The Unfinished Revolution: Finding Common Action Through Productive Disagreement
May 7, 2025
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Brooks Memorial Library
224 Main St Brattleboro VT 05301
America 250 Town Hall Series
The America 250 Town Hall Series, a collaboration with Brooks Memorial Library and Vermont Independent Media, publisher of The Commons, is made possible, in part, through a generous grant from the Vermont Humanities Council.
As ideological silos deepen and the partisan divide in the U.S. continues to grow, many Americans—regardless of political affiliation—are feeling the impact of economic policies like DOGE cuts and tariffs. This shared reality presents an opportunity: Can we use our common concerns to bridge the toxic polarization that threatens our democracy?
Led by “Constitutional Wrangler” Meg Mott, PhD, the gathering will explore how learning to disagree well can guide us towards common action. America began with an armed revolution. According to the Declaration of Independence, if the people were not happy with their government it was their right to “alter and abolish it.” But armed rebellion is a messy path for political reform. Surely, there must be another way to change the government without taking up arms?
In 1963, John Lewis envisioned a non-violent revolution that would achieve the ends of freedom and liberty without taking up arms. In this “unfinished revolution,” current enemies are seen as future friends. Black and white, men and women, rich and poor, he argued, must learn to work together for their mutual benefit.
This Town Hall will consider the theory and practice of Lewis’s unfinished revolution. We’ll consider the philosophical principles of Gandhi’s satyagraha as well as the deep practices of non-violent direct action.. Instead of projecting our fears on each other, the practices of non-violence make it possible for people who disagree to work side by side. It will be held from 6:30 to 8:00 pm on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., Brattleboro and is free and open to everyone.
Building on its America 250 theme ‘‘Examining American Identity and Leadership in a Changing World’, the goal is to stimulate public dialogue leading up to the national 2026 semiquincentennial anniversary of the founding of the United States. The series focuses on the founding ideals in the Declaration of Independence – equality, liberty, safety, and happiness – and how those ideals can guide us in strengthening our democracy at a time when the urge to demonize our opponents is on the rise.
Professor Mott said: “At the heart of the 1776 Declaration is a bold assumption: The people have the capacity to form a government that, in the words of the Declaration, ‘seems most likely to affect [our] Safety and Happiness.’ ‘Most likely’ is an important element; Self-government is a dynamic process. We have to talk with each other as we determine how best to affect our need for safety, our desire for freedom, and our responsibility to fellow citizens.”
“Dr. Mott skillfully employs creative ways to stoke civic dialogue,” said WWAC Board Member Lissa Weinmann. “Town Halls on a variety of topics held in different venues through 2026 will help develop citizens’ capacity to suss-out solutions through robust deliberation among those with divergent points of view.”
undergraduates, Meg Mott has taken her love of argument to the general public. She attended the University of New Hampshire in the 1970s and is currently teaching at Keene State College. Meg’s award-winning series, Debating Our Rights, on the first ten amendments, brings civil discussions on contentious issues to public libraries and colleges.
Though not required, registration is greatly appreciated at
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Questions? Contact Susan Healy @ windhamworldaffairscouncil@gmail.com
