American Creed

Condoleezza Rice, David M. Kennedy and unlikely citizen-activists including baseball manager Joe Maddon, author Junot Díaz, Marine Tegan Griffith, and political organizers Joan Blades and Mark Meckler, ask “what does it mean to be American?” They strive to bring communities together across deep divides.

Entrepreneurs Leila Janah and Terrence Davenport seek to create a tech-based economy in the Arkansas Delta, which has been shedding agricultural jobs. Davenport’s grandparents were sharecroppers. Janah’s parents came to America from India “with little more than a suitcase and their dreams.” “Equal opportunity is the cornerstone of American identity,” she says, “an identity we have to fight for.”

Mark Meckler, founder of the Tea Party Patriots and Citizens for Self-Governance, believes living up to our American creed means deciding for ourselves how to live our lives, free of government intrusion. Joan Blades, founder of the progressive group MoveOn, wants to create a level playing field for everyone. What do these adversaries share in common? In a Living Room Conversation, they find out.

McCamey is from rural Montana. She wants to be a writer. Isaiah lives in inner-city Oakland. He hopes to be a mental health advocate. Annays is from an immigrant family on Chicago’s southwest side. She aims to be a civil rights lawyer. In classrooms supported by Facing History and Ourselves and the National Writing Project, they respond to American Creed and become part of our story.

After watching American Creed in his classroom, Isaiah is inspired to explore how different people can work together rather than getting in each other’s way. Isaiah and his fellow students at Arise High School in Oakland, CA are learning how to intentionally build diverse community and work together across divides, using lesson plans developed by Facing History and Ourselves.

“We’re always talking about building empathy… but it’s always easier to show than tell.” Chicago high school teacher Erin Slifka Devlin uses American Creed curriculum designed by Facing History and Ourselves to demonstrate the power of empathy and understanding different points of view.

Condoleezza Rice, David M. Kennedy and unlikely citizen-activists including baseball manager Joe Maddon, author Junot Díaz, Marine Tegan Griffith, and political organizers Joan Blades and Mark Meckler, ask “what does it mean to be American?” They strive to bring communities together across deep divides.

“Rural students often feel far away from the national conversation… and this American Creed film gives them something to join.” Montana high school teacher Casey Olsen uses National Writing Project educator resources to help his students explore what it means to be American and connect with their peers in other parts of the country.

Elementary school principal Deidre Prevett, from Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is descended from a long line of teachers. In struggling East Tulsa, OK, she’s made it her mission to help transient families of many different ethnic and national backgrounds find a pathway to real freedom. “To live up to America’s promise,” she warns, “we need to care about everyone’s children, not just our own.”

Eric Liu, a first-generation Chinese American based in Seattle, brings people together across ethnic, cultural, economic and ideological lines to foster a culture of meaningful citizenship. He believes that when you stop participating in politics, “you cede the field to the few who would like to command the field. And they usually don’t have your interests in mind.”

Baseball’s Joe Maddon founded the Hazleton Integration Project after a controversial immigration ordinance tore a chasm through the ethnic and political fault lines of his coal-producing hometown. “You want to make kids friends fast? Put them on the same team, with the same common goal, and I promise you, color of skin, language barriers, what you like to eat – that goes away just like that.”

Now that she’s back home in Wisconsin, Marine Sergeant Tegan Griffith continues her service. A leader of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, she brings fellow veterans together and forms a powerful support network. In the course of doing that work around the state, she makes an observation some may find surprising.