Closing Remarks #19

Happy end of 2024, y'all!

This was a heavy one. Scrolling back through old photos and journal entries, I keep thinking to myself, "Wait, that was this year?" Whether you are a news hawk who gets a pop-up notifications for every bit of "Breaking News" or more of a passive news grazer (like me!), it felt like there was just no slow, boring news days this year.

That said, one phrase that keeps driving me crazy is: "We are in uncertain times." While I didn't enjoy the whiplash of this year's news cycle, I wouldn't say I am craving "certainty". In the face of compounding human suffering and impending ecological collapse, certain feels like certain doom. And for my part, I kind of only want to throw myself into projects that are unfamiliar and uncertain but hopeful.

If we are to stop --- or even seriously attempt to stop -- all the things that cause harm, grief, destruction, we will undoubtedly feel shaky. However, shakiness in service of transformation seems worth it, no?
Traversing terrain we've never crossed before may mean clearing old paths our feet never touched, and learning language we don't yet know. However with courage and community, I think we can all take bold steps forward into the radical possibility of the uncertain.

Here are this week's links:

1) Sesame Street at a crossroads
Since its launch in 1969, Sesame Street has faced no shortage of threats and funding crises. The latest challenge to the pioneering children's program is coming from their current network Max, which will not be funding any new episodes. While Max has promised to continue streaming old episodes at least through 2027, a company spokesperson stated that producing new episodes of Sesame "not core to our strategy.”

2) AIDS Fund Philadelphia ceases operations
AIDS Fund Philly has ended its 35 year run. The group raised funds via its AIDSWalk and GayBINGO events, and also provided emergency financial support to people living with HIV.

The shift to shut follows the closing of many AIDS support organizations (such as aidsmap in the UK, AIDS/LifeCycle in California, and Rainbow Health in Minnesota), and is partly attributable to the remarkable medical advancements in disease management over the past 4 decades.

Action Wellness, another HIV services nonprofit in Philadelphia, will take over some of AIDS Fund's programming, namely the BINGO event.

3) UK zoo, mired in abuse charges shuts down...again.
After extensive reports of animal abuse, advocates are celebrating the announcement that Cumbria Zoo is going out of business. However, an investigative timeline of the zoo's (truly wild!) near-40 year history reveals that this might not actually be the last we hear of this place.

4) California Christian college ordered to close, refuses
While a judge has ruled that Olivet University should close, because many of its staff lack educational credentials, the school's leaders vow to go on. Students, many of whom are Chinese nationals, claim they were entrapped on campus and forced to work without pay. However, such institutions are often legally allowed to stay open under a religious legal exemption.

Closing Remarks is brought to you by The Wind Down, a consultancy for exploring, building, designing, and delivering better endings for mission-driven projects and organizations, and also raising closure consciousness.