Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Music is a universal language

Behind The Song: Rasta Children | Playing For Change

The Fulcrum recently created a Pop Culture section based on our belief that coverage of culture can deepen the understanding of our differences and similarities, as well as discover our shared interests and common destinies. This can serve as a catalyst to help inspire people to work toward repairing and strengthening our democracy.

Our journey has included music of all types, poetry, dance, literature, painting and drawing, comedy, and drama that appeal to the human spirit — a spirit that expresses the joys, sorrows and harmonies of the heart and soul. This journey inspires us every day as we discover individuals and organizations who remind us of the connection between democracy and the arts.


One such organization is Playing for Change, created to inspire and connect the world through music. The founders of the project explain that the idea "came from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people."

A brief history of Playing For Change from their website explains:

Born in 2002 as a shared vision between co-founders, Mark Johnson and Whitney Kroenke, to hit the streets of America with a mobile recording studio and cameras in search of inspiration and the heartbeat of the people and now have the Playing for Change Band with musicians from around the world. These musicians come from many different countries and cultures, but through music they speak the same language. The PFC Band is now touring the world and spreading the message of love and hope to audiences everywhere.

Watch to this video and see if you feel the power of the positive message of the Playing For Change Band's message that "No matter who you are or where you come from, we are all united through music"

Email us at pop-culture@fulcrum.us to tell us what you think and offer other examples you have of people being united through music.


Read More

Hollywood Gets Congress Wrong—and It’s Costing America Trust in Democracy

Hollywood sign and The Capitol

AI generated picture

Hollywood Gets Congress Wrong—and It’s Costing America Trust in Democracy

The following article is excerpted from "Citizen’s Handbook for Influencing Elected Officials."

Since the 1970s, public trust in American institutions—including Congress—has steadily declined. Approval ratings for the House and Senate usually hover in the teens. Certainly, some misdeeds by our elected leaders have contributed to this decline, and mainstream national media can claim its fair share of “credit” in portraying Congress in a negative light. Yet another major ingredient in the ugly formula poisoning public opinion of Congress is Hollywood. Movies and TV shows routinely portray Congress as craven, corrupt, selfish, and completely indifferent to the public interest. Regrettably, this is a wholly incorrect portrayal of our nation’s legislators.

Keep ReadingShow less
Interfaith Music Aims to Reclaim January 6 for Unity

Elena “La Fulana” Lacayo

Interfaith Music Aims to Reclaim January 6 for Unity

Music has played a significant role in uniting people of different faiths in the United States. From the Civil Rights era to the years following 9/11, Americans have used music to bridge religious divides and affirm their shared humanity. Interfaith music extends beyond worship and remains a lasting way for Americans to remember their common bonds. St. Augustine expressed the power of music in faith when he said “When I sing, I pray twice.”

In this spirit, The Fulcrum highlights stories during the holiday season that reflect universal themes. Messages of love, kindness, hope, and generosity resonate across cultures and traditions, reminding us that shared values are stronger than our divisions.

Keep ReadingShow less
A Baseball Team Caught Between Two Countries — a Visa Shift and a Shutdown

The Tucson baseball team playing against the Águilas de Mexicali in the border city of Mexicali. Photo courtesy of the Tucson baseball team

A Baseball Team Caught Between Two Countries — a Visa Shift and a Shutdown

NOGALES, SONORA, MEXICO — What was meant to be a historic first for America’s pastime — a Mexican Pacific League baseball franchise anchored north of the border — has become a bureaucratic curveball.

The newly relocated Tucson, Arizona, baseball team — formerly the Mayos de Navojoa from Sonora, Mexico — has yet to fulfill a long-held dream shared by fans on both sides of the border: bringing professional Mexican winter baseball to U.S. soil.

Keep ReadingShow less
From Bob Dylan to Kendrick Lamar: How Protest Music Still Shapes America in 2025
Bob Dylan | Xavier Badosa | Flickr

From Bob Dylan to Kendrick Lamar: How Protest Music Still Shapes America in 2025

Pop music has always been more than entertainment. Reflects society’s struggles, dreams, and contradictions.

Across the last fifty years, artists from Bob Dylan to Kendrick Lamar have given voice to war and peace, protest and resilience, identity and equality, economic struggle and hope. Their lyrics, written for a moment in time, echo with startling relevance in 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less