Free Speech & Peace

Students weigh a lot of factors when deciding where to go to college. What’s the graduation rate? Do they have a strong liberal arts program? How much is tuition?  A university’s commitment to free speech is one of them.  Enter the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) ,a grantee of Stand Together Trust. Every […]

Free speech is a hallmark of the United States. The growth of social media has thrust this fundamental right into a highly polarized topic in political discourse today. As has been the case throughout history, after every technological revolution it takes a while for society to adjust and create norms of the new era.    In […]

On June 19, 1865, two and half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the remaining enslaved people in the United States finally heard that they were free when the news reached Galveston, Texas. Known as “Juneteenth,” this historical moment of freedom was established as a federal holiday on June 16, 2021, when […]

Cancel culture began on college campuses and quickly spread to social media platforms. Now it is increasingly pervasive across corporate America. And the climate of fear and self-censorship it creates limits people’s ability to collaborate, innovate, and build inclusive, productive workplaces.  What’s ‘Cancel Culture’? Really.  Cancel culture is a term that many different people use […]

The internet has changed media — everyone knows this. Gaining attention in the media today requires more than being an expert on a relevant topic. Rising journalists and media voices today must also know how to package their work so that their messages are visible in a vast online media world driven by clicks, shares, […]

Stand Together Trust (STT) believes that the greatest advances in human progress flow from our ability to embrace diverse ideas and integrate them into our communities. During February, the United States celebrates Black History Month — honoring Black Americans’ history, culture, and contributions. This Black History Month, we highlight how STT team members have immersed […]

As America feels more and more impossibly divided, college students mirror that trend – feeling more siloed on their campuses. This sense of toxic division could spell continued gridlock in finding solutions to some of the most pressing issues in society today.  That’s why in 2020, Eboo Patel and the team at Interfaith America, with […]

On a summer day in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Unite the Right rally gathered hundreds with the stated intent of protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Yet, as media outlets ranging from  FOX News, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN reported, the gathering quickly showed itself to be more than that. The protest […]

Nothing can ruin a holiday gathering or dinner party faster than a contentious conversation. Many of us may want to avoid discussing divisive issues with family and friends altogether, fearing a disagreement will alter a cherished relationship. Yet sometimes these conversations are unavoidable. And more to the point, talking with our close family and friends […]

The attack on Salman Rushdie earlier this year in New York stunned free speech advocates around the world. Rushdie is a world-renowned author best known for his novel The Satanic Verses, which led to calls for Rushdie’s murder in 1989 and sent him into hiding for nine years.  Though under threat, he lived and worked […]