A plea to the president: Listen to citizens

The “TN11” make the case for listening to everyday Americans

11 strangers in Tennessee came together as part of our first Solution Session to have brave conversations on the topic of gun rights and safety. They learned “there is less of a spectrum from red to blue and conservative to liberal; it’s more of a circle, with overlapping goals and ideas.” They called themselves the Tennessee 11. Reaching common ground taught them a lot — about each other and about the power of citizens to tackle tough challenges. Now, as the Biden administration launches the first Office of Gun Violence Prevention, the TN11 share lessons on what’s required to create solutions that have broad appeal.?

Read the letter.

Movement updates:

• Who will hold America together? Eboo Patel is the founder & president of Interfaith America, an organization aimed at embracing religious diversity; he’s also a Starts With Us Movement Partner. His piece in USA Today, written after the murder of a young boy in Chicago in an apparent hate crime, makes the case that we all must play a role in reducing toxic animosity in America — and what the stakes are if we don’t. Read Eboo’s piece…

• Please vote for us! We know you support this movement: Would you be willing to vote for us? Our videos are up for Shorty Awards. Winning means more people learn about our work, and that’s the goal, right? To watch the videos and vote, use the links below (you’ll be asked to create an account). You can vote once per day, and we encourage multiple votes! Radical Heroes — our entire video series is up for an award UN/DIVIDED: Pati and Maurice — nominated in the Storytelling categoryRadical Heroes: Alice Marie Johnson — nominated in the Social Justice category

Join the conversation:

Starts With Us pin spotted on Shark Tank

Founding Partner Daniel Lubetzky wore his Starts With Us pin on Shark Tank, and now people are asking how they can get a pin of their own. It makes a great conversation starter (especially if you’re on TV!).

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“Gun violence is like a yarn ball…”

?“…and not the kind that comes all rolled up and pretty, but the kind that is just everywhere. It’s so complex, and it gets heavy.” Read more…

Make It A Habit:

Try to see your biases more clearly

When big news happens and our emotions are triggered, we’re more at the mercy of our biases than ever. And we all have biases — being human means being biased. If we’re not careful, though, our biases can amplify our divides by making us filter events and behaviors through an us vs. them lens. Our biased views can lead us to have excessive contempt and disdain for people on the “other side.” And this can cause them to do the same to us.

Read more.