Join us for our next Def Story Slam on Thursday, March 24th at Spice Monkey in Oakland.  $150 cash prize for the winner!

Insects can be found flying, buzzing, and crawling all around us, but whether they can be considered friends or foes is questionable. Either way, there’s absolutely no question that these unsuspecting little creatures can tell us so much about the various links in our wondrous web of life.

How we find a way to live differently?  How do we communicate that to ourselves, community members, and decision makers?  In an era of global warming, fighting racism, working for social justice and equity, how can storytelling help shape what we do and how we talk about it?

I just launched crowdfunding for an exciting project that has tremendous potential for transformative societal impact: The Collective Liberation Listening Tour. Check it out on Kickstarter.

I often introduce myself as Melia's Papa when meeting someone new. Melia, my seven year old daughter, is my inspiration for working on clean energy. The indigenous saying "we do not inherit the planet from our parents; we borrow it from our children," resonates strongly with me. I think it is our responsibility to pass on a healthy planet to the next generation. That’s why I bike, take rapid transit 20 miles to pick up Melia from school, and campaign for Community Choice Energy.

This is an excerpt from conversation between Derrick Ashong (aka DNA), Melia's Papa, and Navina Khanna in February 2010.