Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Braver Angels Birmingham Alliance

Braver Angels is a "national movement to bridge the partisan divide." 
Per the below email, it has gotten started a Birmingham Alliance.

Email announcing formation of Braver Angels Birmingham Alliance
From: Theo Brown <tbrown@braverangels.org>
Sent: Mon, Feb 20, 2023 1:44 pm
Subject: Announcing New Braver Angels Alliance in Birmingham
Good Day to All Braver Angels Contacts in Birmingham,
We are excited to announce that some Braver Angels members in Birmingham have applied for and been accepted as a formal Alliance by the Braver Angels national leadership team. This makes us eligible to represent Braver Angels in a variety of ways and host both in person and zoom trainings and workshops. We are now making plans for our first workshop as well as other events that will give us a chance to get to know each other in a safe environment. This is a big step for Birmingham and we hope to take the opportunity to celebrate together.
For every Braver Angels Alliance there must be both a “red” and “blue” co-chair and we are appreciative of the two Braver Angels members in Birmingham who have agreed to take this responsibility:
· Steve Whitaker, Red Co-Chair--Steven Whitaker works as an enterprise architect for EBSCO information Systems and lives in Birmingham. As an Alabama native, he is lucky to have had many friends across the political spectrum, which is one of the reasons he was drawn to Braver Angels. In recent years, he has noticed that the number of topics he can safely discuss with friends has decreased and there has been a dramatic rise in emotional language and anger. He hopes to help reduce the heat in political discussions and remind everyone that they can engage in productive, principled conversations without being enemies. You can reach Steve at Swhitaker@braverangels.org
· Barbara Eiland, Blue Co-chair--Barbara is a retired grandmother of 7. She has worked as an EMT and Case Manager of Mentally Ill, Chemically Dependent and Mentally Retarded patients in various cities and also in Germany for two years. She heard about Braver Angels on CBS This Morning and was impressed by what the organization is doing to promote civility in political discussions. She is looking forward to growing the Birmingham Alliance and helping to organize lots of events. Contact her at Beiland@braverangels.org.
Now we would like to inspire you to take the next step in your Braver Angels journey. We invite you to do that in three ways:
1. If you haven’t already done so, we strongly encourage you to become a member of Braver Angels. You can join on the website (www.braverangels.org) and membership is only $1 a month (although you can donate more if you wish) and it provides access to all Braver Angels information, activities, resources and workshops.
2. We will also need volunteers to help us run events. As you can see on the website there are several volunteer roles for you to consider. We are happy to answer questions and help you find the best fit for you. We specifically need Moderators and Ambassadors to help conduct events and assist with recruitment. Please contact one of the co-chairs or let me know if you want to explore ways you can help.
3. Register for one of the online trainings, workshops or Braver Angels debates that are of interest to you. These free events are listed on the website under the Braver Angels Event Calendar. Participants in these online activities regularly report how glad they were they attended and how much they learned. Participants are often surprised by how much we all have in common and how much we share the same hopes and dreams for this country.
Please contact me and/or your co-chairs if you are interested in helping Braver Angels in any way. We are encouraged to be starting this Birmingham Alliance and will be back in touch soon about upcoming local activities. In the meantime, we hope to hear from you that you’d like to help and also let us know if you have any questions or suggestions.
All the best,
Theo Brown
Alabama Coordinator
Braver Angels
240 393-7246

Email to Alabama professors
From: Rob Shattuck <rdshatt@aol.com>
To: saa0056@auburn.edu, brunnbr@auburn.edu, all0093@auburn.edu, ney0002@auburn.edu, bcd0039@auburn.edu, fairlln@auburn.edu, fillise@auburn.edu, mnelson@ua.edu, alfranks@uab.edu, jzb0124@auburn.edu, mcarey@samford.edu, cofieldj@montevallo.edu, jtbailey@ua.edu, kbissell@ua.edu, mdbruce@ua.edu, wevans@ua.edu, djgriffin1@ua.edu, sahartley1@ua.edu, dmwaymer@ua.edu, laurie.wright@ua.edu, bsbutler@ua.edu, ajbauer2@ua.edu,
Cc: tbrown@braverangels.org <tbrown@braverangels.org>; swhitaker@braverangels.org <swhitaker@braverangels.org>; beiland@braverangels.org <beiland@braverangels.org>
Sent: Wed, Feb 22, 2023 11:59 am
Subject: Braver Angels organization and national roster of scholars
To the addressee Alabama professors:
I wish to call to the attention of appropriate academic departments and professors in Alabama the Braver Angels organization, which describes itself as a "national movement to bridge the partisan divide."
I particularly wish to call to your attention the many professors around the country who are listed on the Braver Angels Scholars Council at https://braverangels.org/scholars-council/
Further I wish to call your attention to the Braver Angels College Debates and Discourse program described at https://www.goacta.org/initiatives/college-debates/.
As I indicate in https://al6thcongdist-ihaveuntiljan13.blogspot.com/2023/02/braver-angels-birmingham-alliance.html, I think Braver Angels is only now getting active in Alabama.
If you have not been previously aware of Braver Angels, I hope you will consider whether involvement by Alabama professors and academic departments in the activities of Braver Angels will advance the educational objectives of Alabama's colleges and universities and, if so, you will take steps towards such involvement happening.
Thank you.
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