Dear Friend,
This has been, without a doubt, a year of upheaval for everyone. Values, health, beliefs, finances, security, freedoms … EVERYTHING we’ve known has been challenged and tested … turned on its head. Now, one imperative stands out. If we are going to survive as a Democracy, if we are going to stick together as a nation, the next few years will be the most critical ones we’ve ever faced. I’m not talking about political preferences. I’m talking about our future, the very HEART and SOUL of America … what we say we—as a ‘people’—believe.
Still…
When a deadly virus can take nearly 200,000 lives in the U.S. while some scoff at scientific data and medical advice, at the same time claiming that the government, or some crazy conspiracy, is trying to take away their ‘freedoms’ by demanding that masks be worn and social distancing be adhered to … with no thought for their fellow citizens …
When people of color, believing what AMERICA promises, hunger for the equality and justice guaranteed to them as citizens by the Constitution, are denied access to what their fellow white Americans have enjoyed for more than 250 years…
When a society, torn by systemic racism and preferential treatment, turns on those whose skin color or lack of money or status, leads to brutality delivered by the very police officers sworn to ʻserve and protect,’ and when that brutality exacerbates the violence that then gives rise to intimidation, death, and destruction, and eventually the involvement of anarchists bent on their own cause…
Well, then…
It’s time to back off, regroup, and take a good hard look at who we are as a people and as a country … both the good and the bad.
These remarkable events have given impetus to a short documentary film that follows the best and the worst of WHO we are as a people and a nation, from our inception in the early 17th century up to and including 2020 and beyond. Who are we? Who do we say we want to be? What have we become? … and, finally, what can we be again if we STICK TOGETHER?
Underpinning this message is a song I recorded forty years ago, called AMERICA, written by my friend, Jack Murphy. I loved the song, but it didn’t really fit with the selection of songs I was putting together for an album called THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE. Ironic, you might say. In any case, I put AMERICA on the shelf where it’s been sitting for the past four decades, patiently waiting for the right moment. Well, the time has come. The message of the film is urgently needed, perhaps more than ever. ‘WE THE PEOPLE,’ even as we resolved back in 1776, need to stick together to make America a better place for all.
This not-for-profit short film documentary will be available to EVERYONE for free online and on all platforms. But, at the moment, the challenge for the producers is that archival video footage, and past and present pictorial images from the various photo agencies that we need to work with to tell the story of AMERICA, are rather expensive. So, we are appealing to you to help us make this short film a reality. Will you help us, please?
I honestly don’t like asking for money, but in this case, we are in need of around $25,000 to complete the film. I do believe you will find it thought-provoking and thoroughly worthwhile. Please give what you can, and for your generous gifts, there will be gifts for you, too.
On behalf of AMERICA, I thank you in advance.
David Soul
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