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‘Stand By Me’ — a jam session for democracy

Stand By Me | Playing For Change | Song Around The World

Not every voice can use words in essays or logical arguments to express the longing of our soul to connect, to be accepted. Sometimes we use music, poetry, dance, paintings, drawings and theater. Sometimes we use stories, documentaries and streaming entertainment to be seen and heard.

As the publishers of The Fulcrum, we believe that to succeed we must apply balanced, impeccable journalistic standards and, at the same time, provide a voice of all Americans who yearn for a healthier governing system: young people, people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds, rural and urban dwellers, conservatives and progressives.


And what better way to do so than through music. Music when played together results in an interplay that depends on the relationship and blending of all those in the band, orchestra, or ensemble. Ideas worth hearing reside within all of us.

And a healthy democracy is much the same. As you listen to this rendition of "Stand By Me," produced by Playing For Change, see if the Ben E. King classic that features musicians around the world reminds you that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people.

We believe it does. Do you? Please email us at pop-culture@fulcrum.us and provide us with other examples that you think represent the connection between the arts and democracy. Whether music, theater, poetry, comedy, spirituality, sport or other mediums, please send us your ideas.


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Word Kill: Politics Can Be Murder on Poetry

A poster featuring Renee Good sits along the street near a memorial to Good on January 16, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Word Kill: Politics Can Be Murder on Poetry

Across the United States and the world, millions are still processing the recent killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis by ICE agents. Reactions have intensified as more recently ICE agents shot a Venezuelan man in the same city, and additional National Guard troops have been deployed there.

Many were shocked learning of Good’s shooting, and the shock grew as more information and details about the events leading up to her death, as well as facts about Good herself.

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Bad Bunny Super Bowl Clash Deepens America’s Cultural Divide

Bad Bunny performs on stage during the Debí Tirar Más Fotos world tour at Estadio GNP Seguros on December 11, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico.

(Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

Bad Bunny Super Bowl Clash Deepens America’s Cultural Divide

On Monday, January 26th, I published a column in the Fulcrum called Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Sparks National Controversy As Trump Announces Boycott. At the time, I believed I had covered the entire political and cultural storm around Bad Bunny’s upcoming Super Bowl performance.

I was mistaken. In the days since, the reaction has only grown stronger, and something deeper has become clear. This is no longer just a debate about a halftime show. It is turning into a question of who belongs in America’s cultural imagination.

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Independent film captures Latino immigrant life in Wisconsin

Miguel (David Duran) in an ice fishing tent with a strange local, Carl (Ritchie Gordon)/ Nathan Deming

Photo Provided

Independent film captures Latino immigrant life in Wisconsin

Wisconsin filmmaker Nathan Deming said his independent film February is part of a long-term project to document life in Wisconsin through a series of standalone fictional stories, each tied to a month of the year.

Deming said the project is intentionally slow-moving and structured to explore different perspectives rather than follow a single narrative. He said each film functions on its own while contributing to a larger portrait of the state.

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