Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Fifty years later, I'm still a dreamer

Fifty years later, I'm still a dreamer

The American tragedy of the Trump assassination attempt

Getty Images

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

When I was a young man, I thought our country was more divided than it had ever been and couldn’t possibly get worse.

I was a young teen when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and a college student in 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were senselessly assassinated. I witnessed the near-fatal shooting that almost ended the life of President Ronald Reagan just three months into his first term in 1981.

And now the attempt on former President Donald Trump's life in 2024.


Despite these futile and senseless acts of violence, I still have hope in a higher consciousness that will help us rise above it all.

My hope endures despite the conflict profiteers who thrive by sowing disinformation, outrage, and hate on social media, and the politicians who feed into our division with violent rhetoric.

Our divide is amplified because we live in silos, separated from each other based on what side of the political aisle we are on. Most of us watch the news station that fits the narrative we want to believe. We prefer to make accusations, innuendos, or spew misinformation instead of living into a higher standard of discourse and mutual understanding. Instead of being kind, we choose to feel superior in our tribe.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Yet despite it all, I have faith in America and that we can come together.

In troubled times in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s and today I often turn to music for the solace I need. It serves as the strongest form of soothing magic for me.

In 1970, the words for “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel provided the solace I needed:

I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind

In the same year, “ Let it Be” calmed my soul as John Lennon and Paul McCartney sang:

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be. Yeah
There will be an answer, let it be.

More than 50 years have passed, and once again our nation is being tested. We, the citizens, are being called to be better. The next few months leading up to the election will be a trying time for us all and the call to come together rings loudly once again. Together, we cannot fail.

You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” And today, I hope that “you will join us.”

So heed the words. Let’s sing out loudly that “ We Are the World” and must come together as one:

There comes a time
When we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
Oh, and it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can't go on
Pretending day-by-day
That someone, somewhere soon make a change
We're all a part of God's great big family
And the truth, you know, love is all we need

We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me

Read More

Hand erasing the word "democracy"
Westend61/Getty Images

Could the end of “the democratic century” be the wake-up call we needed?

What the century scholars call “the democratic century” appears to have ended on January 20, 2025, when Donald Trump was sworn in as America’s forty-seventh president. It came almost one hundred years after German President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolph Hitler as Chancellor of Germany.

Let me be clear. Trump is not America’s Hitler.

Keep ReadingShow less
We’ve Collectively Created the Federal Education Collapse

Students in a classroom.

Getty Images, Maskot

We’ve Collectively Created the Federal Education Collapse

“If we make money the object of man-training, we shall develop money-makers but not necessarily men.” - W.E.B. Du Bois

The current state of public education has many confused, anxious, and even fearful. Depending on the day, I feel any combination of the above, among other less-than-ideal adjectives. Simply, the future is uncertain. Schools are simultaneously cutting budgets and trying to remain relevant, all during an increasingly tense political climate.

Keep ReadingShow less
Addressing Economic Inequity Among Domestic Violence Survivors

A person holding a stack of dollar bills that are flying away.

Getty Images, PM Images

Addressing Economic Inequity Among Domestic Violence Survivors

The 2024 film, "Anora,” about a young woman victimized by sex trafficking, recently won five Oscars at the Academy Awards. Perhaps, it is a signal of more awareness and less stigma surrounding the pervasiveness of domestic violence at all levels of society.

The ongoing lawsuits between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni claiming sexual harassment and violence threat allegations around their film, “It Ends With Us,” about a relationship scarred with domestic violence, demonstrates the thin line between real life and on-screen adaptations.

Keep ReadingShow less
Will Our Democracy Survive? Will it Prove Fragile or Resilient?
black white and red star flag
Photo by IIONA VIRGIN on Unsplash

Will Our Democracy Survive? Will it Prove Fragile or Resilient?

As the new administration settles in, many ask: How resilient is our democracy?

Since the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, America has undergone many challenges, but today, the foundational democratic system faces an alarming test. Amid this uncertain moment, key questions arise: Will our government's system of checks and balances withstand this unprecedented challenge, and how should ordinary citizens respond when their government appears to be moving away from its democratic ideals?

Keep ReadingShow less