 So now it's only me between you and the drinks So it's been just a remarkable day, and it's it's time for a round of thank-yous. I Want to I wouldn't be me if I didn't have three brief points that I take away from the day and and really last year We talked about a new social contract and many of us had read and thought about that and today we talked about renewing America at a time of Pain and uncertainty and I came away with three things. I hadn't thought about and need to think more about one I Articulated but but came through so powerfully in many of the presentations today Which was that what I said to Tim a Monday this idea that you have to hear people Before you can address them and we heard it. We heard it with respect to many different groups I don't remember Lydia's last name Works on faith in Texas, but this sense of you know, you don't have to to think that White working class voters need more sympathy than other voters She made that very clear But she also said and it's exactly what early Hawks child rights and strangers in their own land you must Try to hear and feel the sense of loss of anxiety of Disruption in the same way that we would expect them and all of us to feel the pain of many other groups So this emotion reason connection and you heard Jose Vargas say it as well Another point was that economic pain Brings isolation shame and political powerlessness the point about payday lending that you feel that you Can't support your family or you Mismanaged your budget or you don't have enough money and that you're alone in that and you're angry because it's not what you Expected and you feel totally powerless Which is certainly an experience that many many different groups of Americans are familiar with particularly Americans of color, but I thought that the idea that it creates isolation and that part of what we need to do is then connect Was something I had not thought about and it also connected to what Derek Hamilton said about defining GDP or wealth or what we seek in a nation in terms of increasing human agency and the ability to self-define and achieve Your potential that in as opposed to sort of if he was quoting a march of sin But this this notion that I think is also implicit in our education program that what education about is enhancing agency It's enhancing that that sense of control over your destiny and then finally That last panel you know how to have a conversation and in some ways, that's what all of today has been about We've had great conversations, but a Cecilia asked Jose and said how do you have a conversation and he said you start By questioning yourself and getting your interlocutor also to question themselves So his point when he is of he of multiple identities is talking to a white person and he says where are you from and I was amused I Just I've talked to Indian Americans who say the question is always where is your home place like really trying to get back to a particular way of being from but the idea of question of really getting everyone to question themselves as a way then of trying to Put things into question that can then create bridges as opposed to speaking from certainty and expecting others Then that to persuade them with the the certainty of your own facts So those are three of the things I took away. I started today by by talking about Values and a common foundation of values and a frame of the Constitution The things I think that bind us that I took away again from today more Maybe things that we don't always think about food Love the idea that we can all love mashed potatoes and frankly Filipino and any other kinds of food that have dramatically improved the American Native the American diet in my view, but faith. I was very struck by the talk of Interfaith multi-faith Movements as a way of reaching people. I am in my view It is part of the American creed to believe in faith not any particular faith And it doesn't mean everyone believes in a God but it does this notion of Believing in something larger than you are as being a bridge to others family and then finally Cecilia put this beautifully when she talked about Claiming your place or your rights under the American creed is an act of patriotism It's an act of love of country. It's an act of saying those values that Americans America's founding documents proclaim we we believe that and we want To be recognized as part of that country and that that to me is extremely important because we are so busy Looking at the hate and the division that I think we often lose sight of our shared love of country So I'm gonna leave you with that I want to thank many people. Please hold your applause until I get to a couple people right at the end So you can see what what an extraordinary day from the what I forget who defined it as a farmer's market Farmers market chic, but you know every every Every detail right from when you walk in and you saw a place to sit and be comfortable and have Conversation all those details take so much work and these are the people who brought it to us Amanda Kuhl's Clara Allen Tyler bug Ayanna Hunter Margaret Streeter Laura Pratt Maria Elkin Joanne Zala Taurus buzz Hogan Simone McPhail Morgan Alamo Alex Norback ish Sabia Sabia Prescott and Keeba Nova Martinez Hanna Passon a wista you How Albert Ford Jessica Geilie Joe Johnson you're gonna wonder is there anybody in New America who is not part of this? Lauren McCarthy Meredith Hanley Dana Jew Mariachi Santiago Adriana Ramirez Andrew Lomax is about Bonnieman Brandon Tensley Kirsten Berg Kathy Brian Ross Vanderland give all of them a round of applause And I've left two people out you will notice I Left out our spectacular MC and Producer of all of this Veronica Mooney, you know I watch her with amazement. I wish I could have imported her to my family I I look She does it with grace and ease and substance and attention to detail and really Without her we simply wouldn't have had this day so a special round for Veronica and Finally, and I think I'm gonna choke up, but This is I am gonna choke up John. This is John Williams Swan song with New America. This is he's our director of production. He's run production for five conferences He's been so much more than that he is He's always there. He He offers us everything from great sound to a spectacular drink But also just a generosity of spirit and a warmth That makes you happy to come to work and see him and he is leaving us because he's pursuing a dream of Going off the grid and and living raising bees and other things and I think many of us are a little jealous, but You know John really exemplifies in many ways what is best about New America and about being a Community and a family and we are gonna miss him. He's still part of us, but thank you John and In John's in John's honor, let's have a drink. Thank you