Three lives. Eight days.
I wrote about the work behind the headlines—what it takes to change crisis response systems with care, humility, and accountability.
If you care about behavioral health or public trust, I hope you’ll read it.
I thought I was healing from a tumor.
But the real recovery has been unwinding a decade of chronic stress.
What if healing isn’t just physical?
What if the recovery is in the nervous system?
open.substack.com/pub/alexandr...
#MentalHealthAwarenessMonth #Cushings #NervousSystemHealing
There’s a grief we don’t talk about enough—when someone you loved is still alive, but no longer in your life. No funeral. No closure. No language.
This weekend, I wrote about that kind of loss—and the slow, quiet work of resurrection.
🌿What We Don’t Have Words For
open.substack.com/pub/alexandr...
“One thing I heard from every group of residents we met with across the city is how much they love Baltimore.”
US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, 2017
Ten years after Freddie Gray’s death, I’m still holding the moments that showed that love.
#FreddieGray
open.substack.com/pub/alexandr...
Today is Cushing’s Awareness Day. Earlier this year I wrote a narrative of my own story to help raise awareness and instill hope for others with a similar experience.
If you haven’t, I hope you’ll read my story:
open.substack.com/pub/alexandr...
#cushings #cushingsawareness #healthcare
Ten Lessons from Ten Years in Public Service
What public service has taught me about people, community, and what it really means to show up. These aren’t polished mantras. They’re lived-in truths and still guiding the way I move through work today.
open.substack.com/pub/alexandr...
Why can’t the US be like this?
We need to make more noise. This could be any of us.
Yes
“I’m doing good things,” I tell myself as I delete the military service of a dead woman. “I’m still a good person.”
“The intake began with slaps. One young man sobbed when a guard pushed him to the floor. He said, ‘I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a barber.’ ….The man asked for his mother, then buried his face in his chained hands and cried as he was slapped again.”
Happy vernal equinox from my pretty pittie ☀️ 🐶 🌺
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suggested allowing bird flu to spread, so as to identify birds that may be immune. Veterinary scientists said that would be inhumane, dangerous and have enormous economic consequences.
We just wanted to take a moment to thank all our new supporters! Tomorrow, there will be more of us!
Hating on Artscape
Do Baltimoreans love hating on Artscape more than attending the actual festival? By Carla Ober
bmoreart.substack.com/p/hating-on-...
This image displays a list of U.S. senators who support a particular issue or bill, with a total count of 60 supporters. Each senator's name is accompanied by their state abbreviation and, in some cases, a quote or comment. The list includes: 1. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada) – with a quote: "It would cause too many Americans to suffer." 2. Dick Durbin (Illinois) 3. John Fetterman (Pennsylvania) – with a partial quote: "I will never vote to shut the government down." 4. Kirsten Gillibrand (New York) 5. Margaret Wood Hassan (New Hampshire) 6. Gary Peters (Michigan) 7. Brian Schatz (Hawaii) 8. Charles E. Schumer (New York) – with a quote: "For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option." 9. Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire) (grayed out, possibly indicating a different status or emphasis) Each senator is represented with a small portrait on the left, and the text is formatted with bold headings and lighter subtext. The list appears to be part of a political report or legislative tracking document.
Cloture has met the 60 votes to pass in the senate with the help of at least 9 Democrats: Schumer, Fetterman, Hassan, Cortez Masto, Durbin, Gillibrand, Shaheen, Schatz, and Peters.
They sold out our country to Trump and Elon. They're traitors to democracy.
Additionally, how many Senate Dems voted to confirm Marco Rubio?
newrepublic.com/article/1927...
AOC: I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal… just to see some senate Democrats even consider acquiescing to Elon Musk. I think it is a huge slap in the face.
KEEP CALLING. PEEL OFF ALL DEM SENATORS YOU CAN.
☎️: (202) 224-3121
Tell them to vote NO on Cloture and NO on CR. Vote is pushed to after 1:15ish for now. Situation is fluid.
The only public YES votes are Schumer and Fetterman. They need 7-8 total. KEEP CALLING.
Call retiring Senators too!
A federal judge in Maryland issued an even more sweeping restraining order on Thursday, surpassing an earlier one from the same day. The order broadly prohibits the Trump administration from implementing any future “reductions in force,” such as this week’s directive to terminate half of the
The new temporary restraining order from Senior Judge James Bredar, an Obama-appointee, covers 18 agencies and will last two weeks, as a challenge to the terminations from Democratic state attorneys general moves forward.
The institutional Democratic Party is guided by an almost pathological level of conflict avoidance in almost every direction. “What can we do to make the least number of people mad?” is just a bankrupt way to operate.
Today I’m sharing my second Substack piece, “I Didn’t Know How to Be Kind to Myself—Until I Had No Choice”. I’d love if you read it, left a comment or subscribed. 🫶🏼😆
open.substack.com/pub/alexandr...
very much looking forward to the rest of today ✝️🫶🏼
Meditate today, even for just five minutes.
In describing meditation posture, it is sometimes said that you should have “a strong back and a soft front.”
That’s how a real warrior moves through the world.
Wtf
I loved seeing this announcement in my email today for many reasons. Biggest reason being that this says directly to Baltimore city youth, “you are welcome and wanted at Harborplace”.
Democracy dies in decorum.
In President Donald Trump’s meritocracy, you apparently don’t need much educational experience to run the Department of Education.
With a demonstrated lack of knowledge about even the most basic education laws and policies, wrestling exec and billionaire Linda McMahon is now the head of the DOE.
This is Winston Churchill visiting Washington DC to request assistance in the war against Germany. Notice he is wearing a "zip suit" and not a traditional suit. This was to honor the British troops--the same reason Zelensky dresses the way he does.
