Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories
USA Presidential voters on electoral college map

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact Federalism at Its Best

​People arrive at a polling location on the first day of early voting in Texas

Early voting records should scare GOP

​Border patrol SUV

How Border Policies Are Reshaping South Texas Politics

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico

Are Independent Voters About to Flip Texas?

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media

Trump’s Arch Plan Defies Law and Warps D.C.’s Historic Core

Video: We the people

Video: We the peopleplay icon
WE THE PEOPLE | NIMO PATEL | EMPTY HANDS MUSIC
www.youtube.com
David L. Nevins
By David L. NevinsOct 04, 2022
David L. Nevins
David L. Nevins serves as publisher of The Fulcrum. Additionally, Nevins serves as co-founder and Board Chairman of the Bridge Alliance. Nevins brings business acumen, vision and a tireless this-must-and-can-be-done zeal to the burgeoning movement to bridge divides to transform the political process. As a business leader, Nevins excels at building bridges between people and organizations from the right, left and center for civilized conversation and then action. He co-founded the Bridge Alliance because, as he says, “No matter how well managed and how well funded anyone organization is, significant political reform will not happen without an alliance to further collaborative interactions. Together we can and will raise the collective impact of all.” He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, with a focus on the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, he established and continues to work with The Nevins Democracy Leaders program at Penn State University. Nevins graduated with honors in economics from Penn State in 1969 and received an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.
See More Writings by author

It was a year ago in September 2021 that The Fulcrum introduced our Pop Culture section.

At that time we said:

In our increasingly complex world of trauma and travail, where we must care about the health of our democracy and strive relentlessly to strengthen our representative republic, we call upon the products and services of our artists and athletes to remind us of our heritages and traditions, our cooperative and competitive selves.

This past year we honored and celebrated culture as a bridge to the latest news and analysis of politics, policy, and the birth of a new civic and political voice to build greater social cohesion, civic engagement, and problem-solving.

We hope you have taken the journey with us as we shared stories, music, poetry and dance to inspire our better angels as part of our continuing coverage of the problems and solutions of our times.

We believe more than ever that art has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people.

Today we present a powerful example in “WeThe People,” produced by Empty Hands Music. Their mission is to spread seeds of goodness in the world through selfless service, music and love.

Founded by Nimo Patel, who went from his Ivy League education to Wall Street to fame and fortune as a rap star on MTV. However, at some point along Patel’s journey he realized that he was walking a path of suffering and that the only path to light was through selfless service to others and his own internal purification. For the past 10 years Patel has been serving and working with the underprivileged communities in India.

Enjoy the healing power of “We The People.”


Latest news

Americans Voting in an Election
Elections

Voting Is Not Just a Privilege It Is Every Citizens’ Responsibility

Capitol building with American flag behind it
Elections

Both Parties Have Forgotten How to Lose: It’s Time for Guardrails

Benjamin Franklin's portrait on the one hundred-dollar bill alongside the US flag
Money & Politics

The Power of the Mega-Rich Perverts the Democratic Process

Read More

Business meeting, blurred background and people in office for teamwork, collaboration and planning

Another recruitment drive won’t fix a nonprofit board. A practical guide to sharing real decision-making power with diverse members: acknowledge, affirm, act.

Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images

Before Recruiting Diverse Board Members, Examine Who Holds Power

Nonprofit leaders keep asking me where they will find the next generation of diverse board talent. My question is what those leaders will be allowed to change once they arrive. In this piece, I outline concrete steps boards can take to ensure diverse members have real opportunities to shape organizational decision-making and to translate good intentions into meaningful progress.

In my board service and consulting work, I hear the concern from executives and grassroots activists alike. They worry about recruiting successors, sustaining funding, and governing organizations whose work increasingly depends on partnerships beyond their own walls. I share those concerns. I also wonder whether another recruitment initiative will solve what troubles them.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Pennsylvania state capitol building.

The Pennsylvania state capitol building.

jimfeng/Getty Images

Pennsylvania’s Bipartisan Exchange Is Rebuilding Trust in Governance

The University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics has nearly 40 years of experience working with legislators from different political parties, and it is building on this history by drawing on lessons from the successful American Congressional Exchange model, begun in 2018 at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and from state exchanges now underway in Minnesota and Michigan. The University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics, in collaboration with the Bridge Alliance, has launched the Pennsylvania Legislative Exchange.

This state-based, systematic approach is designed to foster better relationships and build trust across the political aisle with the following guiding principles:

Keep ReadingShow less
Shadow on a wall of Judge hitting gavel in court, concept of justice, law, and legal protection

DOJ lawsuits in Alaska and California preview post-Election Day fights over certification and seating winners. Here’s how officials and voters can prepare.

Aitor Diago / Getty Images

The Lawsuits Will Lose. The Delays Will Still Win.

Less than two weeks before Election Day, President Trump’s Justice Department asked a federal court to stop Alaska from certifying its U.S. Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola. The lawsuit claims that a second candidate on the ballot, Daniel J. Sullivan, will confuse voters. That argument went nowhere in June, when the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the state had no legal way to remove him from the ballot. Asked about the suit, the president took credit. “I’m the one that said do it,” he told reporters.

Alongside the Alaska suit, the Trump administration sued California to keep the state from counting mail ballots from 20,000 people it calls “likely” noncitizens. Over the summer, the Department of Homeland Security put that number at 190,000. Legal experts expect both suits to fail, as so many suits like them have. Still, Alaska and California give us an early look at what the weeks after November 3rd could bring: recount demands, calls to review or throw out ballots, and pressure to delay seating winners.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026