"We Are America"

It was an honor to be invited by Heather Cox Richardson to contribute a video for her incredible project “250 to 250.” My video is below, but I wanted to preface it first. It is an important thing she’s doing, because it underscores that our country is about us: those of us in the past and present, well-known and unknown, who have contributed to this wonderful on-going project that is American democracy. Her description:

“From the time of our country’s founding 250 years ago, the story of America has been one of the constant efforts of Americans—from all races, ethnicities, genders, and abilities—to make real the belief that we are all created equal and have a right to have a say in our democracy. We will be telling their stories over the next several weeks because now, as ever, “We Are America.”

In her Substack launch of the project, she wrote, “To honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we decided to launch a series of one-minute videos that highlight the people, places, and events that have helped to move us toward a more perfect Union. We designed the videos to emphasize the agency of Americans—mostly everyday Americans—to change the country. Each falls into a category that defines what it means to be an American, including community, democracy, innovation, mobility, civil rights, education, conservation, and creativity.” Contributors have included Pete Butigieg, Jamie Raskin, Gretchen Whitmer, Paul Krugman, and more. Her intro video:

I chose to speak about Barbara Shermund, The New Yorker cartoonist from the 1920’s and 30’s whose drawings were groundbreaking, and still resonate today. I have written about Shermund over the years, here is my piece from The New Yorker. Shermund is also in our documentary WOMEN LAUGHING.

Cultural change is slow. It happens because of the contributions of brave individuals who choose to go outside the box and push against traditional norms. Barbara was one such person. Her cartoon voice helped us laugh at ourselves and see the absurdness of sexism and misogyny in daily life.

Thanks for being here! Hope you all are well, having a good Thursday. Remember: we can change this, one person at a time.

You can follow the 250 project at the sites listed below, or under “videos” her YouTube page: Heather Cox Richardson. Each week she does a round-up of that week’s videos on her Substack page. Share!!