Unifying America: ‘Braver Angels' Try To Bridge The Political Divide

Natalie Brand

March 18, 2021 |

CBS News |

Multi-Media |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

Braver Angels works to decrease political polarization by pairing up Republicans and Democrats for one-on-one conversations about each other’s political views and experiences. The goal of the conversations is to encourage understanding through talking and listening, not to change anyone’s views. Participants often find they share similar goals but just have different perspectives on how to achieve them. The group has about 15,000 members representing every state. Membership surged after the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capital, after which around 4,500 Braver Angels gathered virtually to try and heal.

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How grass-roots efforts by Georgia's Latinos helped tip the Senate races

Rachel Hatzipanagos

February 03, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

Black and Latino organizers with the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) knocked on over 300,000 doors in between the general election and Senate runoffs. Canvassing in predominantly Latino neighborhoods, they also reached out to ineligible voters to encourage them to urge their U.S. born family members to vote in their family’s interests. Latino support of Democratic candidates increased in the Senate runoffs adding to narrow Democratic victories. GLAHR also helped elect the first Black sheriff of Gwinnett County, who quickly ended a program that allowed the county jail to collaborate with ICE.

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A Tale of Two Karens

Cecily Sailer Jim Tuttle

January 20, 2021 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Pennsylvania

Braver Angels formed after the 2016 election to depolarize politics. The group’s Red / Blue Workshops bring together equal numbers of liberals and conservatives for structured conversations to help people build trust, understand one another, find commonalities, and learn lessons to bring back to their communities. It is rooted in couples and family therapy, with an emphasis on active listening and reflecting back what you hear. Instructions for organizing a workshop are on the group’s website and they have about 11,000 members, with a recent online event, Hold America Together, attracting 4,500 viewers.

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‘An Epiphany Moment' for Corporate Political Donors May Have Arrived

Andrew Ross Sorkin

January 12, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

IBM is one of only a handful of companies that doesn’t give money to political candidates. IBM does spend millions on lobbying and runs an in-house government relations team, but the company doesn't have a political action committee and restricts money from going to political candidates when it does donate to trade groups. IBM’s founder set the policy to avoid operating as a political organization and to disinvest from a corrupt system where money buys favorable legislation. IBM’s policies could serve as a model as companies pause their political donations due to acts of violence at the Capitol.

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Biden victory in hand, Black church get-out-the-vote workers assess the future

Adelle M. Banks

November 25, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

Faith leaders from communities of color mobilized voters to support candidates and policies that empower Black and Brown people. Events such as “Souls to the Polls” and the coalition-run Black Church 75 initiative, registered new voters and urged them to the polls around issues such as police brutality and racial injustices. Support from Black church members is credited with helping elect Democratic candidates, including Democratic senators in Georgia, as well as passing ballot initiatives, such as Measure J in Los Angeles that would decrease police funding in favor of mental health and housing resources.

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Native American votes helped secure Biden's win in Arizona

Felicia Fonseca Angeliki Kastanis

November 19, 2020 |

Associated Press |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Navajo Nation, United States, Arizona

Organizations across the political spectrum increased voter turnout on Arizona’s Native American reservations. The Biden campaign targeted outreach to specific groups, such as Native women and veterans, and held Covid-safe election-related events, such as a parade to the polls. The Trump campaign ran advertising on reservations and featured well-known Arizona Native American Republicans at political rallies. Turnout increased anywhere from 12-14% on the larger Navajo and Hopi reservations (over 17,000 votes) to over 50% on smaller reservations. These increases helped Biden win Arizona by about 10,500 votes.

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In Brazil, Women Candidates Find Strength in Numbers

Isabela Dias

November 12, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Brazil

Collective, or shared, candidacies, where groups of candidates to run for a single elected position in Brazil, has helped elevate women and other marginalized groups with progressive platforms to rise to power. From 2016 and 2018, 22 of the 98 groups that ran were elected. In 2020, 41% of the joint candidacies were led by women. A national bill to formalize collective candidacies has stalled since 2017, so one member of the group is formally elected, and is the one to cast votes and give formal speeches, while the others are hired as advisers but still are empowered to write and propose bills.

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Grassroots Organizers Flipped Georgia Blue. Here's How They Did It.

Anoa Changa

November 12, 2020 |

Truthout |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

Civic engagement organizers have decreased the gap between Republicans and Democrats in Georgia over the past several elections by increasing voter participation and leveraging the shifting state demographics. Groups conduct outreach to previously disenfranchised voters, recruit new voters, and seek to empower civic participation among Black and Asian American communities in particular, which helped Joseph Biden win the state in 2020. Organizers prioritize in-language organizing from trusted sources and connecting with communities on issues that are relevant and important to them.

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How the Navajo Nation helped push Democrats ahead in Arizona

Rachel Ramirez

November 10, 2020 |

Vox |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Navajo Nation, United States, Arizona

Voter outreach campaigns effectively boosted turnout among Native voters. The Rural Utah Project left informational flyers inside plastic bags at people’s doors (a Covid-19 tactical adjustment), held drive-through voter registration events, ran hotlines to assist indigenous voters, and partnered with Google to create street addresses using latitude and longitude-based plus codes. Senate candidate Mark Kelly ran ads in the Diné language to reach Navajo Nation voters. Precinct data shows 60-90% of Arizona Navajo Nation voters chose Democrats, a rate that pushed Biden and Kelly to a slim victory.

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Inside Democrats' efforts to fight election security threats

Eric Geller

November 02, 2020 |

Politico |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) built up its digital defenses, successfully protecting the 2018 midterm election from the cyber-hacking that occurred in 2016. The DNC now trains staff to spot cyber threats, conducts simulated phishing campaigns to test employees’ vigilance, and security staffers regularly meet with their House and Senate campaign counterparts to offer their security expertise. The DNC also requires protections, such as two-factor authentication, which requires a temporary code in addition to a user’s password and conducts regular “spot checks” of Democrats’ cybersecurity practices.

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