The lonely beach where the Wright Brothers from Ohio created the first airplane has been, for me, one of the chief sources of inspiration for Volume One and all of our work together so far. And having worked in politics, and seen the problems firsthand—and participated in them—I know that the mission to inspire American unity is a critical element of making our country more just and free.
Nine years ago, when I said goodbye to my grandfather for the last time in Ohio, I was working on Capitol Hill. The vision for Liberatus was already forming, and when I saw him in his final days I was embarrassed by what daily life in Congress was like.
My vision for Liberatus is not to create a personal brand. After a traumatic brain injury, I of course would like to go fast because I want quick wins, and the societal dignity that comes with them. But making our country more just and free is about going far together. Before she led free people away from the abusers who treated them like slaves, Harriet Tubman survived a brain injury too.
The participation by Liberatus stakeholders in the mission to inspire American unity over the last nine years made it possible to publish 19 writers, include 60 people in content creation, create and ship 215 copies of Volume One to people in 21 states so far, and contribute $666 in funding to three partner organizations to fuel their work to care for people who have been displaced or marginalized.
Craftsmanship in politics is about listening, asking questions and doing deeper research to search for wisdom, and it’s about creating new solutions for the next generation. We can also take David McCullough's advice to “learn to edit yourself” a step further, to its broader meaning: lead yourself.
The lonely beach where the Wright Brothers from Ohio created the first airplane has been, for me, one of the chief sources of inspiration for Volume One and all of our work together so far. And having worked in politics, and seen the problems firsthand—and participated in them—I know that the mission to inspire American unity is a critical element of making our country more just and free.
My vision for Liberatus is not to create a personal brand. After a traumatic brain injury, I of course would like to go fast because I want quick wins, and the societal dignity that comes with them. But making our country more just and free is about going far together. Before she led free people away from the abusers who treated them like slaves, Harriet Tubman survived a brain injury too.
The participation by Liberatus stakeholders in the mission to inspire American unity over the last nine years made it possible to publish 19 writers, include 60 people in content creation, create and ship 215 copies of Volume One to people in 21 states so far, and contribute $666 in funding to three partner organizations to fuel their work to care for people who have been displaced or marginalized.
Over the last nine years, more than 200 stakeholders have brought the mission to inspire American unity to life. Thank you to all of you for your shared passion! We all want leaders who make our country stronger. We want a basic sense of sanity and justice. We want quality craftsmanship, and we want to make the next generation stronger.
Part Nine: Endurance is the defining characteristic of Liberatus culture. For this journal entry in Issue 019: The Trailhead—Leadership for American Unity I want to articulate what it means to build endurance, what dysfunction looks like, and how we can create a culture of unity by moving the mission forward.
While we need leaders who embody the build endurance ethos, it’s important to note that anyone can build endurance, and in this journal entry I’ll lay out how so that we can continue creating a culture of American unity for the next generation.
Part Eight: A summary of the Liberatus plan for American unity, as articulated so far in this journal series. The actions to choose unity listed here with their corresponding sub points are actions we can all take wherever we are, in any context. When Americans choose unity, we make our country stronger—more just and more free—for our kids, grandkids, nieces, and nephews.
Liberatus offers inspiration for American unity to help you choose unity. You can read more about our plan for healing or unity in The Values of Freedom and Philosophy of Freedom in Political Engagement.
Part Seven: Ten reasons why we do the work to create a culture of American unity.
As President Kennedy said about going to the moon, we choose to create a culture of American unity through a biannaul illustrated journal not because it is easy but because it is hard. Also included on the list: If we’re going to ask our military to defend us abroad, we have to create a culture, not just a democratic structure, worth defending at home, for the US and the world.
Part Six: Here are fourteen examples of what movement from a culture of disunity to a culture of unity could look like.
For reference, here’s also a list of ten effects of a culture of disunity.
The list includes a loss of respect from other countries who should see the citizens of the United States model human freedom.
Part Five: These are the principles we hold as we move the mission to inspire American unity forward.
Mission: To create a culture of American unity for the next generation by producing content, experiences, and leaders that inspire it today. Our goal is to publish a high-quality, biannual illustrated journal and give 20% of the funds received for copies ordered on the Liberatus website to partner organizations* creating a culture of American unity across the United States.
Part Four: Remarks on unity as prepared for delivery by Marcie Lynch Assetta
Let’s all resolve to be a part of the solution moving forward, and not a part of the problem. Division is a choice. Exclusion is a choice. Inclusion is a choice and it’s my prayer that we can enter into self-reflection, become better listeners, find common ground and move forward in a positive and healthy manner for the good of all Pennsylvanians.
Part Three: If leadership for American unity is the purpose of political activity, what does it mean to win? If followers of Jesus are politically involved for the sake of unity and motivated by the call to love others as Christ loved us, how do they define winning? If we aren’t called by God to control policy—a logical impossibility—then what are we called to create once we are inclusive and grounded in wisdom, and how do we define success? Here are seven ways we can redefine winning.
Part Two: Because policy debates in the United States in the context of upholding the Constitution all seek to answer the same basic question of how to balance liberty and safety, it’s critical that we recognize that where we land on the spectrum is merely a representation of our preferences, not our principles.
Principles are universal. They exist regardless of whether we claim them as our own.
Part One: “We live in two Americas,” LeBron James said at a news conference on January 7, 2021. “And a prime example of that was yesterday.”
Reading the differing narratives about American history as told by Hillsdale College and the 1619 Project makes his point a difficult one to argue against.
And it’s those same divergent narratives to which Abraham Lincoln referred in 1864.
Political leadership is paradoxically a representation of the people and a way to reinforce certain character traits in them. While our country needs leaders who are willing to transcend partisan divides, the best way to create that future is through communities changing the narrative where they live.
The peace of Christ begins on a personal level. And so our approach to building a grassroots support network will, similarly, be on a relational level as well. Political healing is not something that needs to happen “out there.” It can only begin when we begin to drop our illusions of what we think America is or could be, and accept the call to love our neighbor as ourselves.
