Last week in a forum at the Newseum in Washington D.C., sponsored by Characters Unite, a project of USA Networks to promote an appreciation of diversity, syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker didn’t just mention us, she kind of called us heroes. You may watch it online HERE (this clip starts at 1:11:00):

TOM BROKAW:
Kathleen, is there somebody outside the political arena who the country turns to? Is there a modern John Wayne if you will. There was time when Colin Powell filled that role for a lot of people before he went into the administration. Oprah in her own way fills that role for a lot of people. Are there others out there that you know about or that we should be paying attention to that are not getting enough attention?

KATHLEEN PARKER:
I would say this: The people out there who are doing important work are not known to us because they’re not celebrities and they’re not famous and they are doing very important work in their communities. And I’ll throw out just one name: A lawyer in Tallahassee Florida named Allan Katz has done something that I think is aimed at what we’re trying to accomplish here. He and another person formed this group called “To The Village Square” and they put together a board of half Republicans and half Democrats and they get together and have civil discourse about issues of importance. They have meetings, they have dinners, the public is invited and they’re actually moving forward with actually doing substantive things in their communities. But American character is a grassroots operation. It starts there. To sign a pledge is great, but to make anything happen you have to do something and that’s what they’ve done and it’s a wonderful prototype for what we’re trying to do.

Just another reason why you should help us raise our community match for our project We the People (donate HERE).