Adam Davis: Communities coming together to make more of nation's 250th

##Adam Davis

About the writer: Adam Davis has served as executive director of Oregon Humanities, an independent nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, since 2013. Holder of a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, he is engaged in the training of discussion leaders, facilitation of community forums, hosting of podcasts and radio broadcasts, and editing books on mediation and community engagement.

As our country reaches the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, we’re not gliding into the celebratory or joyous moment we might have been.

This year’s observation of the divorce from England that the Declaration announced is overshadowed by divisions within our own borders. The sense of unity one might expect from a nation approaching its 250th birthday is so hard to find that even a concert series on the National Mall fell apart days after it was announced.

It is understandable — and even positive — that we disagree about the significance of this anniversary and the meaning of our nation. But on the national level, we don’t seem to be thinking about significance or meaning.

We don’t seem to be thinking together at all. Instead, we’re engaged in an incessant and damaging fingerpointing contest. We seem to be more interested in labeling and besmirching internal others than in reflecting on and rededicating ourselves to the core principles that, however imperfectly, first brought this nation together and have, for 250 years now, made it possible for us to grow and thrive amid a host of global and domestic challenges.

We could be approaching this anniversary with a more connected, ambitious spirit. We could be using the anniversary to try to understand one another better and think together about the country we are and hope to become.

In Oregon, there are a number of organizations and people trying to do just this. My own organization, Oregon Humanities, has, for the past several months, been rolling out an initiative called Beyond 250 throughout the state.

At the core of Beyond 250 is a set of 16 conversation topics that any library, house of worship, workplace, municipal body or other group can request. We send trained facilitators to lead participatory, open-ended discussions of questions such as “Who Are ‘We the People’?”, “What Does It Mean to Be American?”, “What Does Freedom Depend On?” and “Are We Created Equal?”

Dozens of groups across the state — in Brookings, Klamath Falls, Jacksonville, Madras, Wilsonville, Beaverton, La Grande, Madras and other communities — have already participated in these Beyond 250 conversations.

Someone who recently joined a conversation in Corvallis said, “I thought we had a great conversation, and I reflected a lot on it afterward. I love how it brought a group of us together that I don’t think could have come together otherwise to discuss something as big as equality.”

A participant in Salem said, “The most meaningful part was sitting in a circle of people who are very different from me and realizing we all want the same thing: to have a livable happy world.”

In Oregon — mostly out of the spotlight — we are treating the 250th as an opportunity to connect across differences and think about the nation and the state we hope to be. But there’s so much room, so much need — and, I would argue, so much appetite — for more of this.

Oregon Humanities isn’t alone in treating this anniversary as an opportunity for reflection and conversation. Museums, libraries, city governments and other groups are presenting exhibits, concerts and even trivia nights this summer and beyond. You can find many of them at www.oregon250.org.

On the eve of this milestone 4th, I hope you’ll consider bringing Beyond 250 conversations to your community, joining conversations that are already happening, participating in Oregon Humanities’ Dear Stranger letter — exchange program or listening to Beyond 250 episodes of our podcast, “The Detour.” You can find all of these at oregonhumanities.org.

We may disagree about the significance of this anniversary and the meaning of our nation, but let’s disagree together. Let’s move our communities closer to the propositions and ideals that got our country started.