How can we make space for democracy in a deeply polarized country, as waves of authoritarianism ripple around the world?
This question drove an afternoon of dialogue and debate at the fifth-annual Elijah E. Cummings Democracy and Freedom Festival, hosted by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday afternoon.
Under the theme Making Space for Democracy, the event brought together civic leaders, Baltimore residents, students, scholars, and activists for conversations about the places in our communities that foster a sense of belonging and connection against the backdrop of a world that can feel divisive and unpredictable.
The conversations came shortly after a ribbon-cutting event in the SNF Agora Institute's new building, which is slated for its grand opening in the spring. The building also hosted its inaugural plenary, which launched the festival, with speakers and panelists addressing how to make space for dialogue and discussion in an ideologically diverse world. The underlying theme of the day's conversations, said Andreas Dracopoulos, co-president of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and co-chair of the SNF Agora board of overseers: Beneath our differences, each one of us shares something far more meaningful-our humanity. And it's up to each of us to find common ground.
Image caption: From left, Hahrie Han, Andreas Dracopoulos, and Ron Daniels
Image credit: Will Kirk / Johns Hopkins University
"The moments when initiating dialogue across difference becomes most difficult are also those in which it is most necessary for our democracy, and indeed for our own humanity," Dracopoulos said. "This year's Democracy and Freedom Festival proposes a simple way of breaking this impasse—create space for connections to form and flourish on their own—and the SNF Agora Institute will carry forward the work of helping to create these civic spaces."
Political scientist Hahrie Han, inaugural director of the SNF Agora Institute and a recent recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, spoke at both the plenary event and the Democracy and Freedom Festival. Han, who studies how and why people participate in civic and political life, shared insight from her research on the structures and tactics that encourage individuals to interact and work together for the betterment of society, despite differences.
"We don't come out of the womb with the skills needed [to cultivate] democracy," Han said during a panel discussion. "In the same way we need to go to the gym to exercise our physical bodies, we need gyms for democracy-places where we can develop the habits and skills to … engage people who are different from us, to learn habits of tolerance."
Film director Nicholas Ma, who took part in a panel discussion titled Making Space for Dialogue and Disagreement in an Ideologically Diverse World, said overcoming differences to connect with others takes time, but our society is often wired to want immediate results.
"We have this terrible illusion where there is an urgency of social justice, and there is a slow pace to social change that feels intolerable," Ma said. "That gap creates a cycle of tension," which often leads to "the least good version of ourselves." Why is that the case? In large part, he said, it's because we don't like to slow down.
Ma, who created the acclaimed documentary about Fred Rogers, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, screened his most recent film, Leap of Faith, on the eve of the festival at Baltimore's SNF Parkway Theater. To create the documentary about 12 pastors who overcame vast differences to find common ground, he spent five years talking to the faith leaders and members of their congregations and communities-and doing what he needed to do to get the story right. "I discovered over the course of 300 hours of footage that time makes the impossible possible," Ma said. "Even if your mind tells you it's impossible to give up your time and [stop and listen], it's a gift that everyone knows the value of and can feel."
Image caption: From left, John Sarbanes, Bianca Newton, Timothy Shaffer, and Hahrie Han
Image credit: Will Kirk / Johns Hopkins University
Timothy Shaffer, chair of civil discourse and director of the SNF Ithaca Initiative at the University of Delaware, added that the proliferation of mobile devices and social media means many of us spend our lives staring at screens, with little face-to-face interaction.
"Technology is pervasive in our lives, … but there's beauty in remembering how important it is to be with people," he said. "If we create spaces together and [build] relationships together," our democracy and society will likely grow stronger.
Other speakers and panelists included Christopher Celenza, dean of JHU's Kreiger School of Arts and Sciences; Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, founder, president, and CEO of Global Policy Solutions LLC, a social change strategy firm; Scott Warren, a fellow at the SNF Agora Institute; Laura Wexler, co-founder and co-producer of the Baltimore-based Stoop Storytelling Series; Isaac Saul, founder of the non-partisan news outlet Tangle; and Leah Wright Rigueur, a history professor at the SNF Agora Institute and author of the award-winning book, The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power (2014).
Many speakers referenced the namesake of the event, the late Elijah E. Cummings, who represented Maryland's 7th congressional district in the U.S. House from 1996 until his death in 2019. Former congressman John Sarbanes, a Baltimore native who served in the House for 18 years and worked closely with Cummings, said his friend and colleague knew how to connect with people on a human level.
"When Freddie Gray died and protests [erupted] across the city, Baltimore fairly quickly found its way to dialogue that was pretty special," said Sarbanes, who joined the SNF Agora Institute this past year as its first Distinguished Practitioner in Residence. "Elijah gave the eulogy at Freddie Gray's funeral, telling the crowd: 'You've all come here today to honor his passing, but did you know and see him when he was alive?' What he meant was: Did you know and see him as a human being?
"Democracy needs to be anchored in humanity," Sarbanes continued. "When you engage with someone, you need to hear them and see them."
