David Byrne has always gone beyond just music to get his ideas across, and his next endeavor continues on that thread. Today, Reasons To Be Cheerful, his online magazine, is launching We Are Not Divided, a “multimedia editorial project.”
Today we’re launching We Are Not Divided, a six-week collaborative project exploring the human capacity to overcome division. https://t.co/qAAvqVrjFW #WeAreNotDivided pic.twitter.com/5VObpRKXOm
— Reasons to be Cheerful (@RTB_Cheerful) September 17, 2020
Press materials describe the endeavor as “a six-week collaborative journalistic exploration of our capacity to overcome division,” adding, “We Are Not Divided tells the stories of places and institutions that are succeeding in overcoming division. The multimedia series brings together dozens of written features, infographics, video content and other powerful interactive storytelling to infuse the public dialogue with a perspective that highlights the human capacity for finding ways to move toward each other.”
The project, which launches today and will run until November 2, will feature original hand-drawn illustrations by Byrne. He says of the project:
“This series is hopeful at a time when that is in short supply. I realize the title might come as a shock. Not divided? Are you kidding me? What world are you living in? I am more than a little aware of what’s happening, but the truth is there is evidence that we can find ways to come together — I have to believe that or I would sink into despair. Luckily, there are people and initiatives out there that we can look to for inspiration, and boy do we need it.”
Press materials further lay out what We Are Not Divided will entail: “Topics will include a British Columbian city that toppled a statue in a way that led to reconciliation rather than acrimony; a community of Congolese refugees in New York who used theater to end the tribal strife that had followed them to their new home; how Ireland’s unusual model of having citizens advise the government led to a lasting friendship between a conservative postal worker and a gay IT manager who helped change the fate of Ireland’s gay marriage law; a ‘pro-voice’ non-profit offering non-partisan abortion services to everyone from California feminists to Bible Belt churchgoers; and many more.”
Find We Are Not Divided here.
