November 4, 2020, 2pm: 70,198,336 versus 67,053,952.
Courageous dialogue across difference is everything.
Our country is divided. Split down the middle. Some of us are in shock, many not surprised, some thrilled with the results, and others are terrified. America is complicated, isn’t it? We have a long road ahead, regardless of who ends up in the White House.
This election reminds us that our stories, perspectives, and agendas vary wildly, and our view on who is best suited to lead America varies just as greatly. I believe in the last few years, for the first time in my life, I have a deeper understanding of just how audacious our system of government is. We put it to the people, and the people have spoken. If we radically disagree with what “they” have to say, can we coexist?
This election and culture are hardly politics as usual. Far from. While policy differences have split this country throughout its lifetime, I’m not sure we’ve ever seen a significant portion of the country legitimizing – or being complicit in – hate speech, conspiracy theories, and untruths. One Fellow said to me recently, “How do we have a conversation with someone who doesn’t believe in facts?” Great question.
“I want to call on all of us as we start to pick our heads up from election results and imagine a path forward, to lead with courage and radical love.”
I’m incredibly inspired by the examples of network leadership and civic engagement that our Senior Fellows continue to demonstrate. Following the posting of a racist image and disturbing campaign mailer from the SVO, dozens of Senior Fellows created a coalition that brought swift changes to the organization, including the dissolving of its Political Action Committee. Several Senior Fellows shared that they wouldn’t have been able to come together so quickly in the way we did without the trusted relationships built over time thanks to their ALF experiences.
Faith and community leaders put on a peaceful transfer of power convening at San Jose City Hall. Others have spent hundreds, if not thousands of hours working in the democratic process – running for office, protecting the integrity of elections, phone banking, or volunteering as poll workers.
A thriving America is not passive. Being American takes work.
So as we consider the path forward, how might we, as an ALF network, let the ecosystem, not the egosystem, guide our decisions? How will we all lead with courage and radical love?
Suzanne St. John-Crane
Chief Executive Officer
Class XXV / Urbanism XXXIV
