Wrap Both Arms Around Hope

Celebrating Our Reasons for Hope

Happy Canada Day! And Happy Independence Day later this week. As a dual citizen of both countries, I’m celebrating this week with a heart that is full of hope, especially after the Braver Angels Convention in Philadelphia that I attended last week. 

It was an experience like I’ve never had before. I gathered with approximately 800 others who believe that our differences are not as important as our belonging to each other and that our very future depends on our learning to embrace each other and problem-solve together. I watched that happen repeatedly on the convention stage. The co-chairs were Jim Robb of NumbersUSA, and Diego Sanchez, of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. NumbersUSA has been lobbying for three decades, not only to block illegal immigration but to greatly reduce legal immigration as well. The Presidents’ Alliance is a joint initiative of university presidents, seeking to increase educational opportunities for immigrants, including those who are undocumented. The co-chairs, then, came from organizations that are accustomed to looking at each other as examples of what is wrong with America. Yet these two showed each other respect and appreciation. 

We eventually learned how one of them, Robb, came to the realization that the “all-or-nothing approach” of advocates on both sides of the immigration debate had managed to torpedo every effort at immigration reform in the last 30 years. This was not serving America. It was time to see if they could sit down, listen to each other, and try problem-solving together. That’s how the Braver Angels Immigration Policy Roundtable was born and ultimately led to a number of agreed-upon policy recommendations. 

It was stunning and exciting to see people putting aside their animosity and finding ways to work together toward a better future. And it was fun to take part in something similar, with a workshop where we wrote a song across the policy divide on immigration. We had nine participants, five of whom identified as “blue” (progressive-leaning), one “purple”, and three “red” (conservative). Most of them met by Zoom the Saturday before, to share personal experiences that affect our views on the issue. I was unavailable that weekend, so I had to send in a video with my thoughts.Then we were assigned to review the conversation and bring four lines of lyrics and any melodic or harmonic ideas we might have for a song. 

It was such a busy time for me that I didn’t finish viewing the recorded conversation until about ½ hour before the workshop began. I wrote my four lines en route to the workshop, while swinging by the exhibit hall to pick up some of the T-shirts I wanted to share with the other participants. I really liked my four lines, though, because they riffed a little on “America the Beautiful.” But our facilitator, John Carroll, invited us to start out by sharing any melodic ideas or chord progressions, and none of the compelling ideas that were shared seemed like they’d pair well at all with the lyrics I’d written. I had to remind myself that this was about doing something together, and I needed to let go of my vision in order to make room for something that was shared. 

I discovered that letting go can open the door to something better. Once the group had come up with a chord progression and a melodic line for the chorus, we were again invited to write four lines. And it turned out that my riff on “America the Beautiful” could be adapted and expanded quite well to the meter and melody of the chorus, while incorporating the “dignity” theme that mattered to everyone. So my new lines wound up becoming the basis of our chorus. Then we split up into our red and blue-leaning groups to write a verse for each side. 

There were a lot of ideas going on. Far more than we could fit into eight lines. It required a lot of listening, discussion, and accommodation to get to eight lines that worked well for us. But we got there just in time to record some scratch vocals for practicing, in preparation for the closing concert the next night. The concert was beautiful with some awe-inspiring performances. Our part was more last-minute, but a meaningful opportunity to share the song that folded our differing perspectives and priorities, as well as our shared values, into one piece of art. You can watch that here. The lyrics are: 

Verse 1

We worked together 13 years

You gave your all and paid your tax.

Then came the raid you’d always feared—

We used you up and sent you back.

Taken from your son and wife

Led away by men in masks

With no regard for family life.

Where’s the dignity in that?

Chorus

America, America,

Land of opportunity,

Reclaim our soul with this shared goal

Dignity

[For You and Me]

Humanity

[For You and Me]

Verse 2

Different hearts, one shared table

Is this dream just a fable

We believe in a home

That makes us proud

Open doors, for who needs savin

While preserving this safe haven

Protect the Frame, Protect the Flame

Feed the Crowd

Chorus X2

The next day, Summit Stages ran a breakout session on “Playing Through Conflict with Improv.” This was something we’d developed because Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a powerful tool for keeping the drama in a production confined to the stage, and we figured we’d have more motivated learners if we packaged it up as improv. I am an improv newbie while my son-in-law and co-presenter, Riley Corrigan, has been assiduously training in NVC for years. So I was the only one jumping in over my head, but the idea felt important so we were doing it. 

The day before, I learned that Dr. Don Waisanen, who wrote the 4.8-star-rated book Improv for Democracy, was at the convention. So I messaged him and asked if he could join us (the waitlist hadn’t let him in). He came a few minutes early and I asked if he could take 10 minutes to introduce the key improv concepts of not blocking, embracing “yes and” energy, and learning from failure. 

His presentation could not have been better. It set precisely the foundation we needed. It was not, however, what the people next door needed. They were a little alarmed because our fun and insight-producing warmup was very loud, and they were doing a recorded breakout with Bill Doherty, one of the three founders of Braver Angels. But that provided us with an opportunity to practice “yes and” energy. Team member Michelle Linford found a place where we could relocate and so we were able to keep learning without having to keep down the noise levels. It wound up being a highlight experience for many. And it taught me, personally, that I don’t have to worry about my lack of credentials. I can be bold and move forward with the ideas that feel important, trusting that the right people will come and bring them to better fruition than I can imagine. 

So all of that is why this week, as I celebrate Canada Day and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I’m full of reasons to rejoice. I know that there’s hardship throughout both our great nations. I know that the divisions are real and deep. But I’ve seen up close and personal the power of rediscovering each other across our differences and engaging together for the common good. 

I want to close with some words from Dr. Francis Collins, (head of the National Institutes of Health during COVID-19) who presented at the convention alongside Wilk Wilkinson, a former trucker and COVID skeptic, who has now become his close friend. Invited to make one request of all the “courageous citizens” at the convention, he said, “Wrap your arms around hope. There’s lots of reasons to feel discouraged…At the same time, look at 1776, what those folks were facing at that point, and yet, they had boldness, they had courage and look what we were given as a gift by that same attitude. We are intrinsically capable of that as well.” 

We can be bold and courageous. And that gives us every reason to wrap both arms around hope. 

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