Alive-ing. Integrating Synthesizing 2025: For all that has been, 2025: Thank you. I have the right to dream. I have the right to have hope. I have a right to live mentally, emotionaly, spiritually, physical sanely & with clarity, from my True Self, though it may differ in part or entirely from others way of life. For all that will be, 2026: Yes. 🎶Music: I’m Coming Out, Diana Ross What’s Up, 4 Non Blondes In Dreams, Jai -Jagdeesh
I’m honored, and wow, it is so much fun!!!! to return to my (second, University of Kentucky having been first) academic home, Harvard Kennedy School. I am a Senior Fellow with the Women and Public Policy Program! Wahoo, lookout! In 2009, I thought I would do my Master’s somewhere else, when a professor who knew my international work well asked, “Why aren’t you going to Harvard?” Totally shocked, I replied, “Why am I not putting a rocket ship up my rear end and going to the moon?” I didn’t recognize myself as “Harvard material.” I soon reviewed the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Women & Public Policy Program website.I actually wept. “These are my people.” I began to feel confident that the expertise of my lived experience births a perspective and wisdom, combined with academic learning and being with folks from all over the planet, that means I have something unique and valuable to offer. So. It’s okay to be smart. It’s okay to care. It’s okay to be human. It’s okay not to know, and to ask someone how to do things, free from feeling shame or guilt. (Like how to use my new email or the shared folder with class readings! 🤔🤷🏻♀️) I will guest lecture in a few classes around campus, attend so many neat things (such as with Hon Mr Justice Chile Eboe-Osuji, pictured here, President of the International Criminal Court), goof off, and ask really hard questions it seems many won’t dare to ask! Thanks for coming along! Love, Ashley @harvardkennedyschool
Greetings from the Pemigewasset Land. ancestral home of the Abenaki or Algonquian-speaking cultural-linguistic family “Guaranteed” by Eddie Vedder What do you feel when you read these words? Or hear Eddie’s version of the song? “On bended knee Is no way to be free Lifting up an empty cup I ask silently That all my destinations Will accept the one that’s me So I can breathe Circles they grow & They swallow people whole Half their lives they say goodnight To wives they’ll never know Got a mind full of questions & A teacher in my soul So it goes…. Don’t come closer Or I’ll have to go Holding me like gravity Are places that pull If every there was one To keep me at home It would be you… Everyone I come across In cades they bought They think of me & My wandering But I am never what they thought Got my indignation But I am pure in all my thoughts I’m alive Wind in my hair I feel part of everywhere Underneath my being is A road that disappeared Late at night I hear the trees They’re singing with the dead Overhead Leave it to me As I find a way to be Consider me a satellite Forever orbiting I knew all the rules But the rules Do not know me Guaranteed….” (This version playing with my video, not sung by Eddie, because his singing it is not available on Instagram!)
Seeking reassurance & guidance about the undeniable power & need for soul-centered, disciplined & hopeful non-violence, I re-read Gandhi, Rev Dr MLK, Jr, & about the Student Non Violence Coordinating Committee (SNCC). I am here because of my immigrant family, including: I remember, love & thank Anna Ciminello, age 22, from Vicari, Sicily, a doctor of obstetrics, who was an immigrant. Unable to pass medical boards in a language she neither wrote nor spoke, she supported herself as a dressmaker. She arrived in America via the SS Calabria, 11 April 1908. I remember, love & thank Vincenzo Ciminello, an immigrant. With $20 & described as a shoemaker, he arrived in America on the SS Alsatia November, 1898. He joined his brother, Michele, on 696 West 129 Street, New York City. I pray for those who help. I pray for those who do not. Donald Trump, I say to you: metanoia. Readings from https://m.mkgandhi.org/.
Seeking reassurance & guidance about the undeniable power & need for soul-centered, disciplined & hopeful non-violence, I re-read Gandhi, Rev Dr MLK, Jr, & about the Student Non Violence Coordinating Committee (SNCC). I am here because of my immigrant family, including: I remember, love & thank Anna Ciminello, age 22, from Vicari, Sicily, a doctor of obstetrics, who was an immigrant. Unable to pass medical boards in a language she neither wrote nor spoke, she supported herself as a dressmaker. She arrived in America via the SS Calabria, 11 April 1908. I remember, love & thank Vincenzo Ciminello, an immigrant. With $20 & described as a shoemaker, he arrived in America on the SS Alsatia November, 1898. He joined his brother, Michele, on 696 West 129 Street, New York City. I pray for those who help. I pray for those who do not. Donald Trump, I say to you: metanoia. Readings from https://m.mkgandhi.org/.
Seeking reassurance & guidance about the undeniable power & need for soul-centered, disciplined & hopeful non-violence, I re-read Gandhi, Rev Dr MLK, Jr, & about the Student Non Violence Coordinating Committee (SNCC). I am here because of my immigrant family, including: I remember, love & thank Anna Ciminello, age 22, from Vicari, Sicily, a doctor of obstetrics, who was an immigrant. Unable to pass medical boards in a language she neither wrote nor spoke, she supported herself as a dressmaker. She arrived in America via the SS Calabria, 11 April 1908. I remember, love & thank Vincenzo Ciminello, an immigrant. With $20 & described as a shoemaker, he arrived in America on the SS Alsatia November, 1898. He joined his brother, Michele, on 696 West 129 Street, New York City. I pray for those who help. I pray for those who do not. Donald Trump, I say to you: metanoia. Readings from https://m.mkgandhi.org/.
Seeking reassurance & guidance about the undeniable power & need for soul-centered, disciplined & hopeful non-violence, I re-read Gandhi, Rev Dr MLK, Jr, & about the Student Non Violence Coordinating Committee (SNCC). I am here because of my immigrant family, including: I remember, love & thank Anna Ciminello, age 22, from Vicari, Sicily, a doctor of obstetrics, who was an immigrant. Unable to pass medical boards in a language she neither wrote nor spoke, she supported herself as a dressmaker. She arrived in America via the SS Calabria, 11 April 1908. I remember, love & thank Vincenzo Ciminello, an immigrant. With $20 & described as a shoemaker, he arrived in America on the SS Alsatia November, 1898. He joined his brother, Michele, on 696 West 129 Street, New York City. I pray for those who help. I pray for those who do not. Donald Trump, I say to you: metanoia. Readings from https://m.mkgandhi.org/.
I made my own halloween costume for the first time. I began a few weeks ago, thinking it through And Creative Girls Rock supported my planing ~ Otherwise, I think my Inner Family would have been so crushed if I had not been able to actually do The costume assembly ….often with TAPE! GLUE! STRING! We started early and it all came togehter. Little Inner Child = Thursday’s outing. Punky Inner Teen = Friday night! She’s so smart! She stickered up our t shirt, And grabbed fan to represent “Grandmother Effect” for post menopausal women Adding to success of our species by Investing in their daughters and their offspring. So, the whole life cycle was somehow In all the fun, Littles, middles, Mother, and Grandmother. We had so much fun! You? Love, Ashley
Hello, Friends! Thank you for joining me for this Instagram Live, in which we got to talk about my new movie, 21Down. It’s in large part because of your encouragement and enthusiasm that I’m choosing to do another movie – as well as the incredible story of Caden Cox @kickinitwithcaden and his family. Thanks for your patience when my camera was turned around the wrong way in this Live! As the T-shirt says “have patience with me! I’m from the 1900s! Lots of love and take good care! 🎥🎥🎥🎥
In the rhythm of the year, I paused this weekend to reminisce, remember, love, and appreciate my loved ones who passed through the thin place to the other side. This year, in particular, I remember my precious and beloved Uncle Mark. Thanks for visiting with me as I share my memories, and I’d love to hear about who you’re remembering and loving this All Saints and All Souls weekend. Who is your Uncle Mark?
We Don’t Care Club: Hybrid Edition ✨(thanks to our founder @justbeingmelani) I love myself. I love my belly. I saw photos of myself swimming in a cold river ~ And, wow, the post-menopausal body, how beautiful. A different distribution of flesh and substance. And. Dressing that belly. Brings me to sans-a-belt. Hmm. Musings in video above! Love, Ashley
“Oh, there is a Black girl named Ashley Judd.” thought Rev Kelli X, when she read my name on the book club registration for Scarret Bennett black womanist theology book study. That’s one of my favorite things, ever. Reminds me of Dorthey Pitman sharing Gloria Steinem blended into her family with such ease. My 3x great granddaddy Elijah Hensley was a one legged farmer in Martin County, KY and lay preacher in the Methodist Church. Sundays with Mamaw in the Methodist Sanctuary were safe and sweet. I appreciate how John Wesley’s wife, Mary, taught from her kitchen window. “Share Good News, & whenever necessary. use words.” Thank you to the recipients of the Tower of Justice recognitions! Scarrit Bennett Center: Creative Girls Rock – Transformative Education Rev. Ingrid McIntyre – Women’s Empowerment Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, II – Spiritual Formation Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition – Racial Justice How do you Journey Inward to Journey Outward, Towards Hope, Peace & Justice? Love, Ashley
“Oh, there is a Black girl named Ashley Judd.” thought Rev Kelli X, when she read my name on the book club registration for Scarret Bennett black womanist theology book study. That’s one of my favorite things, ever. Reminds me of Dorthey Pitman sharing Gloria Steinem blended into her family with such ease. My 3x great granddaddy Elijah Hensley was a one legged farmer in Martin County, KY and lay preacher in the Methodist Church. Sundays with Mamaw in the Methodist Sanctuary were safe and sweet. I appreciate how John Wesley’s wife, Mary, taught from her kitchen window. “Share Good News, & whenever necessary. use words.” Thank you to the recipients of the Tower of Justice recognitions! Scarrit Bennett Center: Creative Girls Rock – Transformative Education Rev. Ingrid McIntyre – Women’s Empowerment Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, II – Spiritual Formation Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition – Racial Justice How do you Journey Inward to Journey Outward, Towards Hope, Peace & Justice? Love, Ashley
“Oh, there is a Black girl named Ashley Judd.” thought Rev Kelli X, when she read my name on the book club registration for Scarret Bennett black womanist theology book study. That’s one of my favorite things, ever. Reminds me of Dorthey Pitman sharing Gloria Steinem blended into her family with such ease. My 3x great granddaddy Elijah Hensley was a one legged farmer in Martin County, KY and lay preacher in the Methodist Church. Sundays with Mamaw in the Methodist Sanctuary were safe and sweet. I appreciate how John Wesley’s wife, Mary, taught from her kitchen window. “Share Good News, & whenever necessary. use words.” Thank you to the recipients of the Tower of Justice recognitions! Scarrit Bennett Center: Creative Girls Rock – Transformative Education Rev. Ingrid McIntyre – Women’s Empowerment Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, II – Spiritual Formation Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition – Racial Justice How do you Journey Inward to Journey Outward, Towards Hope, Peace & Justice? Love, Ashley
“Oh, there is a Black girl named Ashley Judd.” thought Rev Kelli X, when she read my name on the book club registration for Scarret Bennett black womanist theology book study. That’s one of my favorite things, ever. Reminds me of Dorthey Pitman sharing Gloria Steinem blended into her family with such ease. My 3x great granddaddy Elijah Hensley was a one legged farmer in Martin County, KY and lay preacher in the Methodist Church. Sundays with Mamaw in the Methodist Sanctuary were safe and sweet. I appreciate how John Wesley’s wife, Mary, taught from her kitchen window. “Share Good News, & whenever necessary. use words.” Thank you to the recipients of the Tower of Justice recognitions! Scarrit Bennett Center: Creative Girls Rock – Transformative Education Rev. Ingrid McIntyre – Women’s Empowerment Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, II – Spiritual Formation Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition – Racial Justice How do you Journey Inward to Journey Outward, Towards Hope, Peace & Justice? Love, Ashley
“Oh, there is a Black girl named Ashley Judd.” thought Rev Kelli X, when she read my name on the book club registration for Scarret Bennett black womanist theology book study. That’s one of my favorite things, ever. Reminds me of Dorthey Pitman sharing Gloria Steinem blended into her family with such ease. My 3x great granddaddy Elijah Hensley was a one legged farmer in Martin County, KY and lay preacher in the Methodist Church. Sundays with Mamaw in the Methodist Sanctuary were safe and sweet. I appreciate how John Wesley’s wife, Mary, taught from her kitchen window. “Share Good News, & whenever necessary. use words.” Thank you to the recipients of the Tower of Justice recognitions! Scarrit Bennett Center: Creative Girls Rock – Transformative Education Rev. Ingrid McIntyre – Women’s Empowerment Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, II – Spiritual Formation Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition – Racial Justice How do you Journey Inward to Journey Outward, Towards Hope, Peace & Justice? Love, Ashley
“Oh, there is a Black girl named Ashley Judd.” thought Rev Kelli X, when she read my name on the book club registration for Scarret Bennett black womanist theology book study. That’s one of my favorite things, ever. Reminds me of Dorthey Pitman sharing Gloria Steinem blended into her family with such ease. My 3x great granddaddy Elijah Hensley was a one legged farmer in Martin County, KY and lay preacher in the Methodist Church. Sundays with Mamaw in the Methodist Sanctuary were safe and sweet. I appreciate how John Wesley’s wife, Mary, taught from her kitchen window. “Share Good News, & whenever necessary. use words.” Thank you to the recipients of the Tower of Justice recognitions! Scarrit Bennett Center: Creative Girls Rock – Transformative Education Rev. Ingrid McIntyre – Women’s Empowerment Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, II – Spiritual Formation Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition – Racial Justice How do you Journey Inward to Journey Outward, Towards Hope, Peace & Justice? Love, Ashley
“Oh, there is a Black girl named Ashley Judd.” thought Rev Kelli X, when she read my name on the book club registration for Scarret Bennett black womanist theology book study. That’s one of my favorite things, ever. Reminds me of Dorthey Pitman sharing Gloria Steinem blended into her family with such ease. My 3x great granddaddy Elijah Hensley was a one legged farmer in Martin County, KY and lay preacher in the Methodist Church. Sundays with Mamaw in the Methodist Sanctuary were safe and sweet. I appreciate how John Wesley’s wife, Mary, taught from her kitchen window. “Share Good News, & whenever necessary. use words.” Thank you to the recipients of the Tower of Justice recognitions! Scarrit Bennett Center: Creative Girls Rock – Transformative Education Rev. Ingrid McIntyre – Women’s Empowerment Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, II – Spiritual Formation Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition – Racial Justice How do you Journey Inward to Journey Outward, Towards Hope, Peace & Justice? Love, Ashley
“Oh, there is a Black girl named Ashley Judd.” thought Rev Kelli X, when she read my name on the book club registration for Scarret Bennett black womanist theology book study. That’s one of my favorite things, ever. Reminds me of Dorthey Pitman sharing Gloria Steinem blended into her family with such ease. My 3x great granddaddy Elijah Hensley was a one legged farmer in Martin County, KY and lay preacher in the Methodist Church. Sundays with Mamaw in the Methodist Sanctuary were safe and sweet. I appreciate how John Wesley’s wife, Mary, taught from her kitchen window. “Share Good News, & whenever necessary. use words.” Thank you to the recipients of the Tower of Justice recognitions! Scarrit Bennett Center: Creative Girls Rock – Transformative Education Rev. Ingrid McIntyre – Women’s Empowerment Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, II – Spiritual Formation Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition – Racial Justice How do you Journey Inward to Journey Outward, Towards Hope, Peace & Justice? Love, Ashley
“Oh, there is a Black girl named Ashley Judd.” thought Rev Kelli X, when she read my name on the book club registration for Scarret Bennett black womanist theology book study. That’s one of my favorite things, ever. Reminds me of Dorthey Pitman sharing Gloria Steinem blended into her family with such ease. My 3x great granddaddy Elijah Hensley was a one legged farmer in Martin County, KY and lay preacher in the Methodist Church. Sundays with Mamaw in the Methodist Sanctuary were safe and sweet. I appreciate how John Wesley’s wife, Mary, taught from her kitchen window. “Share Good News, & whenever necessary. use words.” Thank you to the recipients of the Tower of Justice recognitions! Scarrit Bennett Center: Creative Girls Rock – Transformative Education Rev. Ingrid McIntyre – Women’s Empowerment Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, II – Spiritual Formation Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition – Racial Justice How do you Journey Inward to Journey Outward, Towards Hope, Peace & Justice? Love, Ashley
“Oh, there is a Black girl named Ashley Judd.” thought Rev Kelli X, when she read my name on the book club registration for Scarret Bennett black womanist theology book study. That’s one of my favorite things, ever. Reminds me of Dorthey Pitman sharing Gloria Steinem blended into her family with such ease. My 3x great granddaddy Elijah Hensley was a one legged farmer in Martin County, KY and lay preacher in the Methodist Church. Sundays with Mamaw in the Methodist Sanctuary were safe and sweet. I appreciate how John Wesley’s wife, Mary, taught from her kitchen window. “Share Good News, & whenever necessary. use words.” Thank you to the recipients of the Tower of Justice recognitions! Scarrit Bennett Center: Creative Girls Rock – Transformative Education Rev. Ingrid McIntyre – Women’s Empowerment Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, II – Spiritual Formation Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition – Racial Justice How do you Journey Inward to Journey Outward, Towards Hope, Peace & Justice? Love, Ashley
🎥🎬Thank you for often sharing you want to see me make another movie! I am going to make a move and Executive Produce it! Your encouragement has supported my embracing “21Down.” Caden and his family’s lives are consistent with my values about kindness, what love looks and feels like, standing up for each other, and embracing all humans, whatever our perceptions of them may be. I am so glad we can collocate with Special Olympics, Best Budies, and other kind people to celebrate families who love and strive. I am eager to visit and connect with you with mirth and excitement about my return to acting, and thank you for letting me know you wanted me to. Love, Ashley
🎥🎬Thank you for often sharing you want to see me make another movie! I am going to make a move and Executive Produce it! Your encouragement has supported my embracing “21Down.” Caden and his family’s lives are consistent with my values about kindness, what love looks and feels like, standing up for each other, and embracing all humans, whatever our perceptions of them may be. I am so glad we can collocate with Special Olympics, Best Budies, and other kind people to celebrate families who love and strive. I am eager to visit and connect with you with mirth and excitement about my return to acting, and thank you for letting me know you wanted me to. Love, Ashley
Integrating awareness of and capacity for feelings & body sensations is essential to me as I lead my Seminar at @harvardkennedyschool Topic: Male demand for female bodies: Systems of prostitution and pornography. My classroom is both/and, just as I learned from my undergrad professors Christine Havice, PhD, and Jeannine Blackwell, PhD, in my original Women’s Studies work (at the University of Kentucky): It is okay to think, learn, interrogate, reflect, synthesize from multiple disciplines, narratives & my own experiences. It is okay to update my own thinking as I learn. It is (more than!) okay to be smart. & It is okay to care. My/Our feelings help inform my values. (Take a look at Martha Nussbaum, philosopher, for more about feelings = values = inform me as a citizen!) Both/And. Male demand for female bodies, especially in systems of prostitution and pornography, is — and should be — an emotionally tough discussion. We read a lot of policy material, as well as fundamentally ground male harm in: Complex Trauma (trauma that happens in relationship) Deprivation (the care/good that does not happen, is withheld, not supplied) Dissociation (the tucking away/minimizing/deflecting of feelings because, at the time the ouches occur, it is not safe/possible to feel the fullness of what is happening). And somehow, it is so joyful. My own experiences relationships with fellow abolitionists smarts feeling = healing, growing, community, accountability, and fun. I love being in the classroom & I am so honored these gifted feeling-informed participants from across the Harvard community show up each session. (PhDs, Masters Students, Fellows, Academic Dean/Faculty/ Staff! I appreciate and celebrate them!) I do a welfare check a few days after each session— on myself as well as them! The material is tough & I notice how much I need my own gentleness. How are you learning and caring this week? Love, Ashley
