Leave it to Gen Z to cut to the chase. "Let's f*cking talk to each other!"
The perfect name for a campaign to get Americans, and especially our politicians, out of their silos for the greater good -- namely solving the problems that face our democracy and our very existence.
Manu Meel and his fellow Gen Z colleagues at BridgeUSA are painfully aware that they will inherit today's problems tomorrow. And they're on a mission to give themselves a fighting chance.
The first step: Change the way we engage and figure out how to f*cking talk to each other!
Forbes 30 Under 30
Meel launched the flagship Bridge chapter in 2016 while pursuing a degree in political science at UC Berkeley. He catapulted BridgeUSA into national news within 3 months.
He is now CEO of the non-profit, one of Forbes 30 Under 30 2022, and has been featured in the New York Times and Washington Post.
Manu is passionate about empowering young people to bridge divides and fight polarization.
The organization he leads aims to improve political culture on college campuses. More than 40 campuses in 19 states now have BridgeUSA chapters.
Hitting the Road
As I write this, Manu and his colleagues are hitting the road to visit many of those college campuses and kick off the Let's F*cking Talk to Each Other campaign.
Over the next three weeks they will explore why 60% of college students avoid talking about issues like politics, race, religion, sexual orientation or gender.
Step 2 is to figure out how to talk to each other.
As the BridgeUSA website states, "We can’t continue to let our differences divide us. We must learn how to communicate across our differences, and demand the same from our leaders. Let's just f*cking talk to each other!"
Amen.
www.ourvoicesmatterpodcast.com
www.lorellemedia.com
This podcast is devoted to empowering us all to better understand each other's differences...one story at a time. Emmy Award-winning journalist, Linda Lorelle, guides guests through insightful, unexpected conversations that reveal our common humanity. This show is not about politics per se; it is about finding a way to reclaim civility in the context of the contentious times in which we live, by sharing our personal and professional stories, in hopes that others might find a glimpse of themselves.