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Your take: 'I stand for ...'

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Made By Use

Garson is legal counsel and chief of staff for the Bridge Alliance, which houses The Fulcrum.

From June 12 through the Fourth of July, our friends at Made By Us are hosting the second annual Civic Season in Atlanta. The event is a celebration of civic engagement across the country – one which the Bridge Alliance was honored to take part in with the 5th American Civic Collaboration Awards (Civvys).

The purpose of Civic Season is to start a new tradition of rewinding, reflecting and re-imagining our story, and participants are invited to take part with a simple prompt:

I Stand For ______ When I ________


We extended the same invitation to The Fulcrum’s readers and Bridge Alliance supporters, and the responses we received were invigorating. For example:

  • Ellen wrote that she stands for “democracy” when she “fights corruption.”
  • Mary wrote that she stands for “social justice” when she “accepts all people.”
  • Renee wrote that she stands for “civility and tolerance” when she exercises her vote, through her activism and in public discourse.

A few others took the opportunity to tell us a story about their passion for America, including this awesome story from 16-year-old Bobby:

“I stand for civics education in schools when I speak to my peers about it. I'm a 16-year-old high school student from Oregon, and last speech season, I wrote and performed a 10-minute memorized oratory (persuasive) speech about why we must fund and then mandate civics education that teaches our youth how our democratic republic functionally works. This is a topic I've been passionate about since before discovering the amazing work that the Bridge is doing, and a topic that I will continue to fight for until our future voters are able to make more informed decisions about our nation's future.”

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Finally, I was thrilled when I saw this message from Rachel, who made full use of Civic Season’s interactive digital poster:

Civic Season poster

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Candace Asher

Singer/songwriter Candace Asher

Presenting 'This Country Tis of Thee'

As we approach another presidential election, less than 120 days away, uncivil, dysfunctional behaviors continue to divide the nation. Each side blaming the other is never going to unite us.

As the rancor and divide between Americans increases, we need to stop focusing on our differences. The Fulcrum underscores the imperative that we find the common bonds of our humanity — those can, do and must bind us together.

There are many examples in the American Songbook that brought folks together in previous times of great strife and discord, including “Imagine,” “Heal the World,” “Love Can Build a Bridge,” “The Great Divide” and, of course, “We Are the World.”

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Donald Sutherland (left), Paul Mooney, and Jane Fonda performing in an anti-Vietnam War FTA (Free The Army) show in the Philippines in 1971.

Stuart Lutz/Gado/Getty Images

This young GI met Donald Sutherland in a bygone era. RIP to an original.

Page is an American journalist, syndicated columnist and senior member of the Chicago Tribune editorial board.

News of Donald Sutherland's death at age 88 took me back to a day in 1971 when he was protesting the Vietnam War onstage with Jane Fonda and I was one of about 1,000 off-duty soldiers in their audience.

I hoped, in the spirit of John Lennon's anthem, to give peace a chance.

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Taylor Swift singing on stage
John Shearer/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Taylor Swift: 'It's basically saying don't lose hope'

Daley-Harris is the author of “Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen’sGuide to Transformational Advocacy” and the founder of RESULTS and Civic Courage. This is part of a series focused on better understanding transformational advocacy: citizens awakening to their power.

In my last writing, I discussed how Taylor Swift’s first involvement in politics (during the 2018 midterm election in Tennessee) was prompted, in part, by her harrowing experience in a sexual assault trial. That year Swift endorsed Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s opponent in Tennessee’s U.S. Senate race, Rep. Jim Cooper (D). It wasn’t an easy decision.

“I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions,” she wrote in an Instagram post, “but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent.”

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Young woman doing stand-up comedy

Laughter is the embodiment of depolarization.

FG Trade/Getty Images

What role does comedy play in pulling us together?

It’s no secret that pop culture in America has amazing healing and connecting powers. Throughout history, we’ve seen how artists, entertainers, athletes and creators of every kind invite us into a space of transcendence that leads to connectivity. We see that when we join people together their energy can be harnessed for good, and then amplified and scaled.

Certainly comedy fits in perfectly. Laughter is the embodiment of depolarization. Just consider that in order for something to evoke laughter, it has to have the capacity to both hold tension and release tension at the same time. And so we invite you to join Bridge Entertainment Labs tomorrow at 4 pm Eastern for “What’s Making Us Laugh? What Role Does Comedy Play in Pulling Us Together — or Driving Us Apart?”

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