Friday, February 06, 2009

Be a 'born-again American' and help our nation

Has the condition of our nation got you down? Feel like doing something about it? Maybe the Born Again American movement is for you.

Born Again American, according to its Web site, "is committed to the rebirth and re-expression of citizenship through informed and thoughtful activism."

BAA is an initiative of Declare Yourself, a national non-partisan, non-profit organization founded by legendary television producer and philanthropist Norman Lear. It is dedicated to increasing young voter participation and civic involvement. Its online voter registration tool has been used by almost four million people since 2004.

Photo: Courtesy of Brent Miller

Brent Miller, shown here with his mother, Diana, a retired Local 12 member, produced the music video for the Born Again American Web site.

A music video on the BAA Web site is produced by Brent Miller, the son of Diana Miller, a UAW Local 12 member who retired to California after working for 35 years at Jeep in Toledo, Ohio. It's a moving piece, shot in different locales around the nation. The intent, says Brent, is to help Americans get past partisan politics and into helping our new president help the nation, and by extension, each other.

"It's now time to join together and help him," he said. "This country is in a mess."

The message seems to resonate: Miller said the BAA Web site is getting "tons of hits" -- 2.2 million unique users in its first 16 days and more than 75,000 people have signed the BAA pledge, which states:

"I am a Born Again American. I am my country's keeper. My President and My Congress report to me. And so ---

I will stay informed and involved.

I will make my voice heard and not just at election time.

I can make a difference.

I matter.

I am an American, Born Again.

Once you sign the pledge, your John Hancock is added at the bottom of a copy of the Declaration of Independence, beneath the original John Hancock. You can print it out, and also re-mix your own music video and write new lyrics. The original lyrics were written by Academy Award-winning songwriter Keith Carradine. It was directed by Mark Johnson of Playing for Change.

Declare Yourself grew out of the Declaration of Independence Road Trip in 2003 that toured an original 1776 copy of the document to schools, town halls, and other locations all over the country. Lear, famous for the television shows "All in the Family," "The Jeffersons," "Good Times," among many others, bought an original copy of the Declaration that was discovered inside a $4 painting. He decided to take the "people's document" on the road to show to as many Americans as possible.

Since the Declaration is this nation's original birth certificate, says Brent Miller, the pledge reminds all Americans of their "sacred honor" to uphold the ideals the Founding Fathers wanted for this country, regardless of the divisions among us.

"It doesn't matter if you are a Republican or a Democrat," he added. "It's about joining together."

Miller said he learned the value of joining together for a common purpose at his mother's knee, as she earned good wages due to having a union contract at Jeep. He learned that his mother relied on her union brothers and sisters and often talked about its value at home when problems arose in the plant.

He also recalls a teachers" strike when he was growing up and his mother telling him why his family supported his teachers as they picketed outside his school.

"We don't cross picket lines," he recalled her saying. "We support that."