Week Five: “Braver Angels”
“We’ve seen the consequence of violent political division, and we all need to be touched by something ‘better’ within us and within the institutions that we build together.”
Braver Angels began in December 2016 as an experiment — organizers assembled 10 Trump and 11 Clinton supporters in South Lebanon, Ohio for what would become the first Red/Blue Workshop. As the organization tells the story, “The goal was simple. We needed to see if Americans could still disagree respectfully – and just maybe, find common ground. Some thought it wasn’t likely. We proved our skeptics wrong.” Out of that beginning in South Lebanon came a continuing effort to stimulate respectful conversation across divides of partisanship, age, race, and class that is enjoying significant success.
This week, we want to call your attention to a documentary that uses a “Red/Blue Workshop” held in Waynesville, Ohio to explain the Braver Angels process. (Note: At the time the documentary was made, Braver Angels was known as Better Angels — a reference to Lincoln’s 1st Inaugural Address).
A 4-minute “trailer” or coming attraction for the documentary is available below.
The full 50-minute documentary is available on Youtube at the link below.