I am convinced that in order for Congress and our Federal government to function effectively, "we the people" need to effectively counterbalance the forces that prevent our elected officials from working in good faith across the aisle to produce legislation that addresses the critical issues that affect our country.
The model of "courageous citizenship" being developed by Braver Angels provides a foundation for translating talk into action, leveraging the power of civil discourse to help engage citizens to partner with and inform the actions of their elected representatives.
The politics of hate and fear dominate so much of what we see and hear in traditional media, on social media, and in casual conversations. As a result, it is easy to understand why so many people simply "tune out".
As disgusting as politics can be, tuning out and/or accepting the status quo, where people are demonized for their political persuasion or for their position on specific issues, plays into the hands of those that put party loyalty, campaign donations, and the next election over solving problems.
Early last month, one of my long time friends bemoaned the lack of election participation by the youngest voters. His comments resonated with me, and I have recently had conversations with younger family members on this topic. In addition, I recently completed two very impactful and insightful "1:1 Conversations Across Generations" with a college student who comes from a very different background than mine. He is a deeply religious person who has committed to a life of service, but he "confessed" that he and many of his fellow students are disengaged from politics. Simply put, he didn't equate his strong commitment to helping other people to the "civic duty" that is implied by being well-informed on local and national issues, by engaging with his elected representative, or even by voting. Through our conversations, I learned that an extremely strong moral compass does not automatically translate to civic engagement.
In the last presidential election, nearly as many people chose not to exercise their right to vote (73 million votes) as those that voted for either Kamala Harris (75 million votes) or Donald Trump (77 million votes), with the 18 to 24 age group having the lowest turnout rate at only 47.7%.*
*source U.S. Census bureau and USAFacts
It has become very apparent to me that meaningful improvement of Congress and our federal government will not occur without active citizen engagement, that is why I'm so actively involved with Braver Angels and Voice of the People.
On April 18, we are planning a Common Ground Workshop on Immigration in David Joyce's 14th Congressional district; and on May 16th we are conducting a similar workshop in Emelia Sykes's 13th Congressional district. These workshops bring reds (conservatives) and blues (liberals) together to identify points of agreement on immigration.
As a follow-up to the workshops, Constituents Conversations on Immigration are scheduled, where workshop participants are invited to present the workshop results to the district’s U.S. representative.
The Braver Angels Citizens Commission on Immigration will culminate in a “Report to the Nation,” outlining key policy recommendations that reflect the output from the red/blue common ground workshops. Plans are to distribute the report to Congress, to the media and to immigration leaders in July 2027.
We are still recruiting participants for both workshops and need your help!
If you live in either of the aforementioned Congressional districts and you have a passion for immigration and want to add your voice to a possible solution; or if you know of someone who might be interested in participating, or if you know someone who might be able to help us recruit participants, please contact me for more information.
Thanks in advance for your help and have a great month!
