CCLers learn bridge-building skills at Braver Angels annual event
By Beth Malow, a member of the Braver Angels Leadership Team
With the election season heating up, is it possible to stay civil and work together across partisan divides? Absolutely! In late June, more than 700 delegates wearing lanyards of red (conservative), blue (liberal), and yellow (other- independent) showed how it’s done at the 2024 Braver Angels National Convention.
CCL Braver Angels Action Team members at dinner together
The event took place in Kenosha, Wisconsin on beautiful Lake Michigan. Members of CCL’s Braver Angels Action Team (BAAT) attended the convention as a “Braver Network” team, a designation for organizations who share the value of bridge building and civic renewal with Braver Angels. Delegates included myself, Bruce Morlan, and Arlene Grant of our CCL BAAT Leadership team along with Curtis Baysinger, Don Gaede, Melisse Lieb, Kathy Morlan, and Jack Ubinger from our BAAT, former Executive Director Madeleine Para, CCL board member Ross Astoria, and Jayne Mendius. Our mighty presence won us the accolade of being a Tier 4 (Founder) sponsor of the convention, and we were invited to special gatherings of the Braver Angels Leadership!
At our exhibit hall table, we asked participants to choose a token from different colors representing their political leaning and then to place their token in the “Six Americas” spectrum of climate change concern. We learned that regardless of political leaning, many non-CCL Braver Angels shared concerns about climate change and wanted to learn more about this issue… and the important work CCL is doing!
One of the areas the convention emphasized was staying civil during an election year. On the convention’s opening night, amidst stormy weather, I watched the presidential debate nestled between a blue (liberal) and two red (conservative) friends. I felt some anxiety about the state of our national politics. But in an auditorium filled with problem-solving delegates, my anxiety was tempered and transformed into a sense of collective energy with a group of like-minded people who genuinely care about our country and the direction we need to move in.
The storms gave way to sunshine on Day 2 as we got into the work of the Convention. Our collective energy found its way into “healthy conflict” in workshops, debates, and discussions on topics that have broad relevance, including for CCL — public health, economic inequality, artificial intelligence, and the role of the media in American society. To quote CCL national speaker Amanda Ripley, our contempt for others — an “us vs. them” attitude — is fueled by “conflict entrepreneurs,” whose goal is to move us into high conflict (as opposed to healthy conflict). These may include some tech giants who benefit financially from our clicks on social media, or some politicians who benefit from our votes or donations. The antidote? Listen to other Americans who disagree with us with genuine curiosity and try to understand their perspectives. This antidote is front and center to our work as CCL volunteers — whether talking to a neighbor who doesn’t sense the same urgency of climate change that we do, or legislators who prefer to see more private sector innovation and less government regulation in climate change initiatives.
The theme of the Convention was “American Hope.” Our slogans included, “If they (our leaders) can’t do it, WE can,” and, “What happens in Kenosha will not stay in Kenosha” — as we resolved to take our energy from the weekend back into our lives and our organizations.
We would love to hear from you about how the CCL Braver Angels Action Team can help you, your chapter, and your region manage “high conflict” and find inspiration, illumination, and American Hope to move forward with our climate lobbying efforts. We would also welcome your participation in our August 21 Quarterly Action Team Meeting where we will share stories of hope from CCL volunteers. Details can be found here.
You can reach CCL’s Braver Angels Action Team at braverangels @ citizensclimate.org.
