Here's a gift I want to share this Independence Day: Freedom Road.
It's an organization, website, podcast, consulting group, all led by Lisa Sharon Harper, a native of Cape May, a resident of Philadelphia, and a gifted host and storyteller.
I'm not sure why I hadn't seen info on Freedom Road before. I stumbled over it earlier this week while looking for more information about Rich Logis and his own young organization, Leaving Maga.
There are plenty of interviews with Logis available online, but the Freedom Road podcast caught my eye when I saw the episode just after it: an interview with Dr. Reverend Charles Latimore Howard, chaplain and VP of Social Equity and Community at the University of Pennsylvania and long-time family friend.
There are plenty of interviews with Logis available online, but the Freedom Road podcast caught my eye when I saw the episode just after it: an interview with Dr. Reverend Charles Latimore Howard, chaplain and VP of Social Equity and Community at the University of Pennsylvania and long-time family friend.
I've since listened to both podcasts and am struck by how much we need rich conversations and shared stories about love, compassion, community, belonging and purpose.
Finding Freedom Road was a great culmination to my month of June, and a good reminder this Fourth of July.
I spent June in lots of conversations with a wild mix of friends: a few days with friends from the first church Whitney and I joined together, then a weekend at the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Convention, with women I've known since I first got involved, back in 2013, and others I've met in the intervening years. Then a three day family gathering with four generations of Kuniholms (ages under 1 to 96), then a reunion with folks on Sandy Cove Girls' Camp staff from the 1970s.
All along the way there were questions and stories about who we were, who we are now, where we're heading, how we'll get there. I found myself so thankful for the women who showed me ways to be in the world beyond the narrow boxes my childhood churches modeled. I found myself grieving the pain of many whose stories led them down difficult paths, and celebrating their strength and resilience as they've leaned into prayer, faith, forgiveness and growth. Together we've wrestled with difficult questions, and wondered what it means to be a faithful witness, an agent of change. Through it all we've told our stories, of doubt, fear, courage, growth. We've shared what we've learned.
Through my month of reunions and conversation, I knew some voices were missing. Some because they died too soon. Some because they've turned away - in anger, or fear. Some because they never felt safe to join the circles where our conversations happened.
Harper's goal in Freedom Road is to "bridge the narrative gap," to invite stories we rarely hear about where we are and how we got here, and to imagine together how we can move closer to the Biblical vision of shalom.
Harper has done some of that work in her books, including The Very Good Gospel, Evangelical Peacemakers, Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican or Democrat, and most recently a multi-generational story of her own family: Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World - and How to Repair It All. (Find info on all here.)
I haven't had time to read them. But I did listen to the two conversations I really needed and would love to talk about with others who take the time to listen.
I spent June in lots of conversations with a wild mix of friends: a few days with friends from the first church Whitney and I joined together, then a weekend at the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Convention, with women I've known since I first got involved, back in 2013, and others I've met in the intervening years. Then a three day family gathering with four generations of Kuniholms (ages under 1 to 96), then a reunion with folks on Sandy Cove Girls' Camp staff from the 1970s.
All along the way there were questions and stories about who we were, who we are now, where we're heading, how we'll get there. I found myself so thankful for the women who showed me ways to be in the world beyond the narrow boxes my childhood churches modeled. I found myself grieving the pain of many whose stories led them down difficult paths, and celebrating their strength and resilience as they've leaned into prayer, faith, forgiveness and growth. Together we've wrestled with difficult questions, and wondered what it means to be a faithful witness, an agent of change. Through it all we've told our stories, of doubt, fear, courage, growth. We've shared what we've learned.
Through my month of reunions and conversation, I knew some voices were missing. Some because they died too soon. Some because they've turned away - in anger, or fear. Some because they never felt safe to join the circles where our conversations happened.
Harper's goal in Freedom Road is to "bridge the narrative gap," to invite stories we rarely hear about where we are and how we got here, and to imagine together how we can move closer to the Biblical vision of shalom.
Harper has done some of that work in her books, including The Very Good Gospel, Evangelical Peacemakers, Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican or Democrat, and most recently a multi-generational story of her own family: Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World - and How to Repair It All. (Find info on all here.)
I haven't had time to read them. But I did listen to the two conversations I really needed and would love to talk about with others who take the time to listen.
Logis grew up in the same part of New York State where I spent my early years, two or three decades behind me. He was nominally Catholic, reasonably well-educated, rarely interested in politics. He supported Ralph Nader in 2000, spent a few years in journalism before starting his own small hardware business, and in 2016, disillusioned with establishment presidential candidates, found himself volunteering for the Trump campaign. Soon he was a devoted MAGA activist, cutting off friends and family who didn't share his views. He started a right-wing podcast (the Rich Logis Show), wrote a book "10 Warning Signs Your Child Is Becoming a Democrat" (never published), appeared on conservative talk shows as a MAGA pundit and started a MAGA superPAC.
He describes all of that in a short ebook online, My MAGA Odyssey, and has talked about it often in talk show interviews and podcasts.
All that began to change in 2020 and 2021, and by 2022 he had launched the Leaving MAGA website, with a short letter still front and center on the website's home page.
Here's part of that letter:
I founded this organization, Leaving MAGA, because I wanted to create a safe, non-judgmental community for those who leave MAGA, as well as for those who are having doubts about, or remorse over, their devotion to Trump and MAGA.Our Leaving MAGA community will celebrate how acknowledging mistakes empowers you and America.It’s difficult for a democracy to function well when millions are estranged from those closest to them.
You do not deserve to have your anxieties about change exploited. You deserve to know the truth. And with Leaving MAGA, you don’t have to feel you would be alone if you leave the movement.Leaving MAGA is possible. Recognizing that we were wrong, and acting on that knowledge, makes us all more invested in democracy and in the continued work of perfecting our union.
As I listened to the podcast this week, I was encouraged by Harper's respectful curiosity and Logis's honest, humble answers. I was also impressed by his occasional reframing of questions, a gentle attempt to avoid building walls where bridges may someday be possible.
I found much in their discussion that might help in some of my own.
The Rev. Dr. Charles "Chas" Lattimore Howard
The conversation with Rev. Dr. Charles Lattimore Howard (generally known as "Chaz") centered on his latest book: Uncovering Your Path: Spiritual Reflections for Finding Your Purpose.
I've known Chaz for at least two decades. He's god-father to my granddaughter, close colleague of my son-in-law, and he and his wonderful wife Lia have intersected my path in multiple ways since before the two were married. He is a gentle, thoughtful listener with a deep heart for justice and younger generations.
The conversation with Rev. Dr. Charles Lattimore Howard (generally known as "Chaz") centered on his latest book: Uncovering Your Path: Spiritual Reflections for Finding Your Purpose.
I've known Chaz for at least two decades. He's god-father to my granddaughter, close colleague of my son-in-law, and he and his wonderful wife Lia have intersected my path in multiple ways since before the two were married. He is a gentle, thoughtful listener with a deep heart for justice and younger generations.
That comes through in his conversation with Lisa Sharon Harper. While Harper raises questions about specific chapters of the book, Chaz poses questions of his own as together they consider their personal histories, experience of bias, lessons learned along the way.
Sprinkled through their conversation are Harper's hearty, delightful laugh, Chaz's familiar, thoughtful "hmms", and celebrations of people who pointed a way forward.
Listening, I found myself celebrating the people in my own life who have asked me good questions, who have held the door open for me and those I love, who have helped me grow toward a larger vision of God. I found myself wondering where more conversation is needed. Where I need to listen better. Where I need to rethink my own biases, values and calling.
I confess, this morning, July 4, 2025, I'm grieving, deeply, the final vote on a bill I fear will do great harm.
I'm grieving construction of the new Alligator Alcatraz, a huge migrant detention center in the Everglades, in an area Reuters describes as "a vast subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons."
I'm grieving the official end of USAID, the thousands of lives already lost, the millions of easily preventable deaths to come.
I'm grieving the official end of USAID, the thousands of lives already lost, the millions of easily preventable deaths to come.
What is the future or our nation, the democracy heralded on that 4th of July 249 years ago?
What is my own calling in this strange, sad time?
I'm thankful for Lisa Sharon Harper, for Rich Logis, for Chaz Howard, and for all who, like them, listen well, speak with care, and walk together toward freedom and justice, not just for themselves, but for us all.
