“Small acts when multiplied by millions of people have the potential to transform the world.” – Howard Zinn
One year ago, it was my personal passion project to see if I could change the world, or at least the world of all those who attended, The Living Rooms Across America Tour.
The idea was simply to facilitate conversations across the country about important issues through a mix of music and storytelling.
After touring 10 cities in 10 states, I found that the tour wasn’t just a passion project anymore; it was my life’s calling.
As I traveled the country, I found that people, like me, were hungry for something more.
Everywhere I went, people were gravitating towards the sense of community that we were helping to build and the sense of connection that was present in every living room.
Living in an age where too many of us base our self-worth on the number of Twitter followers or Facebook friends that we have, the tour created a space for genuine, face-to-face interaction to occur.
So with a time, tested and true model, I hit the road last year and discovered that music was indeed an effective vehicle for bringing people together and inspiring action.
This year, I’ve partnered with Chicago Ideas Week, one of the premier annual conferences of global thought leaders in the world, to produce the second year of The Living Rooms Across America Tour.
With a larger budget and a larger infrastructure, we’re attempting to change the culture around the issue of gun violence.
Our theory of change is simple: bring together some of the most amazing cultural influencers, policymakers and community leaders to talk about how we could work together to reduce violence.
We believe that if we multiple these conversations by the thousands that we could help inspire the public imagination and shift the debate around gun violence.
And we believe that once we can change our culture through the re-telling of ideas, images, and stories, that we could help usher in a new form of political discourse and ultimately pass comprehensive violence prevention legislation.
Today, we don’t have to look too far to see this same strategy occurring across the country.
From the recent victories around marriage equality to the possibility of passing comprehensive immigration reform, large, systemic change has always followed a shift in American culture.
So this year, I’m visiting five of the most violent cities in America to learn from and partner with those individuals and organizations on the frontlines of reducing violence in America.
I’m helping to create authentic interactions and building spaces for phones to be turned off and the power of listening to take shape.
And I’m acknowledging and engaging the human capital present in every community while using art as a way to move policy, shift attitudes, and ultimately change people’s hearts and minds.
So I believe in the impossible.
I trust that engaging the right cultural and community leaders will spark a change in the way that we address issues of violence on a local and national level.
And I’m explicitly blurring the lines between art and organizing through the lens of having people share their own personal stories of forgiveness and how they continue to overcame unspeakable tragedies.
So I may be acting irrational, and in fact, I may be acting naïve.
But what I do know, and what continues to motivate me, is the fact that every great idea has always seemed crazy, until it finally became the norm.
So here I go again trying to change the world.
Here I go again trying to engage victims, offenders, pro-gun lobbyists, peacemakers, policymakers and anyone willing to try and stop the bloodshed in America.
And here I go again trying to achieve what I know deep down inside of my heart is indeed possible.
To learn more about The Living Rooms Across America Tour, visit www.livingroomstour.com
Mike de la Rocha is an LA-based musician, writer and entrepreneur. To find out more about Mike visit mikedelarocha.com and follow him on Twitter at @mrmikedelarocha
