The Horizons Project Director for Race & Democracy, Jarvis Williams, has a conversation with Shun Tucker-Allen, Senior Faith Partnerships Coordinator at Fair Count about her work organizing with faith communities in the South. As more pro-democracy organizers and funders seek to engage more deeply with faith communities around the country, Shun shares her experience of fostering trusting relationships that are not transactional; being creative about building on the existing infrastructure and activities already happening within communities; not assuming that you need to go to the largest churches or directly to the pastors to have an impact; and, the importance of taking a long-term perspective to this work even in the face of urgent electoral cycles.
Category: News
Sensemaking with Horizons: What’s the Ask?
Chief Network Weaver, Julia Roig and Jarvis Williams, Director for Race & Democracy reflect on some of the natural tensions facing the work of organizers at the national and state levels within a “block, bridge, build” framework – the importance of applied history, attention to what voices and partnerships are privileged, and how specific asks for policies and institutional reforms are raised and prioritized. All this while also bringing in our “intermestic” lens of shared struggles with colleagues in other countries.
THE VISTA: June 2024
During the month of June, we celebrated Pride and also observed Juneteenth. Hear directly about the history from the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” Opal Lee, one of the activists who advocated for this federal holiday. You can read about the need to not “water down” Juneteenth described as “less [of] a celebration and more a wake-up call for the necessity of organizing to prevent the erosion of rights, liberty, and fairness.” We would recommend Harvard’s Kennedy School new study on Normalizing Reparations: U.S. Precedent, Norms and Models for Compensating Harms and Implications for Reparations to Black Americans; and you can learn about the specific experiences of the New Jersey Reparations Council as they observed Juneteenth by reflecting on the past year. This month Ms. magazine extolled readers, “Let’s All See Ourselves in Black Women,” and affirms that “it is by centering Black women that we get to meet the needs of all.”
Horizons continues to prioritize making connections between academics and practitioners and would highlight two recent articles that identify important researchers and include summaries of their work: Political Scientists Want to Know Why We Hate One Another This Much; and, The Behavioral Scientists Working Toward a More Peaceful World. You also may be interested in recent insights on how AI could change democracy.
Please check out two recent articles from Chief Organizer, Maria Stephan on making political violence backfire and the important role of faith leaders in standing up to the authoritarian playbook. And finally, you don’t want to miss this recent episode of the Laura Flanders Show that features Maria together with our colleagues at 22nd Century Initiative and Vision Change Win, discussing political violence and ways communities can come together to organize against it.
Happy summer to those in the northern hemisphere, and enjoy these additional resources we’ve been reading, watching, and listening to this past month:
READING
A System Within: Addressing the Inner Dimensions of Sustainability and Systems Transformation
The Club of Rome
“This deep-dive paper aims to complement Earth for All by highlighting the overlooked inner dimension of system change, and supplying systems thinkers with the language to advocate for psychological, social and spiritual factors crucial to sustainable solutions. It discusses worldviews, mindsets, values and identity as root drivers of cultural behaviour, their interaction with psychological and behavioural tendencies, and the transformative inner capacities that can be cultivated to intervene at deep leverage points; and introduces existing initiatives leading the way in integrating inner and outer dimensions of system change.”
Here’s Why the News Didn’t Tell You What Protesters Really Wanted
by Douglas M. McLeod, Scientific American
A “protest paradigm” identified by news researchers four decades ago helps explain why protest coverage often fails to inform the public and limits the impact of the protests…numerous studies examining coverage of social protests—including both left-wing and right-wing protests, as well as a wide range of issue protests—have isolated common characteristics of relevant news stories, [including] focusing on protest events rather than protest issues, positioning protests as contests between protesters and the police rather than their intended targets, and privileging officialdom’s views of the protests rather than a more diverse array of informed perspectives. The paradigm also disparages protests by highlighting any rudeness, noise or legal violations by some protesters; marginalizes protesters as being different from normal citizens; [and finally] minimizes the effectiveness of the protest.”
Understanding Youth Perceptions Towards Authoritarianism
by Meryl Miner and Scott Warren
“In this mega-election year, it’s becoming increasingly evident that young people are frustrated with the form of democracy they’re experiencing. This is an active conversation in polling in a US context- but it’s a global phenomenon, and worth understanding whether this frustration turns into flirtation with authoritarianism itself. [This] report uses new polling and qualitative interviews with young people across the world, including members of Generation Democracy and Democracy Moves to explore whether youth are actually becoming more inclined to look toward autocratic leaders to provide results.”
On Relational Infrastructure
by Sam Rye, Network Weaver
“Relational infrastructure refers to the social connections, interactions, and collective intelligence that underpin a community, network or group’s ability to collaborate, solve problems, and drive change. It is an emergent framework of trust, shared values, and common goals that allows individuals, groups, and organizations to work together effectively, pool their resources, and amplify their impact. A strong relational infrastructure can enable organisations and communities to overcome challenges, build resilience, and create sustainable social, economic, and environmental value and outcomes.”
WATCHING
Rev. James Lawson: Gandhi & Nonviolence
International Center for Nonviolent Conflict
This month, we lost a giant in the field of nonviolence and one of the architects of the U.S. civil rights movement. To honor the Rev. James Lawson, we recommend watching these short remarks he delivered in 2009: “I’ve come to the conclusion… that life itself is powerful and that the gift of life is a gift of power. And the big issue is, do we help shape our children, our babies, to use that power destructively or to use that life power that they have from day one in ways that enlarges them, that gives them a sense of freedom, enables them to make good choices…. Philosophically, I like to say that nonviolence is the power of creation that is planted in us human beings uniquely.”
Hospicing Modernity & Rehabilitating Humanity
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
“In this episode, Vanessa Andreotti discusses what she calls “hospicing modernity…” Whether you refer to it as the metacrisis or the polycrisis, Vanessa brings a unique framing rooted in indigenous knowledge and relationality to aid in understanding, grieving, and building emotional resilience. What does it mean to live and work within systems that are designed to fail? How do we as individuals steady ourselves and create inner strength before engaging with such harrowing work?” Vanessa is the author of Hospicing Modernity: Facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism and one of the founders of the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Arts/Research Collective.
Does Deliberative Democracy Stand a Chance in Neoliberal Times?
University of Canberra, Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance
This recording is part 4 of a 10-part conversation series on 10 Big Questions on Deliberative Democracy. Professor John Dryzek, author of ‘Democracy in Capitalist Times: Ideals, Limits, and Struggles’ discusses whether deliberative democracy stands a chance in neoliberal times, and Professor Oliver Escobar argues that it does not stand a chance unless we think critically about the type of deliberative democracies we develop and how we approach current levers of power.
Cultivating Hope – Supporting Changemaker Wellbeing
The Wellbeing Project
This series of conversations is hosted by Rohini Nilekani with leading philanthropists, starting with this short teaser with Melinda French Gates. The series will be exploring the pressing funding gap for changemakers’ access to wellbeing resources and how it is holding back progress both now and for future generations. Check out the curated list of resources the Wellbeing Project has developed and what “you can do for you and for the people you care about.”
LISTENING TO
What it Takes to Heal
Becoming the People podcast
“In Becoming the People’s inaugural episode, Prentis Hemphill, co-founder of the Embodiment Institute is joined by their dear friend adrienne maree brown. adrienne interviews Prentis about their book, ‘What it Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World.’ These two friends discuss Prentis’ journey of writing this book, the role that transformational characters play in change work, and why we should prioritize healing in this painful moment of history.”
Disruptive Movements with Frances Fox Pivens
Practical Radicals podcast
You can listen to all eleven episodes of this podcast series that accompanies the book, Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World. Horizons would highlight this episode, that explores the strategy of disruption with one of its leading theorists and practitioners, the scholar and activist Frances Fox Piven. The conversation starts by distinguishing protest from disruption, two types of action that are often confused. They consider famous instances of disruption, like the mass actions on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation that blocked the Dakota Access Pipeline, and lesser-known ones, like the 1975 “Women’s Day Off” that helped win equal rights for women in Iceland. The conversation covers the potential for using disruptive power today, the ways that too much organization can stifle movements, and the essential role of exuberance in movement politics.
Building Solidarity in an Era of Silos
Solidarity Is This podcast
“Fractures are widening. In an age of increasing polarization and division, how can we build bridges across lines of difference and strengthen solidarity? What strategies do we need to sustain connections across the growing chasms of ideology, experience, power, and privilege?” This special episode is a lightly edited recording of the State of Solidarity in April 2024 featuring Adaku Utah in conversation with Darakshan Raja, Muslims for Just Futures; Woods Ervin, Critical Resistance; Xochitl Bervera, Near Futures Farms; Rachael Lorenzo, Indigenous Women Rising; and Yvonne Yen Liu, Solidarity Research Center.
FOR INSPIRATION
What Gives You Hope Right Now?
The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance
Ever since the Interfaith Alliance President & CEO, Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, started hosting The State of Belief, he’s made a point of asking virtually every one of his guests this one question: “What gives you hope right now?” Here’s what gives Dr. Anthea Butler, Sharon Salzberg, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Race Forward‘s Eric Ward, Rev. Dr. Derrick Harkins, Rob Reiner, Sushma Dwivedi, Tim Alberta, Rabbi Sharon Brous, Rainn Wilson, and Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr. hope.
Faith and the Authoritarian Playbook
*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Sojourners, you can access the full article without a paywall here.
How Christians can defend and nurture democracy
IN 2012, I was a U.S. State Department officer deployed to Turkey to work with the Syrian opposition. It was an opportunity to support Syrian activists waging a remarkable popular struggle against an authoritarian government that had responded to peaceful protest with bullets and torture. For nearly a year, Syrian Sunnis, Christians, Kurds, Druze, Alawites, and others used demonstrations, sit-ins, resistance music, colorful graffiti, consumer boycotts, and dozens of other nonviolent tactics to challenge the Bashar al-Assad administration. But the nonviolent movement was unable to remain resilient in the face of brutality, external support for civil resistance was weak, and finally Syrians took up arms. This played into Assad’s hand. Death, displacement, and destruction skyrocketed. Extremists exploited the chaos. The Syrian nonviolent pro-democracy forces were inspired and courageous but lacked organization and adequate support to prepare them for the long haul. This haunts me to this day.
I’ve worked around the world with scholars, activists, policy makers, and faith communities to design effective support for nonviolent struggles to defend and advance freedom and dignity. I’ve been mentored by leaders of the U.S. civil rights movement, the greatest pro-democracy movement in our history, whose strategic campaigns to dismantle racial authoritarianism hold great relevance today.
As we head into the 2024 election, the risks to freedom and democracy are higher than they’ve been for decades. Religious communities who understand that democracy is the best modern governing system for protecting religious freedom and advancing shared values have a critical role to play as partisans for democracy.
A People’s Government
DEMOCRACY IS THE delicate balance of collective self-rule (majority rule) and civil liberties (minority rights). For a vibrant, multifaith democracy to thrive, we must reject attempts to concentrate government power in the hands of a few or with those who are not constitutionally accountable to the governed.
You can access the rest of the article without a paywall here.
Clowns, Reverse Boycotts, and Involuntary Walkathons: How Communities are Making Political Violence Backfire
*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Just Security.
The new dystopian Hollywood film, Civil War, has raised the specter of devastating violent conflict once again engulfing America. While the film has been criticized by some for normalizing political violence, others have embraced it as a learning opportunity, and a way to highlight the necessity of working together to prevent the terrible outcomes envisaged in the film. Although the film doesn’t really address how the United States devolves into civil war, in fact research has documented how that happens, and the United States is seeing the signs now – including the mainstreaming of dehumanizing rhetoric, and politically motivated threats, harassment, and acts of physical violence that are inspiring fear and undermining the practice of democracy.
Fortunately, in communities across the United States, ordinary people are already organizing and mobilizing to nonviolently confront a broad spectrum of political violence that ranges from incidents of police brutality, to attacks on election officials and school board members, to attempts by white nationalist groups to disrupt events celebrating diversity and social inclusion. These communities are turning the tables on perpetrators of political violence while building more resilient communities. Confronting the normalization of political violence and stopping it from undermining the practice of inclusive democracy in the United States requires tapping into the power of communities, with their diverse membership, to resist violence and make it backfire.
The United States, of course, has a long history of political violence, almost always linked to efforts to expand political power for some while denying it to others, typically Black and Brown Americans. The post-Reconstruction “Jim Crow”-era system of racial apartheid in the South, upheld by local authoritarian rule anchored at that time in the Democratic Party, was a blatant example of political violence used to advance racial authoritarianism. Each major attempt to advance multi-racial democracy in the United States, whether through Reconstruction, the civil rights movement, or the election of Barack Obama and the modern-day Movement for Black Lives coalition, has been met with violent authoritarian backlash. Other movements for social progress such as equal rights for women or LGBTQ rights have also faced violent backlash.
Today, researchers have documented that the preponderance of political violence, including threats, intimidation, and acts of physical violence, “used with a political motivation to achieve a political goal or assert political power over another group,” is committed by far-right groups, with a much smaller number of attacks by leftist groups. Unlike violent leftists, the far-right groups receive implicit or explicit backing from a Republican Party controlled by a racist and anti-democratic MAGA faction, one that attempted to violently overturn the 2020 election.
Even without a civil war or a January 6th-scale event, political violence is having a chilling effect on U.S. democracy. Targeted threats have become the most common way to terrorize individuals and make communities fearful. The dramatic escalation of threats targeting election officials, judges, politicians, and other public servants is prompting good people from across the political and ideological spectrum to step away from public service – or to double down on security measures. It is encouraging politicians and elected officials to self-censor or change their votes out of fear of reprisal, including some members of Congress who refused to vote to impeach Donald Trump because of this fear. The violence and threats are punishing those who face police and non-State violence while exercising the fundamental right to protest human rights abuses – and they are disproportionately Black and Brown Americans.
Historically, organized collective action has been the strongest bulwark against authoritarianism and the political violence that greases its wheels, as my own research and at least a dozen independent studies have concluded. When large numbers of people from diverse sectors and segments of society stubbornly say no to authoritarianism, and stop cooperating with those responsible for it, they can fundamentally alter the balance of power. In some cases, as we have seen in dozens of examples from around the world, movements that rely on marches, strikes, boycotts, walk-outs, and other forms of organized noncooperation can remove violent regimes altogether.
Today, organized action in communities across the United States, including digital spaces, is needed to raise the costs of political violence for perpetrators and their enablers. Threats – whether made through doxxing, swatting, or other menacing actions — like militia members showing up in civic spaces with guns — are cheap, and perpetrators rarely face any kind of accountability. Unless the calculus of those responsible for political violence changes, and unless they are forced to pay a social, political, financial, and legal price for their violent, anti-democratic behaviors, the threats, intimidation, and violence will continue to escalate.
Generating Backfire
In other words, political violence must be made to backfire. Australian scholar-activist Brian Martin describes backfire as the process by which acts of repression, including political violence, end up strengthening those attacked and their cause, while weakening the perpetrators. Backfire, which other scholars refer to as the “paradox of repression” does not happen every time nor does it happen automatically. Rather, it requires planning, preparation, timely and effective communication, and communities going on offense against those responsible for the repression.
Martin, who has documented cases from around the world when repression backfired (and when it did not), has highlighted the “5 Rs” of backfire. To trigger backfire, people must reveal the nature of the injustice and counter attempts to cover it up. Second, they must redeem or validate the targets of repression, challenging efforts to devalue, discredit, or dehumanize those targeted. Third, they need to reframe the narrative, emphasizing why the repression or violence violates core norms and values, while countering attempts to reinterpret events in a favorable light. Fourth, they must harness and redirect anger, pain and outrage while avoiding overreliance on official channels. Finally, they must resist attempts to intimidate, threaten, or co-opt those targeted or potential supporters.
Illustrative examples from history and the recent past, both in the United States and around the world, highlight the role of preparation, effective communication, and creative nonviolent action in making political violence backfire. During the U.S. civil rights movement, police attacks on marchers in Selma backfired when the media revealed dogs and firehoses attacking demonstrably peaceful protestors, resulting in greater support for civil rights activists, who were already adept at framing their actions as part of a freedom struggle (as opposed to undermining law and order, as Alabama officials portrayed it).
The march from Selma to Montgomery, along with the earlier Montgomery bus boycott, the lunch-counter sit-ins, and the Freedom Rides, which were met with significant political violence from State and non-State actors, featured protagonists who were trained in strategic nonviolent action. The organizations providing that training included the Nashville student movement and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which were able to redirect pain and outrage towards organized action, which in turn was shepherded by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and other key groups.
These highly organized and confrontational campaigns were able to raise the social, political, financial, and legal costs on Southern governments and businesses responsible for Jim Crow, which set the conditions for dismantling racial apartheid in the South. In some states of the South, including Mississippi, Alabama, and North Carolina, armed self-defense, provided by groups like Deacons for Defense and Justice, was part of the popular resistance (though the consequences of mixing armed and unarmed resistance tactics continues to be a subject of scholarly debate).
New Approaches for Modern Times
The fracturing of the media ecosystem and the rapid spread of mis- and disinformation pose challenges to this type of high-profile backfire today. So, too, does structural racism and ingrained patterns of prejudice, which, as scholars including political scientist Christian Davenport have found, affect how people perceive violent and nonviolent protest behavior. A study conducted by Davenport, Rose McDermott, and Dave Armstrong found that when police are White and protestors are Black, Whites are less likely to blame police for abuse. While these factors pose significant challenges to the ability of certain groups, notably Black Americans, to trigger backfire, the widespread protests following the murder of George Floyd in summer 2020, the most sustained in U.S. history, demonstrate the ability of the highly organized Movement for Black Lives to make police killings backfire.
Notwithstanding structural and informational challenges, communities have found creative work-arounds.
That includes efforts to challenge Moms for Liberty, an organization founded in 2021 in Florida, with chapters across the country, that advocates for book bans, opposes student inclusion activities, and supports rightwing school board candidates. The organization was identified in a 2023 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-government extremist group for actions including spreading disinformation, threatening librarians and school board members, and associating with members of the Proud Boys, another far-right extremist group. This did not prevent Florida Governor Ron DeSantis from appointing a prominent member of Moms for Liberty to a state Commission on Ethics in 2023.
When Moms for Liberty has faced organized opposition, including from groups such as Grandparents for Truth, their activities have backfired. Grandparents for Truth, a group of grandparents and their allies formed by the left-leaning People for the American Way, whose stated goal is to fight for the next generation’s freedom to learn, formed in 2023 to fight censorship, book bans, and attacks on education. When Moms for Liberty convened in Philadelphia last year for their annual convention, Grandparents for Truth rallied hundreds of grandparents, local activists, and elected officials outside the convention hall, reframing the activities of Moms for Liberty as the antithesis of liberty. Moms for Liberty has continued to lose support and influence across the country, with most of the candidates for local races it backed in places like Iowa and Ohio losing, in no small part due to grassroots mobilization by parents, grandparents, and educators.
In Enid, Oklahoma, when town members learned that the city had elected a candidate to the city council who had marched alongside neo-Nazis in Charlottesville in 2017 and identified himself under a pseudonym as Oklahoma state coordinator for the white nationalist group Identity Evropa, they organized. They formed the Enid Social Justice Committee (ESJC) and engaged in months of activism, protest, and fierce advocacy at city council meetings that shone a spotlight on the council member’s views and past actions. When the council member, Judd Blevins, would not explain or apologize for these actions, the ESJC collected enough signatures for a recall petition. Cheryl Patterson, a longtime Republican and former teacher, stepped up to run against the incumbent, citing the need to restore the town’s reputation. On April 2, 2024, Patterson won the recall vote. After the victory, the chair of the ESJC offered this lesson to others: “You can do this because we did this. We didn’t even know what we were doing, and we did this. This is possible.”
In Whitefish, Montana, as white supremacist activities intensified, and an armed march was planned for Martin Luther King, Jr. day in 2017, a community group called “Love Lives Here” took a stand. As the date of the march approached, businesses that relied on tourism and had a strong interest in countering the perception of community intolerance, posted “Love Lives Here” stickers in their windows, along with images of menorahs. The campaign also had a digital strategy. When extremist online trolls attacked local restaurants and other businesses, the community responded by flooding the internet with positive reviews and patronizing the businesses – an example of what civil resistance scholars call a reverse boycott. A “Love Not Hate” rally one week before the planned neo-Nazi march brought out hundreds of people, including families and kids, and emphasized tolerance and a welcoming spirit. Tactics used during the “Love Not Hate” campaign included the formation of a “matzo ball soup brigade,” as well as people showing up in blue troll wigs to “troll the trolls” and a “queer insurrection unit.” The collective action, along with a denied march permit, helped ensure that the neo-Nazi marchers stayed away from the rally.
Humor and Creativity
Humor and creativity have been at the forefront of many backfire campaigns around the world. In Wunsiedel, Germany, neo-Nazis annually marched to the grave of Rudolph Hess, a deputy of Adolph Hitler. In 2014, town organizers innovated with humor to outmaneuver the neo-Nazis. They launched a campaign called Rechts Gegen Rechts (“Rights against the Right”) and turned the annual march into a “walkathon,” so that for every meter neo-Nazis marched, local residents and businesses pledged to donate 10 euros to an organization that helps people exit far-right groups. Near the finish line, a sign thanked the marchers for their contribution to the anti-Nazi cause, and rainbow confetti was showered on marchers at the finish line.
The campaign has spun off other creative actions, including Omas Gegen Rechts (Grannies Against the Right) in Germany and similar activities in Sweden. In the United States, tactics involving humor and particularly clowns have been used to challenge white supremacists across the country. In Olympia, Washington, in 2005 in response to far-right marchers calling for a race war, clowns mimicked their salutes, mocked them with goose steps, and turned attention away from their cause. In 2007, in Nashville, Tennessee, the group Anti-Racist Action organized clowns at a neo-Nazi rally. As the neo-Nazis yelled “White power!”, the clowns answered them by calling “White flour!” and threw flour in the air. As the neo-Nazis continued, the clowns shifted and responded “White flowers!,” which they handed out to passersby. In response, the neo-Nazis called off their rally hours before it was supposed to finish.
In response to rising hate speech and growing attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, the Parasol Patrol was founded in Denver, Colorado, in 2019 to protect children and community members from harassment and threats from far-right protestors. Members of the Parasol Patrol, who are trained in de-escalation techniques, use pride umbrellas to peacefully walk in between protesters, hate groups, and children with their families. Its volunteers have sung Disney songs to drown out hate-filled protests. As Marine Corp veteran and Parasol Patrol co-founder Eli Barzan put it, “Instead of yelling or fighting, you’ll find the Parasol Patrol crew playing music, singing, and laughing.”
In a context of rising racial tensions and threats of election-related violence and intimidation, initiatives like the non-partisan Joy to the Polls have promoted safety and civic participation through music and the arts. Other election safety and security initiatives have responded to threats with collective action by trusted community members from across the political and ideological spectrum. Examples include the deployment of “poll chaplains” by groups like Faiths United to Save Democracy and the recruitment of veterans and military families as poll workers by campaigns like Vet the Vote, a project of We the Veterans and Military Families.
In some cases, legal and law enforcement strategies have accompanied community mobilization and media strategies, to great effect. After Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and their team made false claims of voter fraud against Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss, the women endured months of death threats and racist taunts. In 2021, with support from Protect Democracy’s Law for Truth project, Moss and Freeman filed suit against Giuliani for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy. Legal proceedings were accompanied by a media campaign that successfully promoted the fact that Freeman and Moss were just doing their civic duty and reframed them as patriots, while redirecting blame at those who illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 election. In a sweeping ruling, the courts ruled in the women’s favor. Other legal groups, like the Movement Law Lab, have worked closely with activists and organizers to help them sustain their work in the face of rising criminalization and authoritarian behavior.
Similarly, law enforcement proved helpful in 2022, when 31 members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front were arrested for conspiracy to riot at a Pride event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Their plans were thwarted when a concerned community member called the police to report 20 men in a U-Haul truck with masks, shields, and weapons. The FBI worked alongside local authorities to make the arrests. Even after the arrests in Coeur d’Alene, the North Idaho Pride Alliance declared Pride in the Park, which featured fun family activities and the strong support of businesses, a success. “That was by far the biggest Pride event that has ever taken place here in Coeur d’Alene,” the alliance’s outreach director told NPR. “We stood up — in our way — to the bullies. But we did it by bringing people together in love and kindness.” The Pride in the Park event in June 2024 was its biggest yet.
The Need for Wider Community Action
Although institutional mechanisms such as courts and law enforcement can be helpful, they cannot be relied upon, particularly in instances when they are controlled by individuals who are hostile to multi-racial democracy. Wider community action is needed to raise the costs of political violence while strengthening pro-democracy community norms and behaviors. Given the ubiquity of online threats, intimidation, and disinformation, digital strategies that target businesses and other corporate actors that are promoting or enabling political violence, such as those advanced by Sleeping Giants and Check My Ads, are critically important.
These examples of backfire highlight the importance of confronting hate and political violence with preparation, diverse participation, creative collective action, and nonviolent discipline. Stopping political violence takes going on offense and, where necessary, raising the heat through collective action. That is what made civil resistance campaigns so effective during the civil rights movement, the greatest pro-democracy movement in U.S. history.
Local circumstances will determine which tactics and communication strategies are most effective, including which trusted messengers to engage. Maximizing backfire requires organization, preparation, and the involvement of diverse stakeholders. Fortunately, the history of movements that have advanced social progress in this country and around the world, often in the face of significant political violence, offer a powerful and hopeful way forward.
THE VISTA: May 2024
As May comes to a close, the world has been mourning the recent civilian deaths in Rafah, and the US has been grappling with the many student protest movements on college campuses around the country in the face of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. You can learn more about how these campus protests fit within the larger movement from Harvard University’s Crowd Counting Consortium; and read about the nuance of the specific words that are being used by protesters and counter-protesters. There are lessons to be learned from the colleges that successfully reached an agreement with the protesters; and, these insights from a professor of peacebuilding and conflict transformation at Columbia University. And don’t miss this historic overview of the role that campus protests have played in the US.
Eric Ward from Race Forward gave an interview that you can watch here on the worrying new fault lines in the US civil rights community, “with people taking ‘sides’ and judging others for their positions, rather than focusing on Middle East crisis solutions.” And if you want to hear directly from grassroots leaders in the region, check out the many resources from Just Vision.
Issues of repair continue to animate discussions within many organizing spaces, including this reflection on Building a Reparative Organization and Nation and this inspiring interview with Heather McGhee on helping people make meaning in this moment, and the need for reparations as “seed capital for the nation we are becoming.” There are also on-going conversations about how to design the future of our democracy, such as this overview of the Democracy Makers at the recent Futures Happening conference of the Stanford design school. You can also learn more about the tools of becoming better ancestors from this recent report by the School of International Futures – Future Designs. Speaking of the future, Choose Democracy recently released an interactive, virtual on-line scenario planning tool What if Trump (or Biden) Wins? we recommend you check out.
Finally, as we go into the Pride celebrations next month, we invite you to read up on the relationship between authoritarianism and anti-LGBTQ violence, including this excellent resource by Over Zero on Decoding LGBTQ Scapegoating. We have many lessons to learn from these dynamics and others of closing civic space in the US and around the world, and you can re-watch Horizons’ Chief Organizer, Maria Stephan’s recent remarks at the Kettering Foundation’s virtual event on Recognizing and Countering Global Authoritarian Trends.
We hope you enjoy some of the other resources we have been reading, watching, and listening to this month:
READING
Don’t Believe What They’re Telling You About Misinformation
by Manvir Singh, The New Yorker
This article provides a lot of food for thought if you work on dis/misinformation, or other aspects of deep narrative. “…many beliefs are not best interpreted as factual ones…a major driver is group identity. Beliefs often function as badges: the stranger and more unsubstantiated the better…. “symbolic beliefs” are socially strategic expressions – signaling group identity. Our minds are maintaining two representations of reality: there’s one that feels true and that we publicly advocate, and there’s another that we use to effectively interact with the world. By declaring that the problem consists of “irresponsible senders and gullible receivers,” [we] risk ignoring the social pathologies that cause people to become disenchanted and motivate them to rally around strange new creeds.”
Love is the Key to Democracy
by Michael McAfee, Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR)
“It’s within our power to make these futures a reality and to build a country where “We, the People” truly includes all people—but only if we do the work of transformative love. It is our generational work to perfect this democracy and realize this ideal. The journey begins with critical self-reflection: Where am I not loving the people enough? Where can I be part of the disruption necessary to transform this country as we know it? How can I be receptive to accountability? How can I transform the institution I’m part of to cultivate this possibility? Through this work of transformative love, we can build a nation that serves all for the first time. As that practice of love expands outward, we will begin to see the fruits of such a journey in a flourishing democracy that works for all.” This article is a part of a new series from SSIR in partnership with PolicyLink on Realizing a Multiracial Democracy For All. You can check out the other articles in the series here.
The Holistic Paradigm as Democracy’s Evolutionary Frontier (part 1)
by Andy Paice
This long read, divided into two parts, is worth your time. In part one the reflection is on “our dominant cultural paradigm and its destructive consequences; the fact that there’s an emerging, more holistic worldview that is more aligned with reality and therefore more able to address humanity’s crises; the state of democracy in 2024 and a burgeoning field of democratic innovation; and the indications that this field belongs to a new holistic cultural paradigm.” Part two delves into: “future developments that might be needed for governance and collective decision making to embrace these deeper realities; and, the projects [of] the Co-Intelligence Institute to help catalyse a cultural shift.”
WATCHING
adrienne maree brown on Instagram
We are big fans of adrienne maree brown at Horizons and this short Instagram video (their love note from their living room on May Day) is a very powerful message – reminding everyone to continuously take responsibility for your own contribution to liberation. Do you find yourself feeling judgmental about the way other people are working for change? “there’s enough problem to go around, be solution material. what am i willing and able to risk? who are my people? the sweet spot is: what my community needs x what i enjoy doing well x what am i skilled at?”
Democracy Lab: Lessons in Exercising Your Voice
TED-Ed
“Healthy democracies rely on informed citizens. Quality civics education is the bedrock of a healthy democratic society. Through curated content and supporting lesson materials, Democracy Lab lays out the building blocks of a healthy democracy, while explaining the challenges it can face, the solutions we must explore, and the exciting initiatives already helping strengthen democratic principles around the world.” Check out this fun series of videos that were developed in consultation with a group of young civic innovators together with Civics Unplugged Fellows and the Citizen University Youth Collaboratory.
Principles First: Our Obligation
Principles First
Horizons knows from research that the most successful pro-democracy movements are cross-ideological, and we support the organizing that is taking place amongst pro-democracy conservatives. “In 2019, principled Americans on the right and center-right who were concerned about the health of American democracy organized a series of meet-ups around the country to serve as an alternative to the Conservative Political Action Conference. Today, that movement has grown into Principles First – a nationwide grassroots movement of people who share a love of American democracy and concern for the direction of our existing conservative leadership. [They] convene local chapters to effect change at the community level…and elevate principled leaders around the country.” This short video overviews their recent 2024 Annual Summit.
LISTENING TO
Reimagining Democracy for a Good Life
PolicyLink’s Podcast Series
“In the struggle to build a more perfect union, there is a through line from resistance to creation, from rebellion to invention.” – Angela Glover Blackwell. You don’t want to miss this new podcast series: “Democracy isn’t dead. It just needs to be reimagined so that all of us can flourish. To think big, we’re going to have to go granular to the city level – and that city is LA. We will look at how Los Angeles is striving to be a multiracial democracy and what lessons we can apply to the rest of the nation. [This] podcast aims to infuse some hope into one of the founding principles of the United States.”
Resourcing Narrative Ecosystems
What Donors Want podcast
Mandy Van Deven and Jody Myrum dive into what a narrative ecosystem is and why it’s important; how philanthropy can effectively support narratives of liberations; and, the case for supporting narrative ecosystems and what is at stake. There are many brilliant lessons shared and also a lot of great resources in the notes section if you want to dig into the topic of narratives more.
The Art of Organizing with Marshall Ganz
Say More with Tulaine Montgomery Podcast
“Organizing people seems easier in the digital age, right? Just send out a blast email or create a Facebook group. [Tulaine’s guest], Marshall Ganz, believes to achieve real social change, we need to do much more than that. For him, the art of organizing involves sharing our unique stories and connecting at a unifying, human level.”
FOR FUN
Introducing: Poems as Teachers
Poetry Unbound Podcast Series
Check out this beautiful series of poems that can teach us to move differently in the world. “Host Pádraig Ó Tuama gives an overview of this Poetry Unbound mini season that’s devoted to poems with wisdom to offer about conflict and humanity. He also brings us Wisława Szymborska’s “A Word on Statistics,” which covers statistics of the most human kind — like the number of people in a group of 100 who think they know better, who can admire without envy, or who could do terrible things. Listen, and ask yourself: Which categories do I belong to? Which do I believe?”
THE VISTA: April 2024
During the month of April, the Horizons team has been inspired by all the analysis and resources being put out to support effective movement building. Check out this research by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on the importance of pro-democracy movements crossing ideological divides to challenge illiberal leaders who continue to degrade democracy around the world. You can read guidance like this one from Forward Together on making movements irresistible through (healthy) partnerships with artists; the particular role that women are playing within pro-democracy movement building in the United States; recommendations for intermediary funds that come from movements to help philanthropy reduce barriers to funding movements directly; and, don’t miss this important report about the relationship between movement building and philanthropic spaces, dealing with uncertainty and the value of having uncomfortable conversations. Also, the Feminist Peace Summit is kicking off in May and registration is open!
At Horizons, we continue to reflect on the relationship between Race and Democracy, and appreciated this recent piece on the fact that a multiracial democracy in the United States requires racial repair. Check out our second Sensemaking with Horizons Video interview with Jeanine Abrams McLean, the President of Fair Count probing the distinctions between “pro-democracy” work and/or “racial justice” work. And you can re-watch Chief Organizer, Maria Stephan’s presentation on the critical struggle for multi-racial democracy in the US and globally at a recent Forum at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church.
Please enjoy some of the other resources we’ve been reading, watching, and listening to in April:
READING
Calling People Forward Instead of Out: Ten Essential Steps
by Justin Michael Williams and Shelly Tygielski
“Calling forward is a model of communication that [the authors] coined several years ago that flips the idea of “calling out” and “calling in” on its head, turning it into something more effective for bringing people together and ending racism. While “calling out” or “calling in” is fighting against what someone did wrong, calling forward is an invitation to be something greater. While calling out/in is fighting against what we hate, calling forward is building upon what we love. Calling forward is inviting people into a greater state of integration and evolution. Calling forward opens the door to real transformation, and we’ve found that the outcome—although not always immediate—is often surprising… Use the “Ten Essential Steps to Calling Forward” the next time you need to have a difficult conversation—specifically, when you want to address someone having contributed to the perpetuation of prejudice, discrimination, racism, or othering. Stand in the center of what you believe: that racism can and will end, and that you yourself have the power to end it. Calling forward is a skill we all have the capacity to learn. It starts with you.”
Communication is Sacred by Nora Bateson: Why change happens in the spaces between us
by Alexander Beiner and Nora Bateson
“How do you think about change if not in linear strategies? You tend to the relationships…The trap of trying to confront fascism is that it grows stronger with polarity, and the problem with not confronting fascism is that it grows stronger when it is not met with resistance. So, what can be done? Rallying against a group that believes themselves to be superior further ignites a sense of righteousness to their polarity. But without counteraction the momentum of the hateful cause grows deeper and wider into communities, demanding more loyalty, and more exclusion. Most attempts to stop fascism seem only to generate it…when any aspect of a living system is torn from its contextual relationships, it can then be exploited. How a description is made of a person, a family, a community, a culture, or an ecosystem –matters. Does the description hold the complexity, or does the description sever the relational connections? The more relational, contextual understanding there is, the less likely polarities are to take over.”
Ministry of Imagination
by Rob Hopkins (Harvested from guests from the From What If to What’s Next podcast.)
“The rise of the far-right around the world is profoundly troubling, underpinned as it is by dystopian visions of the future and the need for ‘strong’ leaders to protect us from those futures. But what would a Manifesto look like that was based on a positive vision of the future, one that is appropriately ambitious to the scale of the challenges the world is facing while at the same time bold, imaginative and audacious? …. the failure of [movements] to set out bold visions of the future has left the space for the far right to fill, and that getting better at bringing positive futures alive in people’s imaginations is vital.” You can download the Manifesto here.
WATCHING
The Politics of Disavowal: What Syria Can Tell Us about American Authoritarianism
The Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University
“Can the survival of Bashar al-Asad’s regime in Syria offer insights into emerging forms of authoritarianism in the West? And what might the Syrian example suggest about how authoritarian leaders exploit digital media to create uncertainty, political impasses, and fractures among their citizens? In this Crown Seminar, Lisa Wedeen, in conversation with Daniel Neep, draws on the findings of her book, “Authoritarian Apprehensions: Ideology, Judgment, and Mourning in Syria,” to reflect on lessons from the Syrian experience for the current attractions of authoritarianism in the United States.
Mapping the Future. The Role of Art in Social Change
The Skoll World Forum
“Art is a powerful tool for social change. It can challenge norms, foster empathy, and even spark movements. [During this session at the recent Skoll World Forum, the panel] explored how art can also serve as a wayfinding tool to unveil challenges, reflect progress, and chart a course toward a collective future we may not have envisioned yet. Whether you’re an artist or simply looking to expand your tool kit toward social change, check out this visually rich session to immerse yourself in the role art plays in mapping the future, navigating complex challenges, and driving social change.” You can watch all of the great sessions from the 2024 Skoll World Forum that are now available on their YouTube channel.
Disarming disinformation: how leading international editors are responding to information pollution
International Journalism Festival
You can re-watch this panel discussion that presents important insights from the new global research project Disarming Disinformation, the result of researchers embedded in multiple international newsrooms to study their responses to information pollution in the context of looming elections. “2024 is recognised as [a] pivotal year for democracy in dozens of countries and the function of independent journalism in securing and popularising facts, and scrutinsing elections, is pivotal…The Disarming Disinformation project is studying editorial responses to disinformation anchored in five countries: the US, the Philippines, Brazil, South Africa and Georgia. Lead researcher Julie Posetti is joined by four editors participating in the project to discuss their insights and experiences, among them is Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa, who has warned that “In 2024, democracy could fall off a cliff.” Organized in association with the International Center for Journalists.
LISTENING TO
Our Story of Nature, From Rupture to Reconnection
Outrage + Optimism podcast
As we celebrated Earth Day this month, enjoy this unedited conversation with award-winning Krista Tippett, host of On Being. “Take a moment to relax and immerse yourself in this expansive and inspiring dialogue. Krista opens up about her personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences with nature, offering a fresh perspective that’s sure to leave a lasting impact. Get ready to see the natural world in a whole new light after tuning in.”
Polarisation, Political Violence and the U.S. Elections
Ripple Effect podcast by the International Crisis Group
“In this episode [Rachel Kleinfeld], senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, talks about the state of U.S. democracy and the risk of political violence as the U.S. heads toward the November elections. During the conversation, they break down how we should understand polarization in U.S. society. [They] assess the potential risk factors that could contribute to political violence in the run-up and aftermath of the November elections and how they compare to the 2020 elections…They also talk about what politicians on both sides of the aisle can do to mitigate the risk of political violence in the near term.” You can also read a new article from Rachel on Democratization and De-escalation here.
Can “The Commons” Bring Philanthropy Together?
Keeping PACE with Kristen podcast
Kristen Cambell interviews Drew Lindsay of The Chronicle of Philanthropy about the launch of The Commons, a digital space to explore how America’s nonprofits and foundations are working to heal the nation’s divides and build community. They are “looking at how the country is splintered along political lines but also by income, race, geography, culture, and more — division that can threaten progress and even the nation’s stability. The new project is named The Commons to reflect their goal to create a home where people come together to learn, share ideas, and gain new perspective.”
POP CULTURE CORNER
Civil War is Coming to America
by Kristen Grimm
Have you seen the new movie Civil War by writer/director Alex Garland? Check out this article by Kristen at Spitfire Strategies. “…see it for yourself so that when you are talking about it, you know what you are talking about. Mind you, many of the people you may talk about this with may or may not have done the same, relying on social media posts to fuel their opinions.” Kristen offers some very helpful advice about how to engage with this movie and shape the conversation it spurs. Most importantly she recommends offering concrete actions to avoid this future reality with some links to organizations and resources.
Sensemaking with Horizons: Dr. Jeanine Abrams McLean, President of Fair Count
As a part of Horizons’ Sensemaking Series on Race & Democracy, we invited the President of Fair Count, Dr. Jeanine Abrams McLean, to discuss their work as a non-partisan, non-profit organization “dedicated to partnering with Historically Undercounted Populations (HUP) communities to achieve a fair and accurate count of all people in Georgia and the nation in the 2030 Census, and to strengthening the pathways to greater civic participation.” Horizons’ Director for Race & Democracy, Jarvis Williams, probes with Jeanine the question of defining this kind of work as “pro-democracy” and/or “racial justice” in service of building partnerships, securing funding and ultimately responding to the communities most in need of having their voices listened to and their votes count.
Find out more about Horizons’ approach to Race & Democracy here.
How you can more effectively advance multi-racial democracy
On March 3, 2024, Maria J. Stephan, co-lead of the Horizons Project, discussed her work to strengthen multi-racial democracy in the US and globally to the Forum at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church. Since 1943 the Forum has served as a platform for discussing significant issues especially those involving ethical values in the Contemporary World. The full interview is embedded below. You can find and edited version with links to resources mentioned in the interview that was broadcast on 90.1 KKFI FM on their website as well as an exerpt on the Effectiveness of Nonviolence on Soundcloud.
THE VISTA: March 2024
In March, we celebrate the “radical roots” of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month in the US. Many are reflecting that 2024 is a big year for women and democracy around the world, and find inspiration in the stories and lessons of women mobilizing within democracy movements globally. It’s important to make the linkages between anti-feminism and anti-democratic developments as outlined in this new report on Strongmen and Violence. We appreciate this School of International Futures’ honoring of the archetypal heroine’s journey both in the past and those blazing a new future. And, don’t miss the recently released Feminist Influencing Basket of Resources from Oxfam that offers practical tools based in radical healing, love, and care to shift dominant narratives and strengthen our movements. If you didn’t get to attend in person or virtually, you can watch Maria J. Stephan, Horizons’ Chief Organizer’s recent presentation at MWEG’s (Mormon Women for Ethical Government) national conference on Women Power: How Nonviolent Action Can Build Just and Peaceful Democracies.
We continue to be inspired by organizations like Keseb helping us learn from global pro-democracy champions, especially when US organizers and their counterparts come together to reflect on shared challenges such as this great overview of key insights from Hungary. Recognizing why the far right in the US is drawn to anti-democratic leaders like Viktor Orban is important, and as Rachel Kleinfeld recently wrote, we must continue to connect the dots on how and why civic space is closing in the US and around the world. Horizons believes it’s also important to draw lessons from the past, for example successful efforts to fight Nazi disinformation campaigns in the UK as we continue to struggle with the information environment described by Secretary Blinken in his remarks at the third Summit for Democracy in South Korea this month.
Finally, Horizons continues to be seized with the dampening effects of threats and political violence on US democracy in this election cycle and beyond, and we are collaborating closely with the 22nd Century Initiative, Hardy Merriman, and many other partners to develop a training program focused on how communities can mobilize and make threats of PV backfire against perpetrators. (Congratulations to 22CI on their new website which is choc-full of wonderful resources that you should check out). Using threats and intimidation tactics is a key part of the Authoritarian Playbook, so you don’t want to miss the Violence and Democracy Impact Tracker from Protect Democracy and the SNF Agora Institute that calculates the impact of political violence on eight distinct pillars of democracy in the United States. Also, check out the American Autocracy Threat Tracker from Just Security.
Finally, you can hear more from us in this short video about why Horizons created a new Director role for Race and Democracy; read our recent publication on the need to Defend Democracy by Expanding the Agenda; and check out Maria’s article in Sojourners magazine that is now cross-posted on our website, Can Multiracial Democracy Survive?
Enjoy these additional resources that we are reading, watching, and listening to:
READING
Collective Healing for Systems Change: The Evolving Conversation
by Kerry Graham, Collective Change Lab
In 2023, the Collective Change Lab and the Wellbeing Project co-hosted a series of webinars on trauma healing and systems change. Renowned social change leaders shared their perspectives on: Why we as a sector need to integrate a trauma-lens into how we see and interpret the “conditions holding problems in place” as well as how we design solutions; why it’s important to shift the current focus on individual trauma to a much wider frame that takes intergenerational, collective, and historical trauma into account; and, how to integrate collective healing practices into the work of systems change. Regarding intergenerational trauma in particular, this older video from Dr. Joy Degruy on Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome is worth taking the time to watch.
Democracy Notes
by Gabriel Lerner
If you haven’t already signed up for the Democracy Notes Substack, you are missing out! Special friend to Horizons, Gabriel Lerner, is curating many helpful resources, including these podcast interviews that offer a summary of recent events such as: a Principles First Summit recap with Scott Warren from SNF Agora Institute and Matt Germer from R Street; a Knight Media Forum recap with Elizabeth Green from Votebeat & Chalkbeat; and S. Mitra Kalita from URL Media; and, a Civic Learning Week recap with Elizabeth Clay Roy from Generation Citizen and Abbie Kaplan from iCivics.
Why Spain is Trusting Trans Teens on their Gender, instead of Restricting Them
by Domique Soguel, Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor has been organizing its coverage of global issues according to values, such as trust, hope, and security amongst many others. This article is just one example of their special project on Rebuilding Trust. “Behind every news event are the values that drive people and nations. See how they offer a deeper, clearer understanding of the latest stories, or sort through all our stories by the different values beneath them.” Some of insights raised within this article about Spain: “It’s not that we parents are extra progressive parents who like these things….no, we are normal moms and dads and we want our son to be a son and our daughter to be a daughter. But more than that, we have to be loving people to our children and love has to be above all else.”
The (Identity) Politics of Reparations
by Trevor Smith
Creating lasting and durable change to realize reparations will rely on ‘situating social identity formation as a north star of our strategies’…Just as people identifying as “abolitionists” helped abolish slavery, it will take a critical mass of “reparationists” to achieve reparations. According to David Ragland, co-founder and co-executive director of The Truth Telling Project, there is a difference between what it looks like to show up as a Black reparationist versus a non-Black reparationist. ‘We walk through the world differently and with different levels of threat depending on where we are,’ says Ragland…a power analysis and a deep understanding of how we’ve arrived at this point of racial inequality and racial hierarchy will be crucial in the upcoming years to grow the movement for reparations…true liberation lies in living our lives through these frameworks.”
WATCHING
What Young Leaders Want – and Don’t Want – from Older Allies
by Cogenerate (formerly Encore.org)
In this short video, you can hear directly from participants who engaged in deep conversations across generational lines to inform the recently launched report: What Young Leaders Want – and Don’t Want – from Older Allies. Some of the key highlights include a reminder that we must forge a personal connection before collaboration; that no one wants to be dismissed because of their age; and that the future of leadership is co-generational! If you’d like to hear more from these impressive young leaders, you can watch the report’s launch webinar here.
Conservative Views on Trump 2.0
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover on PBS
In this live forum, Margaret Hoover sits down with Protect Democracy’s Amanda Carpenter, one of the authors of The Authoritarian Playbook for 2025, and the Heritage Foundation’s Mike Gonzalez, one of the contributors to Project 2025. From Protect Democracy’s newsletter, If You Can Keep It, “Two telling insights from the conversation: (1) The “deep state” myth is pervasive. The conceit behind Heritage’s program is that Trump’s first-term agenda was stymied by unelected civil servants (not the rule of law and high-profile Republican appointees, like John Kelly and Mike Pence, who refused to break laws on Trump’s behalf). This feeds into a second, even more dangerous myth that our institutions survived a first term — why would a second be different? Well, the answer is pretty simple: people. The people who put their constitutional oaths before Trump’s orders last time won’t be around next time. Because the Republican Party no longer has room for principled conservatives – who are unwilling to pursue power at any cost.”
The Indigenous World View | Four Arrows
Entangled World
Four Arrows also known as Wahinkpe Topa or Dr. Don Trent Jacobs is internationally respected for his expertise in Indigeneity and a prolific author, such as his most recent book co-written with Dr. Darcia Narvaez, Restoring the Kinship Worldview: 28 Precepts for Rebalancing Life on Mother Earth. In this episode, Four Arrows explores the Indigenous worldview, non-duality, and origin stories and myths. They talk about anthropocentrism, this idea that humans sit atop the pyramid of life and that everything else on Earth is inferior to and here for humans to use and then discard as they see fit – reflecting that this human-centric worldview lies at the root of our entangled crises and exploring some untraditional ways that worldviews and ultimately culture, might shift.
LISTENING TO
Exploring the Intersection of Information Integrity, Race, and US Elections
The Sunday Show, Tech Policy Press
At INFORMED 2024, the Knight Foundation brought together experts from policy, academia, and civil society for a series of conversations on democracy in the digital age. All the sessions are available for playback here. This conversation on the intersection of information integrity, race, and US elections was also reprised as a podcast that we highly recommend, with Brandi Collins-Dexter, the author of Black Skinhead: Reflections on Blackness and Our Political Future; Dr. Danielle Brown, the founding director of the LIFT project, which is focused on mapping, networking and resourcing, trusted messengers to dismantle mis- and disinformation narratives that circulate in Black communities and about Black communities and Kathryn Peters one of the co-founders of Democracy Works.
Surprising New Findings on Civic Language, Featuring Amy McIsaac
Keeping PACE with Kristen podcast
“In this episode, Amy McIsaac, Managing Director of Learning and Experimentation at Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) talks about new findings from the Civic Language Perception Project, PACE’s long-term study surveying Americans on their perceptions of civic terms. Amy shares what is most surprising from the findings, including the terms that are bringing Americans together and motivating them to action. You can read a brief overview of the findings here; re-watch the report’s launch webinar here; and sign up for some upcoming deep dives into the research on different topics, such as “patriotism” and insights about GenZ.
What Makes Solidarity So Essential and How Could it Become Even More Transformative
The Review of Democracy podcast
Leah Hunt-Hendrix is interviewed about her new book Solidarity. The Past Present, and Future of a World Changing Idea that she co-authored with Astra Taylor. She “describes what makes solidarity so essential to social movements to advance and expand democratic ambitions; explains why philanthropy should be adapted to grassroots movements rather than vice versa; discusses how solidaristic organizing could become more transformative in the future; and reflects on the intellectual historical context of their book.”
Leading Across Great Divides
Masters of Scale podcast
“Just like private companies, many not-for-profit organizations begin when a founder sees a gap in the market and makes something new to fill it. Ian Bassin is a lawyer, former White House counsel and not-for-profit leader who saw a need to better protect and preserve the building blocks of America’s democratic systems, and steer things away from authoritarianism. His organization, Protect Democracy, brings together stakeholders across political divides to develop products, systems and services related to good governance. And Ian’s workforce has been entirely distributed – with employees now in more than 20 states – from the very beginning. Host Jeff Berman draws out Ian’s story of crafting Protect Democracy’s mission alongside its culture. Hear how Ian gained the confidence, political and financial capital to start his work, and how he aligns an all-remote team.”
FOR FUN
As a part of the 2024 National Week of Conversation, April 15-21, “community spaces across the country will participate in the Better Together Film Festival. Serving as hosting venues for film screenings and follow-up conversations, hundreds of libraries, museums, community centers, churches, colleges, etc. will help bring together diverse groups of people to view films that showcase hopeful stories of bridging divides. Audiences will be invited to engage in facilitated conversations following the screenings. These nonpartisan films were selected for Film Festival because they inspire hope and exemplify how everyday Americans and leaders can find common ground and understanding with each other, despite their differences.” Check out the film titles in the link for more information about each film, including a list of locations where the films will be screened. Register to attend a screening in your community or encourage a local organization to sign up to host a film screening.