Graffiti provides a platform for individuals to express themselves and share their ideas with a wider audience. It allows people to communicate their thoughts, emotions, and messages in a way that may not be possible through traditional forms of communication. For many, graffiti is a way to assert their identity and create a sense of belonging within their community.

In marginalized communities, graffiti can serve as a powerful tool for self-expression and resistance. It can be used to reclaim public spaces and give a voice to those who may not have one otherwise.

https://tinyurl.com/5ff8bpsu%20Acesso%20em:%2024.08.2023.

THE BENEFITS OF SLOWING DOWN

Hustle culture uses speed as a measure of performance. How fast can you ship a new feature? How many
prospective clients can you call in an hour? How much of your day can you devote to work? If you’re not
fast, are you even being productive? This harmful mindset results in burnout, poor decision-making and
bad communication.
[5] It may seem counterintuitive, but slowing down can be a faster way to achieve your goals. Fighting our
urge to live and work faster can lead to clearer thinking, deeper connections and better mental health. The
illusory imperative to keep up with everyone else is hurting us. Faster is not always better – far from it. By
slowing down, you can build three key pillars to rely on in your life and work.
When we focus on speed, we may blindly follow a path that may not be the most efficient one to reach our
[10] goals – whether it’s a path dictated by others, or one that seems the most obvious. Slowing down allows us
to be more intentional when making decisions and executing our plans.
Being fast allows us to do more. But “doing more” does not equal “doing what’s best”. Doing things slower
means we can achieve a substantial increase in positive results, and even sometimes in the experience
itself. Would you design a more polished feature if you had two days, or if you had two weeks? Would
[15] you enjoy a landscape better if you are driving over the speed limit, or if you are taking a leisurely walk?
Would you learn more about a friend if you had a quick chat or a long conversation? Of course, we may
not always have the luxury of slowness, but we should make a conscious effort to question artificial time
constraints.
Consistent effort over time is more sustainable than pushing your limits to work as fast as possible. To do
[20] our best work, we need mental downtime, space for self-reflection, and a realistic schedule we can actually
keep up with.
Overall, slowing down will help you make better decisions, connect deeper with people, have more
meaningful experiences, all while improving your mental well-being by avoiding burnout. You may go
slower, but you will go further.
[25] Whatever area of your life you are targeting, making space for self-reflection is crucial. Helpful methods
to slow down include journaling, meditation and taking breaks. Speed may sometimes be a goal in and of
itself, but it should be an intentional goal rather than an automatic need to “keep up” with others.
An easy trick to slow down is to ask “Why the rush?” and to take a step back. Is speed really adding to the
quality of the output?

ANNE-LAURE LE CUNFF Adaptado de nesslabs.com.

Essential reading on, and beyond, Indigenous Peoples Day

Formerly known as Columbus Day, today is Indigenous Peoples Day in more than 80 (and counting)
cities, counties and states. While official recognition of this day began in the late ‘70s, with the UN
discussing the replacement of Columbus Day, resistance and challenge to said “holiday” existed in
the hearts and minds of indigenous and native peoples long before cities or states began to observe
[5] Indigenous Peoples Day.

As land defenders − people who are working for indigenous territories to be protected from
contamination and exploitation − we see Indigenous Peoples Day as progress; it signals a crucial
shift in our culture to recognize the dark past of colonization. No longer are our communities,
towns, cities and states remaining silent and complacent in celebrating the cultural genocide that
[10] ensued after Christopher Columbus landed on Turtle Island (a.k.a. North America). Today also
means that the erasure of our narrative as indigenous peoples is ending and our truths are rising
to the surface. These truths include: Christopher Columbus was not a hero; he was a murderer.
The land we all exist on is stolen. The history we’ve been taught is not accurate or complete. And
perhaps most important among those truths, indigenous lands are still being colonized, and our
[15] people are still suffering the trauma and impacts of colonization.

Across the country, we continue to see the violation of our rights and treaties as extractive projects
are proposed and constructed. Across the nation, we continue to grieve our missing and murdered
indigenous women, victims of violence brought to their communities by extractive oil and mining
projects. We continue to bear the brunt of climate change as our food sovereignty is threatened
[20] by dying ecosystems and as our animal relatives are becoming extinct due to land loss, warmer
seasons and/or contamination. And now, we are fighting for the very right to resist as anti-protest
laws emerge across the country, which aim to criminalize our people for protecting what is most
sacred to us.

Yet, despite these challenges, our people and communities are demonstrating incredible bravery
[25] and innovation to bring forth healing and justice. Through the tireless work of indigenous
organizers, activists, knowledge keepers and artists, we are learning about what is working and
what our movements need more of to dismantle systems like white supremacy and systemic racism
that colonization has imposed on our communities.

So while we could dive into the stories of how our people are still being attacked by the many forms
[30] of colonization, we find it important on this day, a day that symbolizes progress and evolution,
to acknowledge what is working in our communities and in our movements. All too often, our
people are framed as victims, and while there’s truth in those narratives, it’s also critical, for our
self-actualization as indigenous peoples, to have our strengths, our resilience and our creativity
seen and honored. 

JADE BEGAY AND DALLAS GOLDTOOTH sierraclub.org, 08/10/2018

Read the text to answer question 

    In the late 1960s, following the Apollo 11 Moon landings, the three astronauts were waiting to be picked up inside their capsule floating in the Pacific Ocean — and they were hot and uncomfortable. NASA officials decided to make things more pleasant for their three national heroes. The downside? There was a small possibility of unleashing deadly alien microbes on Earth.

   When humanity first made plans to send probes and people into space in the mid-20th Century, the issue of contamination came up. Firstly, there was the fear of “forward” contamination — the possibility that Earth-based life might accidentally hitch a ride into the cosmos. Spacecraft needed to be sterilised and carefully packaged before launch. If microbes silently moved onboard, it would confuse any attempts to detect alien life. And if there were extra-terrestrial organisms out there, we might end up inadvertently killing them with Earth-based bacteria or viruses. These concerns matter just as much today as they did back in the Space Race era.

    A second concern was “back” contamination. This was the idea that astronauts, rockets or probes returning to Earth might bring back life that could prove catastrophic, either by consuming all our oxygen or outcompeting Earth organisms. What if the astronauts brought back something dangerous? At the time, the probability was not considered high, but still, the scenario had to be explored. “Maybe it’s sure to 99% that Apollo 11 will not bring back lunar organisms,” said one influential scientist at the time, “but even that 1% of uncertainty is too large to be complacent about.”

    NASA put several quarantine measures in place — in some cases, a little reluctantly. Concerned officials from the US Public Health Service argued for stricter measures than initially planned, pointing out that they had the power to refuse border entry to contaminated astronauts. NASA then agreed to install a costly quarantine facility on the ship that would pick up the men from their splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. It was also agreed that the lunar explorers would then spend three weeks in isolation before they could hug their families or shake the hand of the president.  

(Richard Fisher. www.bbc.com, 18.02.2021. Adapted.)