Let's Listen
To Each Other
“The America I want Is…” initiative is about individual expression, collective listening and citizen involvement. It’s an idea as important now as at any time in our country’s history. We at Linley Foundation want to inspire and support a national conversation about our country.
Program Intro by David P. Adams - President, Linley Foundation LLC.
Chief Don Stevens is the chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk - Abenaki Nation.
Chief Dr.Bobby Joseph is the hereditary chief of the Gwawaenuk First Nation is Western Canada. He is the Ambassador for Reconciliation Canada.
Dr. Michael DeGagne is an Ojibway from the Animakee Wa Zhing 37 First Nation. He is president and CEO of Indspire, and former president of Nipissing University.
PEOPLE'S TALKING CIRCLE
Our program is based on three tested concepts from three different parts of the world.
The first is the native American Talking Circle, our continent’s earliest example of participatory democracy. The small tribe or band come together to consider an issue. Only the person holding the talking stick may speak. It’s an exercise in listening. It is also an effective way for each member to tap into the collective thoughts and feelings of the tribe.
Linley is digitizing the Talking Circle. Social media is America’s Talking Circle and the cell phone the talking stick.
The Second was borrowing from a model successfully pioneered by Globo TV in Brazil, we are asking Americans throughout the land to send us a video on their phones telling us what they want for their country. We will collect submission from all 50 states, while encouraging the participation and support from the top leaders in those states.
National Submissions
WatchWhat People All Over Are Saying
And now it's your turn. Tell us in no more than 1 minute, what you like most about America and what you want for America.
And Next - The Third Concept
Peoples' Assembly
The initiative’s endgame is inspired by France’s President Emmanuel Macron’s Citizens Convention on Climate. Our goal is to create an American People’s Assembly selected from the thousands of “The America I Want Is…” participants. The Assembly will offer recommendations on how to achieve the aspirations Americans have for their country. We will then take the recommendations to the leaders of all 50 states to determine how to put them into action. Our program will have come full circle.
How we are starting
State -by-State Talking Circles
Our states can be very different. We tend to be pragmatic about them. We want them to function well. We want to feel proud of them. In this part of our initiative, we are asking leaders and citizens of every state to tell us what they admire about their state. What message would they want to send the nation? And how would America be better off if it were more like their state?
We have chosen Vermont as our model state. (Why?)
