Sunday Platform – Renaldo Pearson: “The Rise and Fall of American Democracy: A 2020 Election Postmortem” (Online)

In February 2018, Renaldo Pearson gave a speech at the inaugural Unrig the System Summit in New Orleans, where he outlined a new framework for the democracy movement that he calls “The 7 Deadly Sins of American Democracy.” His speech anchored the first day of the largest annual cross-partisan gathering of democracy reformers in the country. Global think tank and government corruption watchdog Transparency International has since credited his new framework for becoming “a touchstone for thousands of anti-corruption and pro-democracy activists around the country.” In his January 2021 NYSEC talk, he will present this framework in the context of an anti-democracy decade that started with the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United and 2013 Shelby decisions — making his generation the first to witness America become less democratic — and culminated with the historic 2020 election, as he invites the audience to explore whether we should now be conducting a postmortem for American democracy itself.

Renaldo Pearson serves as Chief Diversity Officer & Director of External Affairs for RepresentUs, the country’s largest grassroots anti-corruption campaign that builds cross-partisan coalitions to advance electoral reforms state-by-state to unrig the system. In 2018, the movement celebrated more pro-democracy and anti-corruption wins at the local and state level than at any point in U.S. history. In 2019, Pearson received a National Citizen Leadership Award, following a 700-mile #Democracy911 walk that declared a state of emergency on corruption and the state of democracy in America and helped to secure the pledges of a record 17 presidential candidates to #FixDemocracyFirst if elected in 2020.

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Presider: Sarah Sprott

Shared Charity: Goddard Riverside

Sunday Platform is our most important and long-standing community event. These gatherings educate, stimulate personal growth, inspire reflection and action, and strengthen our community. Sunday meetings usually begin with music, followed by greetings and a talk given by a Society Leader, member, or guest.  Platforms cover a variety of topics that reflect current events, pressing social issues, and Ethical Culture philosophy. A collection basket is passed and money is shared between the Society and a charity selected for that day.  While contributions are always appreciated, Sunday meetings are free and open to the public.  Each Sunday meeting is followed by a luncheon and social hour.

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