us a step closer to solving the mystery, even (if) it is just a medium-sized specimen.”
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Another mystery it might reveal is the nature of an ecosystem beset by a changing climate. The Oligocene began when the Earth experienced rapid cooling—an event that marked the end of the previous, Eocene Era.
It resulted in the smallest mass extinction event in the fossil record, triggering major ‘faunal turnover,’ when ecosystems are emptied of inadaptable species whose roles and niches are filled by the survivors.
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In this case, modern hyenas, cats, and dogs all moved in to occupy the space that was dominated by Hyaenodonta, perhaps the reason why these animals remain apex predators today.
It is curious how an animal that evolved to hunt so many different-sized prey species would disappear entirely from the Earth. Could it be that Hyaenodonta became too diversified? Maybe Bastetodon can help us understand.
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Quote of the Day: “In every true marriage, each serves as guide and companion to the other toward a shared enlightenment that no one else could possibly share.” – Joseph Campbell
Photo by: Mauricio Livio
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
189 years ago today, one of the foremost painters of 19th-century America, Winslow Homer, was born. Born in Boston to a father always seeking to pull off a get-rich-quick scheme, Homer was molded by his mother; a talented watercolor painter who taught him the basics. His most prolific period was when he moved to Maine and began to paint the robustness of fishing and seagoing cultures there, producing iconic imagery of 19th-century America such as The Gulf Stream, The Fog Warning, and Breezing Up (A Fair Wind). READ about the man’s life and see some of his paintings… (1836)
A bus stop in Fowey, England, has been getting artistic makeovers from creative locals for two decades.
Dubbed the Pretty Bus Stop on Lankelly Lane in Cornwall, it was given its first makeover by Jane Tinsley after it became a target for anti-social behavior.
Over the next 20 years the stop has been decorated as a tea room, a yacht race, a library, and even donned an Elvis theme at one point.
Volunteers step forward to redesign the grotto a couple of times each year—especially during the winter.
Sarah Worne, the artist behind the new plant-themed design, has been helping to keep the tradition alive since 2021.
The latest theme is called Thyme to Stop, and features real—and painted—pots of seedlings and plants.
“It was cold coming into February and everybody needs warming up, so we have made it look like you are sitting in a green house.
“It is just trying to bring a bit of warmth as you are sitting there waiting for a bus.”
“I am always liking to keep busy and always liking to do things that just make people smile,” said Sarah. “And, just for the fun of it.”
The bus stop even has its own Facebook page, with more than 2,700 followers which features many looks over the years.
“We like to delegate and engage with the local community,” she added. “I have challenged Fowey River Lions to do a design—and they are having a go this year at Easter.”
Sarah has thought about decorating other bus stops, getting inspired while driving around, but hasn’t yet taken the time to talking to the owners.
“The bus stop in Fowey is actually owned by the town council. You do have to work out who owns the bus stops and I haven’t gone down that route—but I certainly got my eye on a couple other bus stops that could do with brightening up.”
PASS ON THE INNOVATIVE IDEA With Your Hometown By Sharing On Social Media…
Thousands of sea turtles have taken over a beach as part of the annual mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles in India.
The incredible video shows a seemingly endless stretch of beach in Odisha, with waves of turtles slogging ashore near the mouth of the Rushikulya River.
According to Divisional Forest Officer Sunny Khokkar, over 11,000 turtles laid their eggs on February 16 across the 2.5-mile stretch of land (4km). It was the first day of ‘Arribada’, the unique nesting ritual where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
Interestingly, they return to the very same beach where they first hatched as a baby. During the phenomenal nesting, up to 600,000 females emerge from the water during the five to seven day period.
The 2-foot-long turtles then dig pits in the sand to lay between 100 and 150 eggs, before covering them and returning to the sea.
After about 45-65 days, the eggs begin to hatch, and these beaches are swamped with tiny Olive Ridley turtles, making their first trek towards the vast ocean.
It is estimated that approximately 1 hatchling survives to reach adulthood for every 1000 hatchlings that enter the sea waters.
The plentiful species is categorized as “Vulnerable” by international wildlife groups, so to safeguard the nesting process, the Forest Department has implemented protective measures.
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Local volunteers help to create a secure environment and the beach has been fenced off to prevent visitors from disturbing the nests—and the restrictions are set to remain in place until the hatchlings have emerged.
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The dreams of going to college for so many American teens may seem like long-shots, but when a billionaire philanthropist sets her sights on education, their stories may have a happy ending.
Enrique Pepén was born in Boston to Dominican immigrants who hoped to grab hold of the American dream, despite a language barrier that sometimes seemed insurmountable.
Growing up in public housing, Pepén had to help translate legal forms and food menus for his parents—and sometimes worried that the American dream would escape him. But he never gave up.
In high school, Pepén found assistance from Bottom Line, a nonprofit mentorship program that provides personalized guidance to first-generation college students and low-income youth.
Bottom Line, which has now served over 7,000 students, helped Pepén navigate all the forms and applications needed for college. He earned a full scholarship to Boston’s Suffolk University. From there, Bottom Line’s mentors supported him throughout his collegiate career.
Then, in 2023, Pepén was elected to the Boston City Council.
Pepén’s election arrived just one year after a massive $15 million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott helped secure Bottom Line’s long-term future. Scott, Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, provided monetary support for Bottom Line and 360 other charities and nonprofits through an operation named Yield Giving. Bottom Line’s gift will ensure that there are hundreds of other youths like Pepén who will gain enough support to grab a firm hold of the American dream.
“My parents left everything they knew when coming to the United States and I saw the mental toll of reinventing their lives. They believed in the power of education to make personal progress easier, and it was a belief they instilled in me,” Pepén said in Bottom Line’s most recent Annual Report.
“After walking my path and navigating the college process, if I could give any advice to students in similar shoes, I would say do not be afraid to ask for help!”
Founded in Boston in 1997, Bottom Line has achieved impressive results:
In its 28 years, the nonprofit has expanded to support students in New York, Chicago, and Ohio too. Later this summer, the program will officially launch in Detroit.
With funding from family foundations, as well as a $600,000 grant from GreenLight Fund Detroit, Bottom Line hopes to support 725 Detroit students annually by 2031.
It’s a worthy goal for a population faced with innumerable obstacles. Fewer than 20-percent of Detroit residents hold college degrees. The city’s median income averages just $37,000. And Michigan has one of the worst student-to-counselor ratios in the country.
But folks at Bottom Line never shrink from obstacles. They prefer to embrace them instead.
Just ask Danielle North, who was named Bottom Line Detroit’s first executive director. The Detroit native is a first-generation college student herself. A similar support program helped propel her through college and put her on a path to success about 20 years ago. Now, she’ll pay it forward to a new generation.
She already met with some prospective students at her alma mater Northwestern High School in December.
“I was already excited,” she said in an article appearing on ChalkBeat Detroit. ”But coming here and having the opportunity to interact with the staff and learn directly from the students what their experiences have been, to see the glimmer of light in their eyes, to see their future possibilities from their point of view, and to understand what they’re looking for, has really just cemented it for me.”
WATCH: Man Who Grew Up Without a Dad Supports Youth on ‘Dad, How Do I?’ YouTube Channel
They could take Pepén’s advice to heart: “There are a lot of opportunities out there that may seem difficult to obtain, but there are people and groups like Bottom Line who want you to succeed.”
Building on successful stories like Councilman Pepén’s in Boston, the next great chapters will be written in Detroit.
SHARE THE STORY to Inspire Youth With Dreams On Social Media…
Quote of the Day: “My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.” – Abraham Lincoln
Photo by: Daryan Shamkhali
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139 years ago today, an American inventor used electrolysis to extract aluminum from aluminum oxide, a process that eventually resulted in reducing the price of aluminum by a factor of 200, making it affordable for many practical uses from soda cans to the Wright Flyer. As small grains amid clay, it was thought by medieval alchemists to be the grains of dirt from a second, currently forming, earth. Today, more aluminum is produced than all other non-ferrous metals combined. The process was discovered by Charles Martin Hall, who helped found the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, which became the Aluminum Company of America. READ more… (1886)
A huge dinosaur footprint dating back 127 million years has been found on a UK beach after a rainstorm.
A 23-year-old fossil guide spotted the three-toed print on the Isle of Wight.
Joe Thompson says the one-meter long footprint revealed itself after storms stripped the beach of pebbles.
The recent Bristol University paleontology graduate was walking on Shepherd’s Chine beach, looking for any fossils or dinosaur bones.
“I had been walking for an hour or two and hadn’t found anything – so was a bit down in the dumps.
“But then I looked down and could see one of the toes in the clay. Thinking it could be a footprint, I uncovered it and discovered a pretty big footprint of an Iguanodon.
“It is high up in the sequence, which means it is a bit younger than other footprints on the island. It belonged to a really big animal.”
The news comes as this month marks the 200th anniversary of the first scientific description of Iguanodon in 1825, after a collection of the dinosaur’s teeth was discovered by geologist Dr. Gideon Mantell from large fossils found in Sussex, England, by him and his wife Mary Ann.
Iguanodons were large herbivores measuring up to ten meters long and weighing over four tons.
“Iguanodons are pretty cool and were quite common, but to see a footprint so well preserved in this area is great.
Iguanodons traveled in large groups of maybe 20 to 30, walked on all fours, but ran on two feet.
“They went around eating all the smaller plants around the ecosystem at the time,” Joe told news agency SWNS.com.
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Joe, who is a guide for Wight Coast Fossils, has recently launched South Coast Fossils, offering his fossil walks in another nearby region of Highcliffe, near Christchurch, saying:
“The Isle of Wight is one of the best places in Europe for finding dinosaur remains and footprints.”
BIG-FOOT THIS DISCOVERY Onto Social Media For Dino-Loving Friends…
