Greetings Building Bridges Group Participants!
This website will be your “go to” site for all content shared during our current Building Bridges group meetings. Additionally, we will supplement our session materials with curated content from complimentary sources for your optional reading, viewing and review.
Thank You!
Arlene Samuel and Rick Frazier
For information, questions, or comments – please email BuildingBridgesPH@gmail.com
The Next Session Starts Monday March 6
Prior Sessions Content from Cohorts 1, 2, and 3
Jump to Sections (Table of Contents)
Preparing for TONIGHT’S Session on NOVEMBER 21, 2022 – The Final Small Group Discussions (on-line version of the email)
Greetings All!
Building Bridges Session 6 is MONDAY, November 21, 6:30 – 8:30 pm in the Stonebridge RECREATION Room (Bring your Keycard).
At Session 4, Caucus teams of like-minded participants combined thoughts and information on Immigration Policy and Law.
At Session 5 (Fishbowls), each of the three Caucuses (Liberals, Moderates, Conservatives) discussed and shared their major Values, Vision, and Action Paths with the other two teams, who were in a “listen only” mode. The listening teams then asked questions to “expand their understanding” using all of our principles and tools. Participants acknowledged that they left with a deeper and wider understanding of the Values, Visions and Action Paths for Immigration across the views of all three Caucuses. We are providing a video replay of this session for Building Bridges registrants only.
At Monday’s Session 6, we will integrate all of our Session 1 through 5 learnings – both Immigration knowledge and our principles and tools – and conduct final immigration dialog in small 3-4 person balanced groups. Each group will prepare a response, similar to the Caucus, but highlight common ground, and identify and describe conflict points. Each team will share their results at our final session on 12/5.
Please join, even if you missed previous sessions, as it is a good opportunity to catch-up on the discussions.
As shared at the end of Session 5, here is the suggested preparation for Mondays Session 6 session:
First, for those who missed Session 5 or want to review, please view the following replay video of the Session 5 Fishbowls. See 11/18/2022 email for view link to the Session 5 Replay and slides from the session.
Second, reflect on Sessions 3, 4, and 5 and freshen up your personal version of:
- Your top underlying Values and Beliefs that inform your thinking on Immigration (VALUES)
- Your summary statement of desired Outcomes for Immigration (VISION)
- Your preferred paths to attain these outcomes (ACTION PATHS)
- Document these items using the following worksheet to help you share crisply
Third, review the principles and tools learned in sessions 1 and 2, to apply and use during the small group discussions.
Lastly, review the principles and tools and additional content on Immigration Policy and Law on this website.
Future Sessions
At our final content session on 12/5, we will conduct small group report outs (from Session 6) and wrap-up/summarize learnings on both the Building Bridges principles and methods and the Immigration issue topic.
See you Monday 11/21 in the Stonebridge RECREATION room!
Arlene and Rick
The Building Bridges Group at the Pinehills
Immigration Policy and Law – Links, Articles, Research, and Videos
Please send your articles, video links, book titles, and more to BuildingBridgesPH@gmail.com.
Will post received articles with proper digital rights within 2 days.
Links, Articles, and Research:
| Description | URL or File |
| Top Backgrounder from Council on Foreign Relations (cfr) The US Immigration Debate | Article |
| Top Backgrounder from Pew Research Republicans and Democrats have different top priorities for U.S. immigration policy | Article |
| Top Backgrounder from American Immigration Council FACT SHEET – The “Migrant Protection Protocols” | Article |
| Pew Research – Immigration Attitudes Multiple Articles on Immigration Attitudes | Articles |
| Pew Research – Legal Immigration example – Legal immigration to the U.S. partially rebounds as national and global borders reopen | Articles |
| Pew Research – Unauthorized Immigration example – Key facts about Title 42, the pandemic policy that has reshaped immigration enforcement at U.S.-Mexico border | Articles |
| Pew Research – Refugees & Asylum Seekers example – Most Americans express support for taking in refugees, but opinions vary by party and other factors | Articles |
| Pew Research – Full Immigration & Migration Site | Articles |
| Washington Post Opinion: Italy and Sweden show why Biden must fix the immigration system | Article |
| New York Times: Arrests at Southwestern Border Exceed 2 Million in a Year for the First Time | Article |
Videos and Books
| Description | URL or File |
| TED Talks on Immigration – Many | Videos |
Prior Sessions Content and Commentary (sessions 1, 2, and 3)
At our first session on September 19, we
- introduced and shared background information on the group
- provided an overview of the divide problem
- explored approaches to conflict and introduced the foundational principles for our civil discourse
- conducted small group discussion breakouts on the principles
- shared the breakout experiences in the full group
- introduced the agenda for Session 2, scheduled for October 3
- highlighted suggested preparation for session 2
We used rank choice voting to select our divisive issue for engagement during our remaining sessions:
Immigration Policy and Law
Thanks to everyone who participated!
If you missed session 1, you are welcome to join with session 2, but please review the attached notes and video replay below.
Cohort 3 Session 1 on September 19, 2022 Content
Handout and Crib-sheet:
Edited Replay Video from the Session
Information about The Building Bridges Group at the Pinehills
Cohort 4 Begins February 2023 (Tentative meeting dates are the 1st and 3rd Mondays, February through May, topic to be determined by participant vote)
Flyer for Cohort 3 – Chosen Topic was Immigration Policy and Law (September – December 2022)
The Primary Goals of this Group include:
• Enrich both the depth and breadth of understanding of major divisive issues
• Identify and build common ground
• Learn ways to disagree without being disagreeable
• Develop skills to become a uniting and depolarizing presence in your daily life
When will we meet:
The Group will meet in-person on the first, third, and fifth Mondays of each month (9/19 R, 10/3 C, 10/17 R, 10/31 C, 11/7 C, 11/21 R, 12/5 C) from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Stonebridge Club (R=Rec Room, C=Cabana). Because each session builds upon previous sessions, participation continuity is important. As such, zoom participation is provided for convenience, but not preferred. Shared content and select replays will also be posted on the website for those who miss a session. (www.BuildingBridgesPH.com)
Bridging the Partisan Divide Links, Books, Articles, and Videos
Articles
| Description | Download Link |
| Pew Research Typology Report | Report |
| Jonathon Haidt May 2022 The Atlantic | Atlantic Article |
Partisan Divide Websites
| Description | URL |
| Braver Angels | www.braverangels.org video |
| Better Arguments | www.betterarguments.org video |
| Organizations Bridging Divides | Organization Index ICCTR |
Videos
| Description | URL |
| TED Talk by Monica Guzman How Curiosity Will Save Us | Video |
| Yang and Guzman How to Build Bridges in Divided Times | Video |