The Deep South

...a sponsorship opportunity

The Civil Conversation Project’s stated objective is to end racism. Inherent in that statement, but left unsaid – unless you talk to me directly - is, “In my lifetime.” I’m 75.

We could have claimed as our mission to ‘move the needle’, or ‘have an impact’, or ‘bring enlightenment’, or ‘Blah blah blah’. And if we’d gone down that path we could claim success…and based on that ‘success’, pat ourselves on the back and ask for more money in order to continue with our amazing success.

But ‘moving the needle’ is not our actual goal or mission. America has struggled with our thing with race for way too long. Politicians have used White fear and resentment to gin up votes for far too long. So no, we’re not in it to ‘move the needle’. We’re in it to end America’s thing with race. 

I’m asked – challenged really – on a frequent basis. “Do you really think that you can actually end racism in your lifetime?” Prior to 2008 you’d have been hard-pressed to find a Black American who thought they’d live long enough to see a Black American become president of the United States. Then Barak Obama came along. My mom shed real tears who at around age 90 had reached one of her goals – to live long enough to see something she never actually thought she’d see - a Black American in the Oval office. Now, in 2024 America has a Black woman running for president and the only American who seems to think it’s a big deal is Donald Trump. When success finally came, it came pretty fast.

Gay Americans fought for equality, largely defined for decades by the right to marry whomever they loved. The effort sort of “officially” began at the Stonewall Inn Riots in 1969 in NYC when police raided a gay nightclub in Greenwich Village and hauled both patrons and employees off to jail. As an outsider to the effort, I’m just guessing when I speculate that liberal president Bill Clinton would have been thought of as a champion of gay rights. But it was he who signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law in 1996 – a law that made federal recognition of same-sex marriage illegal by limiting the definition of marriage to the “union of one man and one woman”, and then further allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages “granted under the laws of other states,” -  perhaps the low point in the effort for equality.

Then nine years later in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage could not be banned in the United States and that all same-sex marriages must be recognized throughout the United States. Then, in addition, in 2016, Barack Obama designated the site of the Stonewall Riots as a National Park Service National Monument. When success finally came, it came pretty fast.

So yes, I do believe that we can get this done in my lifetime. For my entire lifetime I’ve been schooled, “Well, you know Wayne…this takes time.” I agree.  But 405 years and counting? I don’t buy it and we at The Civil Conversations Project thoroughly disagree that this has to take 405 years - and counting.

Twenty months ago a Civil Conversations supporter (husband and wife team) gifted me a trip to Montgomery to experience what they had experienced months before. Primarily the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and Legacy Sites. That trip really opened my eyes to the power of standing where those who came before – and who fought and often died – to help America get over it’s thing with race.

The history in Montgomery and other iconic Deep South and southern locations such as Selma, Birmingham, and Tulsa is deep, powerful, poignant, inspirational and thought-provoking. So next month and again in March a small part of The Civil Conversations Project team is traveling to Montgomery Alabama.

Several years ago we produced a pretty badass film about Nicodemus Kansas , an interesting dab of Black history that helped explain the lack of generational wealth. It’s hard to pass anything on when racism has prevented you from having anything in the first place.

By spending time in the cradle of where so much history happened and filming that which seems relevant, interesting, and educational, The Civil Conversations Project is starting a new phase in our effort to bring America to a place where the country finally “lives up to what it wrote down” (MLK)

While in Alabama, we also are set up to have a conversation with Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and one of the stand-out leaders of the effort to get America to live up to what it wrote down.

During our spring trip into the south, we’re pursuing filming interviews with former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu whom I wrote about here because he did the work to understand race in his city,  and Lonnie Bunch, Secretary of the Smithsonian who conceived of, created, and found the funding for the Smithsonian’s Museum of African American History and Culture , (Yes, I have to look up the correct name every time!) and personal acquaintance of The Civil Conversations Project’s very own board member Bill Gwaltney who assisted Lonnie in standing up the museum.

In addition to our own travel we are hosting a key person who has been supportive of us since the very beginning to travel with us to have the opportunity to see just how important is the success of the effort she has been a part of for four years.

But we need your assistance.  I know you’ve gotten many, many political request for money every day. Me too. I’m fully aware of the value of your money. I’m aware. We’re aiming for $20,000 of sponsorships by March 1^st. If you can help, I’m grateful. If your circumstances at this time are such that all you can do is read our newsletters and be a part of this effort, I’m truly and fully grateful for that as well.

If you can help with a sponsorship, in addition to our gratitude, with your permission we will acknowledge you in our films.

There’s a ‘Donate’ button up top and I’d put one here too if I were not so technologically challenged. But here’s a link.

Cheers…and thanks,