THE LISTENING PROJECT THE LISTENING CENTER
URBAN CONFESSIONAL
BE A LISTENING PRESENCE AT THE REPUBLICAN AND/OR DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
Are you listening? Is anybody listening? From the tone of discourse in America today it seems like there’s a lot of talking and no listening. We are here to do something about it and we invite you to join with us.
Listen First Project, Urban Confessional: A Free Listening Project, and The Listening Center are combining forces to promote listening around the Republican and Democratic national conventions. Our civil activism on the streets outside the convention walls will be a breath of fresh air, a compelling statement standing in stark contrast to the tenor of the national political debate.
We’re seeking volunteers to join us in Cleveland (July 18-21) or Philadelphia ( July 25-28) to encourage greater understanding, respect and cooperation through listening. To stand ready to model listening on the spot as we hold signs saying “Free Listening” or “Listen First, Vote Second.”
The rancorous polarization gripping American culture in this election year seems to have made listening an endangered practice. Yet listening is the only thing that can bridge our divides and draw us back into civil dialogue with one another.
We can move beyond the slander and seek common ground, with new respect and appreciation for contrasting ideas. We can listen to and consider another person’s perspective before sharing our own. We can stand ready to listen without expecting anything in return, simply because people need to be seen, heard and understood. We can learn and grow by engaging in dynamic conversations with strangers on the street. We can model the way forward for a culture that’s forgotten how to listen.
Many people across the country are deeply troubled by the spectacle of demagoguery – even violence – that has come to define our national discourse. According to CNN, 78% of voters say that America is more deeply divided on major issues facing the country than it has been in the past. A Listen First Project poll found that 57 percent of voters believe that if people with different viewpoints listened to and considered the other side first it would make a major or even huge impact on our politics and society. Failure to listen is harming our relationships and productivity at every level, from park benches to presidential elections. If we hope for a healthy, prosperous nation, we cannot continue to demagogue our neighbors because they see the world differently.
Help us demonstrate civility where it seems hardest to find. Help us recover the lost art of listening.
Please join us at the presidential conventions this summer! Sign up now at ListenFirst2016.com!
Sincerely,
Pearce Godwin, Listen First Project, Pearce@ListenFirstProject.org
Kay Lindahl, The Listening Center, TheListeningCenter@yahoo.com
Benjamin Mathes, Urban Confessional, Benjamin@UrbanConfessional.org
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