COVID came along and dominated our lives almost two years ago at a time when we were already battered by interracial tensions and divisive political rhetoric. The isolation that the pandemic forced us into has affected the psyche of all, and COVID-related economic difficulties made the lives of many rather difficult. In the middle of these historic moments, we had a contentious election that peaked with an attack on the Congress, the symbol of our nation. 

It appears that we are in dire need of restoring our trust in our political system, in our government and agencies, in our civil society, and more importantly in each other. Our goal with the 3R Series is to inspire a vision of Restoration through Reconciliation and to remind ourselves of the Resiliency Americans have demonstrated again and again in difficult times throughout our history. We hope this effort will inspire hope, instill an urgency, and drive people to act to bridge the divides in our society so that we can heal and be whole once again.

About the book, “How to Heal our Divides“

If we didn’t recognize them already, 2020 put a spotlight on several serious, deep divides that have had strong negative impacts on our society – racial, political, religious, and other divides. Much has been written describing these divides and how they came about or encouraging us to look deeply inside ourselves to discover our own flaws.  All good things! But there has been a lack of attention regarding what to do about it. “How to Heal Our Divides” is a project aimed at building awareness of organizations that are taking real action to address these issues. The project is not an attempt to gloss over serious problems or “make happy” but instead to highlight tangible efforts that are solving problems – actually healing divides in effective and practical ways.  

Perhaps you are tempted to just write off “the other side” and lambast them for all the terrible things they’ve done. But is that really in the best interest of our country and our culture? Shouldn’t we instead try to listen and learn and actually talk to each other? Are there at least some things we can work on together, even if we don’t agree on everything? (How many people have you met with whom you agree on absolutely everything?) Granted, some will never listen. But some will. We owe it to our children to try to make things better.

Moderator

Allison K. Ralph, Ph.D., is the Associate Director of the Inclusive America Project at the Aspen Institute. 

Panelists

Martin Brooks is the President of Peace Catalyst International.

Jeff Burns is the Founder of Pathways to Peace.

Rev. Richard L. Tafel serves as the minister at the Church of the Holy City.

Register here