Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

It’s time for all of us to get in the game

It’s time for all of us to get in the game

Aaron Maybin at Joseph Gross Gallery on August 15, 2015 in New York City.

Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images

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

In America we love our superstar athletes. Whether they are college or professionals, today’s star athletes are some of the most recognized pop culture icons that America has to offer.


While some of us may think of them only as sport icons, many of them are using their stardom to positively impact their communities and the nation more than they ever possibly could have on the field of competition.

This is not new in America. In the early 1950’s Jackie Robinson built upon his stardom as America’s first African-American player in Major League Baseball to use his stature to advance civil rights throughout his career.

In this first of an ongoing series in The Fulcrum, we will highlight the work of athletes off the field as they set an example of how America is stronger if we become more civically engaged.

The story of Aaron Maybin who walked away from a successful NFL football career to pursue a career as a professional artist, activist, writer, educator and community organizer is a perfect example.

Maybin is an artist who uses his art to express his vision, perspective and views on American society. For democracy to endure we must be open to perspectives different from our own. As a powerful medium, art fosters a sense of understanding and caring for our fellow man.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

In 2009, Aaron established Project Mayhem to provide aid, both personal and economic, to help underserved and at risk youth excel beyond their current conditions. Through his work with Project Mayhem and as a teacher, Aaron has implemented art workshops and curricula into many schools in the Baltimore City area that have had budget cuts due to a lack of funding.

Aaron teaches creative arts and literacy in Baltimore’s public schools, created his Art Activism Curriculum (being taught in several Baltimore City Schools), and also co-founded the Operation Heat Campaign, raising more than $90,000 for schools struggling with heating issues in the wintertime.

Enjoy this video to learn more about how Aaron is now a star off the field:

Read More

The Evolving Social Contract: From Common Good to Contemporary Practice

An illustration of hands putting together a puzzle.

Getty Images, cienpies

The Evolving Social Contract: From Common Good to Contemporary Practice

The concept of the common good in American society has undergone a remarkable transformation since the nation's founding. What began as a clear, if contested, vision of collective welfare has splintered into something far more complex and individualistic. This shift reflects changing times and a fundamental reimagining of what we owe each other as citizens and human beings.

The nation’s progenitors wrestled with this very question. They drew heavily from Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who saw the social contract as a sacred covenant between citizens and their government. But they also pulled from deeper wells—the Puritan concept of the covenant community, the classical Republican tradition of civic virtue, and the Christian ideal of serving one's neighbor. These threads wove into something uniquely American: a vision of the common good that balances individual liberty with collective responsibility.

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
Recent Republican policies and proposals limiting legal immigration and legal immigrants' benefits and rights

An oversized gavel surrounded by people.

Getty Images, J Studios

Recent Republican policies and proposals limiting legal immigration and legal immigrants' benefits and rights

In a recent post we quoted a journalist describing the Republican Party as anti-immigration. Many of our readers wrote back angrily to say that the Republican party is only opposed to immigrants who are present illegally.

But that's not true. And we're not shy of telling it like it is.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Importance of Respecting Court Orders
brown wooden chess piece on brown book

The Importance of Respecting Court Orders

The most important question in American politics today is whether Donald Trump will respect court orders. Judges have repeatedly ruled against his administration.

But will he listen?

Keep ReadingShow less