Five on Friday: May 4
Happy Friday! MAP’s Five on Friday kicks off the weekend by sharing five things we loved this week. Join in with us by sharing five things you’re loving in the comments below!
{{№1: Inspiring}}
Earlier this week, Michigan Future Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Abdullah Hammoud helped lead a Detroit townhall with students, teachers, law enforcement, and community members about school and gun safety. After listening to students share their concerns, participants held a thoughtful, civil conversation around ways to address these tough issues. Rep. Hammoud emphasized the need to take young people’s perspectives into account when creating policies—and to empower them to use their voices to speak out. “At the end of the day, they’re the ones coming to our schools and experiencing our schools and we must do our best to take their voices into account,” says Rep. Hammoud.
This week’s townhall in Michigan follows a reverse townhall with students led by North Carolina Future Caucus Co-Chair Sen. Jay Chaudhuri. We’re encouraged by our members—and the next generation of leadership—pushing past political barriers to focus on making a real difference in government.
{{№2: Discovering}}
Did you know that 40% of Americans say the 2016 election hurt a close relationship? That’s huge insight into the polarization that stifles the dialogue needed to move our country forward.
In this Ted Talk, two friends discuss their bipartisan friendship and how to develop empathy, not hostility, towards friends and neighbors with whom you don’t see eye-to-eye. Not only is this an important reminder that there’s more that unites us than divides us, it also serves as a great refresher on the civil discourse needed to have a functioning, fully-representative democracy.
{{№3: Highlighting}}
The Lugar Center recently released their annual Bipartisan Index, which ranks members of Congress on their ability to work together. See which Congressional Future Caucus members made the top 10!
{{№4: Entertaining}}
A hilarious and entertaining interpretation of young people’s coffee addiction decoded by decade. Where do you fall in the mix?
{{№5: Reading}}
Nearly ninety years ago, Zora Neale Hurston—the novelist who’s cited as an inspiration for the work from influential women like Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and Beyonce—spent months interviewing Cudjo Lewis, the last-living slave ship survivor, in an effort to share his story. But the collection of her interviews was never published because she wanted to print the interviews in dialect, which publishers rejected. The interviews are finally being published this month, and this incredible piece from Vulture is an excerpt from her upcoming book, Barracoon!
