Have A Great Weekend

Here are a few great reads to take you into the weekend!

• CtK.Campfire alum Mindy Finn's latest op-ed in USA Today addresses corruption in Washington: "Trump has built a pyramid scheme of public fraud. It is a taxpayer-backed cash grab."
• Congratulations to CtK alum Jose Antonio Vargas who had a school named after him! "I don't really have words for how meaningful this honor is, I've been speechless for a few days," Vargas, 37, told CNN. "I hope that this is a school where students and their families feel welcome in America, no matter where they come from."
• Check out CtK.Campfire alum and Paid Leave + US founder Katie Bethell inteview Alexis Ohanian--and listen to his amazing response about paid leave!
• From 538: "Democrats are wrong about Republicans. Republicans are wrong about Democrats." To solve this problem we recommend more people Cultivate the Karass! And take Campfire alum Ross Dakin's advice: "Get lunch with someone from the other side of the aisle. We're all more similar than we all think."
• R Street Institute captured our attention not once but twice this week: In the WaPo discussing turnover in Congressional offices and in The American Conservative talking about Philly DA Larry Krasner ("What's Philly's DA Got to Do with Me?") as part of a collaborative series exploring conservative approaches to criminal justice reforms.
• We couldn't love #WhenWeAllVote more: "When we all vote, we determine our future." Visit whenweallvote.org and get registered and help get others registered today!

Have a great weekend!

Campfire RoundUp!

What an amazing weekend! Thank you to Campfire Alums for joining us in beautiful Evins Mills, TN for deep engagement around loyal antagonism. 

Have A Great Weekend

We're rounding out the last Friday of July with a few good reads from some CtK.Campfire Alums:

• Evan McMullin and Mindy Finn "New political movement seeks members from left, right and center to find solutions"
• Bishop Garrison "The Modern Dark Age"
• Emily Holden "New EPA chief reaches out to those Pruitt had spurned"
• Sarah Holoubek "The Human Company Design Manifesto"

Looking for CtK.Campfire folks giving TED talks? We'll feature one each month in this space. Here's Ari Wallach talking about the longpath. This approach aligns with CtK's vision for long-term change.

• Ari Wallach "3 ways to plan for the (very) long term" 

Did you publish something recently? Are your efforts improving civic discourse? We're sure you're out there making positive change happen! Please let us know so that we can celebrate your work as a CtK.Campfire Alum!

Happy 4th of July!

In honor of the July 4th holiday, I wanted to share a reminder from Jake Brewer:

I pledge to be an active American:
to show up for others,
to govern myself,
to help govern my community.
I recommit myself to my country's
creed to cherish liberty
as a responsibility.

I pledge to serve
and to push my country.
When right, to be kept right;
When wrong, to be set right.
Wherever my ancestors and I were
born, I claim America
and I pledge to live like a citizen.

Thank you for being a champion of our democracy. -Lori

Cohort IV is in the books!

Another fantastic Campfire! 

This weekend, we turned a group of strangers into the latest CtK.Campfire alums. We took some powerful deep dives and the spectrum exercises challenged us to consider the dimensionality of the issues currently facing our democracy. We left with a renewed sense of purpose and can't wait to introduce our newest alums to the rest of the Campfire. 

Together, we will make a difference for our democracy. 

Onward!

An important read from cohort 2's Sarah Longwell

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/sen-mcconnell-listen-to-sen-mcconnell/2018/05/08/103c19cc-4e2c-11e8-84a0-458a1aa9ac0a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8cb833e68bf3

Loyal antagonists come in many forms...

Cohort 3’s Don Yu found his in the comments section on Facebook. Read about their story: 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/civicnation/2017/10/04/an-obama-alum-and-a-trump-voter-started-a-discussion-on-facebook-it-didnt-go-how-youd-expect/#5635adbc8e29

Sending off Cohort III

The Hill: "50 years after the Fair Housing Act, bipartisanship is still hard, but possible"

http://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/381861-50-years-after-the-fair-housing-act-bipartisanship-is-still-hard-but

A brief history of the Fair Housing Act: "a crucial achievement, and a powerful example of how our two parties could work together to achieve fundamental and positive change."

The Hill: "'Roseanne' reboot to depict a family 'divided by politics' under Trump"

http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/368117-roseanne-reboot-to-depict-a-family-divided-by-politics-under

A reboot of the '90's television show "Roseanne" takes on the complexities of the contemporary American family divided by politics.

Roseanne Barr, who plays a Trump supporter, believes this polarization amidst families and the animosity that stems from political identity should be addressed because it "is not American."