Presented in partnership with Oregon Humanities and community organizer Wendy Willis, this conversation

will explore what it means to “mutually pledge” ourselves to one another today. 

 

While the opening of the Declaration of Independence gets the fanfare and the fireworks—“When in the

course of human events” and all that—the closing clause contains a quiet promise: “We mutually pledge

to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” When we talk about the founding, we often

think of it as a severing from a distant power and a proclamation of individual rights. And yet, buried in that

big individualistic origin story, there is a pledge of support, solidarity, and mutual aid.

This event is free to attend; RSVP is required

 

Today, as we witness political violence, hostility, and polarization, this conversation invites us to explore

what it means for us to be bound to one another and to ask ourselves: is there any idea, any value,

any dream for the future that we care about enough to tie ourselves to one another to protect or pursue it? 

 

This event is free to attend; RSVP is required.