Carl Pope at Brave New Films

Carl Pope on Pickens' Plan and the Progressive Response

2008-10-12T10:20:52Z

OurFuture.org asked the Sierra Club's executive director, Carl Pope, about how progressives should respond to Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens' plan for energy independence and political obstruction on energy issues in Washington. Pope also explains harmful natural gas policies that need to be corrected by the next administration. Pope was interviewed after a forum at The Big Tent in Denver during the Democratic National Convention Agust 27, 2008.

(Flip Video courtesy of the Voter Genome Project.)

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This Brave Nation Premieres to Overwhelming Response

2008-07-21T15:30:20Z

This Brave Nation premiered last Thursday here in Los Angeles as part of a Young Progressive Majority event. The response was beyond my wildest dreams. And then just three days later, the first episode of the series starring Van Jones and Carl Pope was given life and set free upon the world.

I get an email every time someone donates to This Brave Nation in order to receive a DVD copy of the series. My Blackberry has been vibrating steadily ever since, to the tune of well over 1000 DVDs already!

I first came up with the idea for This Brave Nation just over a year ago while carpooling to work with the Vice President of Production, Leda Maliga. The idea sprang from a desire not just to spread information — which, as a documentary producer is exactly what I do for a living — but to spread positive and inspiring information. And not only to those of us who already go to sites like bravenewfilms.org. I felt it very important to get the information, the positive information, into the hands of the next generation of activists and progressives.

I specifically remember the moment I chose the green pill over the red pill (to use a Matrix metaphor) and I made it a point to ask the remarkable collection of people who star in This Brave Nation what was their moment.

We all start out young, baby-faced, fresh. We absorb this culture around us and it shapes us and forms us. Most people actually become part of the culture that modeled them. But a few of us, deep down, have something inside that makes us care a bit more, or to use Van Jones's words, "It didn't affect every one, but I guess it affected me."

And my goal all along was to reach those of us who share that quality because I know had I been reached while still in high school, or when I first went to college, I would have found a group of people with whom I could have identified and worked to create change. Instead, I got here on my own.

But my dream is that This Brave Nation will help others get here to join me. It's really beautiful here. There might be some work needing to get done to make it even better, but we are not afraid of getting our hands dirty. The future is what we make it.

Don't forget to go to bravenation.com and nominate one of the young activists who is already making the future a better place.

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This Brave Nation online premiere!

2008-06-02T02:36:01Z

"Just take what you love doing, and do it with enough other people to make it the future."

Those are the inspired words of the Sierra Club's Executive Director Carl Pope. And it's just a snippet of his fascinating conversation with Van Jones of The Ella Baker Center and Green for All, in tonight's thrilling premiere of This Brave Nation!

Watch the full episode here.

This Brave Nation reflects months of collaborating with our partners at The Nation to bring you a 6-part dynamic dialogue among progressive activists. Each Sunday for the next five weeks, you'll see Carl Pope and Van Jones, Bonnie Raitt and Dolores Huerta, Pete Seeger and Majora Carter, Anthony Romero and Ava Lowery, and Tom Hayden and Naomi Klein. These are some of the most celebrated progressive minds in our country today, and now we want to know who your local activists are.

Nominate your local unsung hero for our This Brave Nation Award. We will fly the winning activist out to Los Angeles to be part of our series finale, which will air LIVE on July 13th featuring special guests.

Our hope is that This Brave Nation will raise the discourse about progressive issues in our country. And you can help by donating $15, for which you'll receive 2 DVDs with all 5 episodes that you can pass along to your family, friends, local schools, and libraries.

Then send this e-mail to everyone you know. The best way for us to encourage the next generation of progressive activists is by promoting awareness about our current icons. Be sure not to miss a single episode of This Brave Nation by getting them all on DVD. Think what a great gift that could make to aspiring activist leaders!

I'm a Part of This Brave Nation

2008-10-12T10:49:37Z

"...Just take what you love doing and do it with enough other people to make it the future", Carl Pope - This Brave Nation

I think I’m pretty lucky. As the associate producer of This Brave Nation, I got to watch hours of conversations between everyone from Van Jones to Tom Hayden to 17-year-old peace activist Ava Lowery. Watching the conversations between these progressive change makers inspired me in different ways. There was never a moment when I wasn’t excited about a poignant statement from Carl Pope, an insightful exchange between Majora Carter and Pete Seeger, or engaged by a flash of vulnerability on Anthony Romero’s face as he related a story from his youth.

Looking for the footage used in each of these episodes immediately drew me into one social movement after the next. Listening to Tom Hayden talk about Freedom Summer made me understand the struggle for civil rights in a way I never did before. Feminism takes on a deeper meaning when Dolores Huerta talks about organizing in the fields or when Naomi Klein talks about the experience that pulled her into activism.

What was most common among everyone we spoke to – outside of the fact that they were inspired by Martin Luther King Jr., beyond the fact that many of them had lived through the resistance to the Viet Nam war, despite the fact that they are all still part of huge social movements – is that they all began making a difference, joining movements, taking risks, making change in a big way, at a very young age.

The good news? You’re going to get to see all the best parts of these conversations in one place - BraveNation.com - every week. This Brave Nation was a series created to honor courageous activist that have made changes to create the Brave Nation that you and I inhabit and to encourage a new generation of brave activists. We hope you enjoy Carl Pope and Van Jones in this, the first episode of This Brave Nation.

Be sure to visit BraveNation.com to see future episodes and nominate a local young activist for the Brave Nation award.

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This Brave Nation Heroes in the News

2008-06-12T15:33:20Z

The Sierra Club is one of the most influential environmental groups. So when the executive director of the organization – Carl Pope – talks about climate change and legislation surrounding it, others are inclined to listen. In an interview with Environmental Capital, Mr. Pope says his group wants “as close as we can get to” a 100% reduction; the leading proposal in Congress to cap greenhouse gases currently calls for closer to a 70% reduction. The plan is to wait until next year’s congress when there is likely to be more Democrats to lobby and it’ll be easier to sway than this year’s congress. Pope mentioned that because of the relatively positive environmental stance of the three presidential nominees, the Sierra Club may not endorse a presidential candidate this year - the first time since 1988.

In Modesto, CA this week, labor activist Dolores Huerta was present as 100 Girl Scouts were awarded the Dolores Huerta Interest Project patch – which bears Dolores’s image as well as her the well known coined phrase – “si se puede.” The patch curriculum is to help girls develop leadership skills and inspire them to do community service. Scouts had to learn about Huerta's life and work, as well as issues related to farmworkers, women and-or immigrants. Older scouts went through the process of what it takes to write a bill. They researched whatever topic they chose for their mock bill, learned about getting a sponsoring legislator, doing rewrites and other steps. To meet other requirements, girls conducted personal interviews with family -- typically grandparents who worked in the fields -- to gain perspective on the farmworker and immigrant experience.

See Carl Pope, Dolores Huerta and a host of other progressive activist and heroes in This Brave Nation, coming this summer.

Join us on MySpace or Facebook!

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This Brave Nation Heroes in the News

2008-04-25T15:57:43Z

The Sierra Club is one of the most influential environmental groups. So when the executive director of the organization – Carl Pope – talks about climate change and legislation surrounding it, others are inclined to listen. In an interview with Environmental Capital, Mr. Pope says his group wants “as close as we can get to” a 100% reduction; the leading proposal in Congress to cap greenhouse gases currently calls for closer to a 70% reduction. The plan is to wait until next year’s congress when there is likely to be more Democrats to lobby and it’ll be easier to sway than this year’s congress.
Pope mentioned that because of the relatively positive environmental stance of the three presidential nominees, the Sierra Club may not endorse a presidential candidate this year - the first time since 1988.

In Modesto, CA this week, labor activist Dolores Huerta was present as 100 Girl Scouts were awarded the Dolores Huerta Interest Project patch – which bears Dolores’ image as well as her the well known coined phrase – “si se puede”. The patch curriculum is to help girls develop leadership skills and inspire them to do community service. Scouts had to learn about Huerta's life and work, as well as issues related to farmworkers, women and-or immigrants. Older scouts went through the process of what it takes to write a bill. They researched whatever topic they chose for their mock bill, learned about getting a sponsoring legislator, doing rewrites and other steps. To meet other requirements, girls conducted personal interviews with family -- typically grandparents who worked in the fields -- to gain perspective on the farmworker and immigrant experience.

See Carl Pope, Dolores Huerta and a host of other progressive activist and heroes in This Brave Nation, coming this summer.

Visit youtube.com

This Brave Nation Heroes in the News

2008-04-25T15:50:17Z

The Sierra Club is one of the most influential environmental groups. So when the executive director of the organization – Carl Pope – talks about climate change and legislation surrounding it, others are inclined to listen. In an interview with Environmental Capital, Mr. Pope says his group wants “as close as we can get to” a 100% reduction; the leading proposal in Congress to cap greenhouse gases currently calls for closer to a 70% reduction. The plan is to wait until next year’s congress when there is likely to be more Democrats to lobby and it’ll be easier to sway than this year’s congress.
Pope mentioned that because of the relatively positive environmental stance of the three presidential nominees, the Sierra Club may not endorse a presidential candidate this year - the first time since 1988.

In Modesto, CA this week, labor activist Dolores Huerta was present as 100 Girl Scouts were awarded the Dolores Huerta Interest Project patch – which bears Dolores’ image as well as her the well known coined phrase – “si se puede”. The patch curriculum is to help girls develop leadership skills and inspire them to do community service. Scouts had to learn about Huerta's life and work, as well as issues related to farmworkers, women and-or immigrants. Older scouts went through the process of what it takes to write a bill. They researched whatever topic they chose for their mock bill, learned about getting a sponsoring legislator, doing rewrites and other steps. To meet other requirements, girls conducted personal interviews with family -- typically grandparents who worked in the fields -- to gain perspective on the farmworker and immigrant experience.

See Carl Pope, Dolores Huerta and a host of other progressive activist and heroes in This Brave Nation, coming this summer.

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This Brave Nation Trailer

2008-10-12T10:49:38Z

Sneak peak at the new documentary series from Brave New Foundation and The Nation coming out Spring 2008.

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