The Future of The Opportunity Agenda
by Alan Jenkins, The Opportunity Agenda
Our 10th Anniversary year was going really great, until about November, when, you may remember, things started to get a little funky.
But that is also when the true importance of our work became most clear.
We didn’t know it at the time, but this is the moment for which we created The Opportunity Agenda.
A moment at which the very future of opportunity and social justice in America are at risk.
When our shared values and basic rights are being challenged literally every day. Afraid to listen to the news?
In 2006, we did not predict that Donald Trump would be president—because, seriously?—but we knew that there would always be powerful people who attack the most vulnerable.
Who stoke Americans’ worst fears and prejudices.
And we knew we would need a shared voice to lift up our highest values and aspirations.
We did not know that there would be an epidemic of fake news and alternative facts, but we knew that truth and justice would always need a champion.
And we did not know how hard it would get to reach everyday Americans through traditional media, but we knew that art, and entertainment, and popular culture would be crucial to engaging them.
A decade later, if we didn’t have an Opportunity Agenda, we’d need to create an Opportunity Agenda.
So the good news is, we’re already here! And, with your support, we are going to make the coming years the point at which our country turned back toward justice and opportunity for all.
