In today’s special edition of our interview series The Exchange, we’re spotlighting voices from America 251 & Beyond, our recent event at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York City. We brought together leaders, organizers, creators, and journalists to explore what kind of country we want to build over the next 250 years through a series of lightning talks, grounded in Murmuration’s research.
Over the past seven weeks, our State of Us America 251 data series explored how Americans experience belonging, connection, joy and meaning, identity, change, nation, and hope–and our interactive report features even more data insights and offers a deeper look at how these themes shape our everyday lives.
Thank you to Murmuration’s Chief Research Officer, Sarah Stamper, Alex Johnston, Amanda Litman, Cord Jefferson, Astead Herndon, Daria Dawson, Murad Awawdeh, and Jason Green for sharing their ideas, experiences, and stories that made clear that the future of American civic life will be shaped not by any one institution or individual, but by the countless ways people choose to participate in, care for, and invest in their communities.
251 & Beyond Research Overview
Sarah Stamper | Chief Research Officer, Murmuration
“If you want to understand where America is going next, you should not start in Washington. You should start with the questions people are asking around their kitchen tables every night.”
Read the full transcript of Sarah Stamper’s lightning talk on what listening to 35,000 people revealed about building the next chapter of our country’s future.
Place & Belonging
Alex Johnston | Founder and CEO, Cities Reimagined
“Dignified interactions don’t just build trust in our institutions. They determine what kind of citizens people show up as….It decides whether somebody may look out for their neighbor because they care about what’s going on.”
Read the full transcript of Alex Johnston’s lightning talk on how the relationship between dignity, trust, and service delivery shapes our democracy.
Connection & Community
Amanda Litman | Co-Founder and President, Run for Something
“As I look to what we need to build to get out of this era that we are in, it’s strong ties between neighbors. It’s people feeling like they can have their friends, their colleagues, their acquaintances over for dinner without feeling like it needs to look good for Instagram, without feeling like their kitchens need to be immaculate, their meals need to be perfect, that everything needs to go exactly right.”
Read the full transcript of Amanda Litman’s lightning talk on what she’s learned about building community from hosting a year of dinners in her living room.
Joy & Meaning
Cord Jefferson | Writer and Filmmaker
“We need to fight like hell to make sure that we remain connected to one another in a world increasingly designed to limit our reliance on and interactions with one another.”
Read the full transcript of Cord Jefferson’s lightning talk on how choosing connection over convenience can lead to a more meaningful life.
Identity
Astead Herndon | America, Actually Host & Editorial Director
“I never set out to be objective because I was more focused on being fair, being transparent, and being accurate...I never pretended that my lens as a reporter was not informed by my identity as a Black person, as a young person, or even more privileged identities like being male or able-bodied or straight.”
Read the full transcript of Astead Herndon’s lightning talk on being informed by identity, but guided by curiosity.
Change & Agency
Daria Dawson | Executive Director, America Votes
“Agency has always required us to move before we know what the outcome is. Sometimes we like to confuse confidence with agency. Confidence says, I know this will work. Agency says, I don’t know how this is going to end, but I’m going to do it anyway.”
Read the full transcript of Daria Dawson’s lightning talk on why cultivating agency depends on helping people see that their actions matter.
Nation
Murad Awawdeh | President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition
“The promise of this country isn’t dead. It’s under construction. And it always has been. We keep asking the wrong questions of who belongs in America…We act as if there aren’t enough seats at the table in this country when there’s more than enough seats. But a nation isn’t a table. It’s a barn, and we’re barn raising. It’s getting bigger every time someone new picks up a hammer.”
Read the full transcript of Murad Awawdeh’s lightning talk on why building a stronger America starts with expanding who gets to belong.
Hope
Jason Green | Community Builder and Author
“Hope is not optimism. Optimism is the blind belief that things will get better. Hope requires action. Hope is a belief that our actions still matter.”
Read the full transcript of Jason Green’s lightning talk on keeping hope alive in an unfinished America.
While our America 251 & Beyond event may be over, the research that inspired these lightning talks lives on. Check out Murmuration’s interactive research report to explore the data that shaped the event.
Murmuration is a nonprofit working to transform America into a nation where everyone can thrive. We organize a network of community-focused partners and equip them with the insights, tools, and services they need to help communities build and activate power more effectively. murmuration.org