National Week of Conversation: Bridging differences, advancing democracy

By engaging one-on-one and in small groups, we remind ourselves that the “other” is, just like us, a person with family, friends, hopes, fears, values, and worth.

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April 17-23 is National Week of Conversation in the United States – a coast-to-coast event for the vast majority of Americans who are exhausted by partisan division and political hatreds.

National Week of Conversation, founded by our friends at the Listen First Project, welcomes all Americans across our many differences into conversations to rekindle relationships and help us re-learn how to be the “we” we know we can be.

Demonizing each other based on our different beliefs is a threat to our families, communities, and country. It’s increasingly hitting close to home, causing breakdowns from the dinner table to family vacation, from the workplace to worship services. We must reverse this trend.

Experts around the globe endorse guided, face-to-face conversation across differences as one of the most powerful tools available to remove biases, stereotypes, and misperceptions before they have the opportunity to rip societies apart.

By engaging one-on-one and in small groups, we remind ourselves that the “other” is, just like us, a person with family, friends, hopes, fears, values, and worth.

Our Civic Health team sees this play out daily across the state, whether it’s at Civic Saturdays, screenings of PURPLE, or in our civic health training and workshops in towns and cities around Nebraska. Civic Nebraska is dedicated to bringing diverse views to the table to solve problems, rather than continuing the toxic cycle of political fighting. We work across political divides to shore up civil discourse in workplaces, around the dinner table, and in the public square.

Like those efforts, National Week of Conversation provides a simple, powerful, proven opportunity for Americans to gain a fresh and healing perspective, either directly or vicariously.

Find a category below that falls within your line of work or interests. Organizers have created different working groups to get you connected with a team with similar values. Learn how you can be a part of the conversation by following the links below.

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Locations

After School Programs

  • Sherman Elementary School

    5618 N 14th Ave.
    Omaha, NE 68110

  • Lewis and Clark Middle School

    6901 Burt St.
    Omaha, NE 68132

  • Lothrop Magnet Elementary

    3300 N. 22nd St.
    Omaha, NE 68110

  • Campbell Elementary School

    2200 Dodge St.
    Lincoln, NE 68521

  • Lincoln High School

    2229 J St.
    Lincoln, NE 68510

  • Lincoln Northeast High School

    2635 N. 63rd St.
    Lincoln, NE 68507