BlueHub Capital's CEO Elyse Cherry penned an op-Ed in Northeastern School of Law Magazine on BlueHub's newest nonprofit initiative--One Percent for America. Cherry writes:
"In 1983, as the NUSL student commencement speaker, I challenged my classmates to use our legal education to help create the world we want—an equitable world in which equality is a given, not a goal. Decades of struggle, notwithstanding, the goal has not changed; but the world and the strategies that lead to success have.
In my view, our democratic institutions rest on two key pillars: a broadly held belief in the legitimacy of elections, and the commitment of our armed forces to support and defend the constitution. Despite extraordinary pressure on its leadership, the military continues to uphold its oath. Legal advocates and the courts have done an excellent job rejecting unwarranted electoral challenges. But substantial and increasing numbers of Americans now question the validity of elections. The damage to “hearts and minds” is significant. Democracy is under attack.
How do we recapture those wavering hearts and minds? Surely, not by fighting with each other. When each constituent group fights for their own piece of the pie, rather than for a larger pie, we all end up with less.
In our long struggle for marriage equality for same-sex couples, LGBTQ advocacy groups first led with messaging about rights and benefits. Not until we put ourselves into the shoes of the people who were indifferent or hostile to our cause did we find a message that spoke more broadly --“love is love”. While Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate, the ADL, GLAD and similar advocacy groups have highlighted the critical issues of injustice, inequity, and intolerance, I believe we need to band together with a new unifying message for today’s challenges. I propose we “Take Back the Torch.”"