Our first meeting will be held in Minneapolis on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, at 7 pm. (Sign up on the Contact list if you’re interested in coming and need the location.)

We’ll be getting organized, talking about democracy and what it means, and thinking about practical steps to re-energize our community’s democratic spirit.

There are three recommended readings for this initial meeting. None is required, but they’re all worthwhile. If you’re pressed for time, read the “Gettysburg Address” — and pay particular attention to the closing line.

Suggested reading

Susan B. Anthony, “Is it a crime for a U.S. citizen to vote?” (NOTE: The link published originally was wrong — this is the correct one!)

Susan B. Anthony was arrested in 1872, in Rochester, New York, because she had voted in local elections in defiance of a law that restricted voting to “males.” It’s longer than the other suggested readings, but it rewards the effort of a close reading.

Abraham Lincoln, “Gettysburg Address“

One of the most famous — and, at 267 words, one of the briefest — speeches in American political oratory. Lincoln gave it on November 19, 1863, at the height of the Civil War.

Pericles, “Funeral Oration“

This was a speech given by (or attributed to) Pericles near the beginning of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta (and their many allies) from 404 BC and 431 BC. It’s often considered a classic exposition of the value of democracy.