Summer is here...
the perfect time to pack up those tents and sleeping bags and journey to the great outdoors. Our country is filled with beautiful National Parks waiting to be explored! Here's the added benefit of camping this summer... Campgrounds are truly PURPLE places. Head to your local campground and see for yourself... In one camp site you'll see a vehicle with a "Feel the Bern" bumper sticker and in the next, you'll find a vehicle labeled "Make American Great Again." Conservatives and liberals coexist peacefully, even happily in our nation's campgrounds. Why is that? We're all there for the same reason. We want to enjoy nature. We want to see the stars. We want to escape our phones and our computers and our social media accounts and just BE. It's truly a purple activity. Camping allows us to connect with our fellow Americans and appreciate that we all enjoy the immense natural beauty of our country. Why not give it a try? Maybe a little time spent as happy campers in the great outdoors can help open doors and bring us closer together.
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Happy Father's Day!
This week, we'll share a little wisdom from the Father of our Country, George Washington. When he was a teenager, Washington copied down 110 "Rules of Civility" which he adapted from a set of popular rules developed by French Jesuits in the 16th Century. Several of these guidelines could still help us with our purple conversations today! Here are a few highlights from www.mountvernon.org... RULE NO. 22 Shew not yourself glad at the Misfortune of another though he were your enemy. RULE NO. 50 Be not hasty to beleive flying Reports to the Disparag[e]ment of any. RULE NO. 58 Let your Conversation be without Malice or Envy, for 'tis a Sig[n o]f a Tractable and Commendable Nature: And in all Causes of Passion [ad]mit Reason to Govern. RULE NO. 65 Speak not injurious Words neither in Jest nor Earnest Scoff at none although they give Occasion. RULE NO. 73 Think before you Speak pronounce not imperfectly nor bring ou[t] your Words too hastily but orderly & distinctly. RULE NO. 74 When Another Speaks be attentive your Self and disturb not the Audience if any hesitate in his Words help him not nor Prompt him without desired, Interrupt him not, nor Answer him till his Speec[h] be ended. RULE NO. 76 While you are talking, Point not with your Finger at him of Whom you Discourse nor Approach too near him to whom you talk especially to his face. RULE NO. 86 In Disputes, be not So Desireous to Overcome as not to give Liberty to each one to deliver his Opinion and Submit to the Judgment of the Major Part especially if they are Judges of the Dispute. RULE NO. 89 Speak not Evil of the absent for it is unjust. RULE NO. 105 Be not Angry at Table whatever happens & if you have reason to be so, shew it not but on a Chearfull Countenance especially if there be Strangers for Good Humour makes one Dish of Meat a Feas[t]. And, George Washington's final rule of civility... RULE NO. 110 Labour to keep alive in your Breast that Little Spark of Ce[les]tial fire Called Conscience. Let's try to keep that "little spark of celestial fire" burning brightly as we all work together to treat each other with greater civility! Last week brought this
unexpected twitter exchange between Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Republican Senator Ted Cruz. The two political rivals have found a purple point! It's refreshing to see lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle focus on something they can accomplish together. What do YOU think? Do you agree that there should be limitations on lobbying for those who have served in Congress? Let them know! On Memorial Day,
we honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. We may disagree, but regardless of our political beliefs, we can come together today in a spirit of gratitude to REMEMBER and HONOR the many brave heroes who have given their lives for our freedom. Their sacrifice gives us us the liberty to disagree. We can honor their memory by disagreeing with one another respectfully. Doing so requires its own smaller kind of bravery. Let's try to be brave together. "Pro-Life" "Pro-Choice" "No Labels" "First Trimester" "Heartbeat" "Late-Term" "Partial-Birth" "Doctors" "Politicians" "Supreme Court" "Privacy" "Control" "Autonomy" "Removal" "Murder" "Embryo" "Fetus" "Unborn Baby" "Faith" "Science" "Reproductive Health" "Birth Control" "My Body" "Voiceless" "My Choice" "Protection" "Freedom" "God's Will" "Personal Liberty" "Women's Health" "Rights" "Rights" "Rights" Whose rights? Whose decision? Who's in charge? We'll be hearing much more about all this in the coming months. We haven't focused on abortion much here at the Purple Living Room Project because, let's face it, this is one of the most divisive issues of our time. And yet, according to Gallup polls there ARE a few Purple Points. Gallup's latest polling suggests that... 29% of Americans think abortion should be legal under any circumstances AND an additional 50% of Americans think abortion should be legal in limited circumstances. So... 79% of Americans believe women should have access to abortion in some circumstances. When asked if abortion should be considered legal in a series of specific circumstances, the numbers were split fairly evenly yes/no for most situations, But... 77% believe abortion should be legal in the case of rape or incest AND 83% believe abortion should be legal when the mother's life is at risk There also seems to be some purple agreement around WHEN abortion should be legal... 87% of Americans do not think that abortion should be generally legal in the third trimester. Can we all agree that decisions about abortion are difficult and painful and have lasting consequences for those involved? Let's try to have empathy for one another and acknowledge that our deeply held beliefs are coming from a place of positive intentions... even if we disagree vehemently about what "positive intentions" look like. Fortunately, there seems to be one aspect of reproductive health that most of us can agree upon... 89% of Americans believe that birth control is morally acceptable. Seems like a place to start... Can we work TOGETHER to make sure all women have affordable access to birth control? We can do that together. Happy Mother's Day!
This year, after you've called your mom... why not check in on Mother Earth? Did you hear the news this week? One MILLION species face extinction. One MILLION. It's time for us ALL to do our part. Reduce Reuse Recycle RETHINK REACT What are the purple points that we can act on NOW to protect our environment? Let's start talking. We all need to help with the dishes. The White House Correspondents' Dinner
was held last weekend. No comedians this year. Instead, the featured guest was acclaimed historian Ron Chernow. He offered valuable insights into the relationship between the White House and the Press throughout our nation's history. Chernow's speech celebrated the important role that journalists play in our democracy. He quoted Thomas Jefferson, who famously wrote, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." Freedom of the press is enshrined in our Bill of Rights. We depend on a free press to bring us the facts so that we can make informed decisions. And, as Chernow says, we need the facts in order to have honest disagreements. Let's show our gratitude to the journalists across our country who work tirelessly to bring us the facts. And let's try to ground our purple conversations in these facts rather than bombastic rhetoric. Twenty years ago this week,
tragedy struck at Columbine High School. In the two decades that have passed, our schools have changed. Metal detectors... campus lockdowns... active shooter drills... these are all part of the landscape of education. Five-year-olds practice hiding with their teachers in corners of their classrooms across America, with the doors locked and the lights turned out. Is this our new normal? Is this the only way to protect our children? What laws have we CHANGED since Columbine? What laws have we CHANGED since Sandy Hook? What laws have we CHANGED since Parkland? On the national level, practically none. This February, the House passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019. Great name, but maybe not really bipartisan. Only eight republican legislators voted for it. And the news coverage talks about them "changing sides" to vote. Aren't we all on the same side? It's expected to either fail in the Senate or be vetoed by the president. Is this what we want as a nation? How do we get our congressional representatives to work TOGETHER to create a newer normal? Fortunately, STATE legislatures seem to be finding more success finding common ground. According to the Giffords Law Center, 67 gun safety bills were enacted in 26 states in 2018. A glimmer of hope. But do we have to move at a snail's pace? Remember New Zealand? Here are two important dates... March 15: Tragic Shooting at Mosques in Christchurch April 10: New Zealand's parliament votes 119-1 to BAN semi-automatic weapons. Less than a month. Practically unanimous. Action can happen. Faster than we think possible. New Zealand is trying to prevent a "new normal". Can we reverse ours? Only if our representatives realize we are all on the same side. Let's continue to use our productive conversations and our insistent voices to show our elected officials the path toward a new and improved "normal" together. Did you know we're in the middle of National Poetry Month? What poems inspire YOU to listen and to learn? We could use a little "Hope" in our conversations with one another. If "Hope" truly is "the thing with feathers" as Emily Dickinson famously wrote, let's help it take flight! Share a little poetic inspiration with a friend this month! Do you know "A Brave and Startling Truth" by Maya Angelou? She wrote it for the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations. It begins... A Brave and Startling Truth by, Maya Angelou We, this people, on a small and lonely planet Traveling through casual space Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns To a destination where all signs tell us It is possible and imperative that we learn A brave and startling truth And when we come to it To the day of peacemaking When we release our fingers From fists of hostility And allow the pure air to cool our palms... Click below to hear her reading the poem in its entirety... Maya Angelou Reads "A Brave and Startling Truth" at the United Nations 50th Anniversary Celebration in 1995 Another of our beloved American poets, Mary Oliver, passed away this year. Here is one of her thoughtful poems, inspired by nature... During National Poetry Month,
let's remember to draw inspiration from our poets! As we strive to find common ground, We can keep hope alive... We can learn a brave and startling truth... and We can take a lesson from the sea... and keep working! Check out our latest action project... THE 50-STATE CHALLENGE! The Purple Living Room Project was started by a group of American expats living in Thailand. In the wake of the US government shutdown, we decided to challenge our community to come together and write a letter to Congress asking for a legislative solution to prevent government shutdowns in the future. We drafted a letter with the goal of capturing the "purple points" around the issue... We shared this letter with our community and began our first 50-State Challenge! Our goal was to collect signatures from voters in as many states and as many legislative districts as possible. We printed letters to send to the Senators and Representatives connected with each of the expats who signed.... We tracked down signatures from each of the voters (in purple ink!) and then addressed, stamped, and sent the letters to Congress... So, how did we do?
The results are in from our first 50-State Challenge... Number of States Represented? 23 Number of Signatures? 49 Number of Letters Sent to Congress? 80 It was a great start... and we can do better! Next steps? We plan to tackle one issue at a time and see if we can find "purple points" that will help us gather signatures from all 50 states! Join us! Let's contact Congress TOGETHER and let our representatives know that we want them to ACT NOW and create legislation that will help us move forward as a nation! |
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May 2021
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