FAIR News: Hope is Not Lost
Newsletter
Dear Friends of FAIR,
Recently, a friend asked me a question that I should have been able to answer without hesitation, but I couldn’t: What drives me to commit so much of my time, energy, and effort to FAIR?
It’s a reasonable question, but it’s one I’ll admit I haven’t given nearly as much thought as I should. I spend so much of my time focusing on logistics, operations, strategic planning, writing and responding to emails—and of course, fundraising to ensure all of this keeps happening. Like most people, I’m also busy juggling family commitments, being present for my partner, dealing with a teenager and aging parents, paying bills, and dealing with the nuts and bolts of life.
And in the moments between it all, I rarely stop to ask myself what drives me to do the work I do at FAIR. I’m not the only one who should be asking themselves this question.
We at FAIR know what we do. We promote a common culture based on fairness, understanding, and humanity. We defend the right of all human beings to be treated equally. We advocate for diversity without division.
But why do we do this work? I think the answer to this question matters far more than we think, because we can’t be as impactful with our work unless we know why we’re doing it. We can’t accomplish the change we want unless we understand why we want it.
I’ve given this question a great deal of thought, and I can now tell you what drives me to do the work I do at FAIR: My country is in crisis, and I will do everything in my power to save it.
When I look around America, I’m distressed by what I see:
Inflation is raging.
Housing is unaffordable.
The fentanyl crisis is destroying our younger generations.
An epidemic of homelessness has overtaken our cities.
Our schools are more focused on encouraging kids to see themselves as victims or oppressors than educating them.
Our government no longer values our privacy or our freedom of speech.
The social fabric that keeps us together is being ripped apart at the seams.
What I see fills me with such sadness, but what saddens me more is knowing that what I see isn’t just happening here; all around the world, people are losing their communities, their way of life, and the freedoms they’ve taken for granted.
I also know that this country, even though it’s in crisis and despite its many flaws, is not only worth saving—but must be saved at all costs.
The house our ancestors built wasn’t perfect; it was just an experiment. But as it progressed, something unexpected happened: an experiment that was intended to favor only wealthy white men would end up benefiting people that its founders never intended.
Our home has survived depressions, world wars, social unrest, global pandemics, and presidential impeachments. But what our home wasn’t built to withstand is unrelenting division that rots its foundation. Abraham Lincoln reminded us of our Achilles' heel on the eve of the Civil War, the moment our nation almost ended: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Now, our house is divided again. The roof is collapsing, and the walls are buckling. Worst of all, its foundation is cracking. Our home is in grave danger. But we can’t let it fall.
We must keep this house standing because America is the line in the sand, and if we don’t save it, the world becomes very dark. This experiment has only happened once in history. If it ends here, it may never happen again.
That’s where FAIR comes in.
We believe it’s not too late to save our home, to rebuild it. We also know that rebuilding our home doesn’t mean tearing it down and starting with something completely new. We can—and must—keep the foundation it was built upon. The foundation of freedom.
We in FAIR pour our time, energy and effort into this organization because it defends that foundation, the fundamental principles this nation was built upon—principles we have taken for granted for too long and that too many have forgotten. We understand how precious the American experiment is and that we have the power to save it. But we also know that we can’t save our country if it’s divided. Our mission is to bring people together, to appreciate our common interests and values, so we can save what matters most to all of us.
This is what drives me. What drives you?
Warmly,
Monica Harris, Executive Director
FAIR is proud to announce the latest addition to our advisory board, Ilana Redstone. Redstone is an Associate Professor of sociology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is also co-director of the Mill Institute at UATX. She is the creator of the “Beyond Bigots and Snowflakes” video series and the author of the Certainty Trap (coming out in summer 2024). She has a joint Ph.D. in demography and sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. You can find out more about her work at www.ilanaredstone.com. Welcome, Ilana!
Countering California’s Gender Ideology Laws
Join FAIR in Medicine Thursday, January 25th at 8pm EST for a conversation with Erin Friday, Attorney, California mother, Co-Lead of Our Duty-USA, an advocacy group raising awareness of the harms of the gender industry, and executive committee member for Protect Kids California. California plays an important role in setting legislative agendas across our country and has been at the forefront of passing legislation that places adult decisions in minor’s hands. As the Western Region Lead of Our Duty, Erin is challenging regressive policies in a progressive state. Join us to learn about Erin’s inspiring work to safeguard children in California.
Standing up for Equality in Medical Practice: Tara Gustilo Case Updates
Join FAIR Legal on Monday, January 29th at 12pm EST for this next installment of our Legal Case Updates webinar series, where we bring you updates on the legal cases that FAIR is supporting! For this upcoming webinar, we are thrilled to be joined by Dr. Tara Gustilo, who specializes in OB/GYN, and her counsel, FAIR network attorney Daniel Cragg.
FAIR in the Arts Virtual Community Meetup
Join FAIR in the Arts Wednesday, January 31st @ 5 pm PT / 8 pm ET for a virtual Community Meetup to ring in the new year! Featuring FAIR Executive Director Monica Harris and moderated by FAIR in the Arts Director Brent Morden, we will speak with Monica about her career in entertainment, how she sees the arts playing a pivotal role in FAIR's mission, and FAIR in the Arts' goals for 2024. Come to connect with like-minded artists and participate in a community discussion around the future of the arts & culture.
Dissident Dialogues
Join Dissident Dialogues (in partnership with UnHerd and sponsored by Ground News) in New York City on May 3rd & 4th! The world’s leading and most original thinkers gather for two days of debate, discussion, and disagreement. Discussions will feature FAIR advisors Michael Shellenbeger and Lee Fang, as well as Richard Dawkins, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, John McWhorter, Steven Pinker, Konstantin Kisin, Francis Foster, John Vervaeke, Thomas Chatterton Williams, Kathleen Stock, Freddie Sayers, Bridget Phetasy, Diana S. Fleischman, Africa Brooke, Alex O'Connor, and Mary Harrington!
Watch FAIR in Medicine’s most recent webinar featuring special guest moderator Leslie Elliott, with Sasha Ayad, Lisa Marchiano, and Stella O’Malley for a discussion of their new book When Kids Say They’re Trans: A Guide for Thoughtful Parents. Hear about their experiences as professionals working in the field and their specific advice for parents with gender-questioning children who do not believe that hasty medical intervention is the best path forward.
Antisemitism on Campus: Balancing Student Safety and Civil Liberties
Watch FAIR’s webinar featuring panelists Nadine Strossen, Jeffrey Lax, and Sahar Tartak. Moderated by FAIR Advisor Jonathan Kay.
FAIR News Podcast
For audio versions of our FAIR News and FAIR Weekly Roundup newsletters, subscribe and listen to FAIR News Weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or via RSS feed.
FAIR Educators Alliance & Other Networks
Connect with other pro-human educators through the FAIR Educators Alliance. We bring together educators from all levels to share experiences and work on developing resources that can support teachers, community members, and FAIR chapters.
Teachers, administrators, librarians, and educators of all kinds are welcome. For more information and to join any of these networks, please email educators@fairforall.org.
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Ms. Harris, I am a big supporter of FAIR and like what you wrote except that I was disappointed in the tired, old, baseless claim that the foundation of our nation "was intended to favor only wealthy white men". The Founders and the foundation were hardly perfect, but to think the Founders did not want the new nation to benefit their own wives and daughters, as well as free blacks and those who were not "wealthy" is anti-historical. FAIR has always stood up to such race-baiting, gender-baiting, anti-American rhetoric. I hope it plans to continue to do so.
«an experiment that was intended to favor only wealthy white men would end up benefiting people that its founders never intended.»
I would love to see a decent substantiation of the “wealthy white men” portion of this. Otherwise perhaps an apology for the misstep is probably in order.