Groundswell’s “Coming Out Party”

On Tuesday night, hundreds of people gathered together at Groundswell’s kick-off teach-in in NYC and imagined how a movement based on compassion and community could emerge from the shadows this tenth anniversary of 9/11.

I can still feel the electricity in the room — and the excitement about what we could build. We envisioned a movement that’s not about a single issue, political party or particular tradition — but a shared moral vision of a world where each of us feels at home.

Check out video clips of social innovator and technologist Ari Wallach, social movement wave theorist Beth Zemsky, Professor Hussein Rashid, and I discussing the need and potential for a new justice movement fueled by moral calling.

We agreed that the first step toward that vision is to allow ourselves to dream again.   So we’re joining our partner at Prepare New York to build a moving public monument to religious pluralism and community right near Ground Zero for the 10th Anniversary ceremonies this 9/11.  We’re building a tapestry of ribbons of all shapes, sizes, and colors to reclaim our moral imagination.  We can help loosen the grip of fear and partisanship dividing the country with this simple symbolic act.  We’ve already collected 8,000!

Click here to send your Ribbon of Hope.

This weekend, a groundswell will rise all across America — thousands of people will attend 300 events in 90 cities in nearly every state in America in the spirit of remembrance, renewal, and religious diversity this 9/11 anniversary.  Just go to our website to attend an event, or create your own using our resources, such as my film Divided We Fall.

A special thanks to Auburn Seminary, our institutional home, and to Katharine Henderson, Auburn’s President and my friend, for hosting the event on Tuesday night and getting Groundswell out there.