PAST EVENTS
"Rock The Vote Downtown" At The Tribecca Film Festival
The Common Good was at the Tribeca Film Festival Family Festival registering voters. We helped kick off the festivities at our table through out the day between Jay and Greenwich Streets in Tribeca.
The Common Good was at the Tribeca Film Festival Family Festival registering voters. We helped kick off the festivities at our table through out the day between Jay and Greenwich Streets in Tribeca.
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Living for 32
The Common Good hosted documentary screening & discussion about the attack at Virginia Tech. This event was hosted by survivor Colin Goddard and producer Maria Cuomo Cole. This movie looked into the attack and aftermath of the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech.
The Common Good hosted documentary screening & discussion about the attack at Virginia Tech. This event was hosted by survivor Colin Goddard and producer Maria Cuomo Cole.
This movie looked into the attack and aftermath of the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech. What can we learn from this horrific event? Attendees were able to watch this powerful film and had the chance to meet the survivor who, despite the three bullets still lodged in his body, refuses to be a victim, and who, through this film, strives to save lives every day through the prevention of the escalating gun violence in America.
On a snowy, windy April day in Blacksburg, Virginia in 2007, young Americans pursued a college education and their teachers engaged in providing it to them. Some of those students were attending Introductory German, Intermediate French, Advanced Hydrology Engineering, and Solid Mechanics classes in a building called Norris Hall.
Thirty-two of them died, 17 more were wounded, and six more were injured jumping out of windows. Their lives had collided with that of a tortured loner, whom a judge had written was “fundamentally ill and in need of hospitalization, and presents an imminent danger to self or others as a result of mental illness,” or is so seriously mentally ill as to be substantially unable to care for self.
One of those wounded was a 21-year-old senior International Studies major from Richmond, Virginia, named Colin Goddard. Goddard played a unique role in the horrific drama that played out at Virginia Tech University on that blustery April day: he was the only person within the building to call the police. Urged by his French professor to dial 911 as the crackle of gunfire came closer to the door of their classroom, Goddard made the call. Shot for the first time, he passed the phone to a classmate who gave the police enough information to get them to the scene three minutes later. Police got into the building, which had been barricaded, six minutes after that. For all the terrible damage that the killer did, the toll of lost lives might have been much higher if it were not for the 911 call started by Colin Goddard and continued by Emily Haas.
By the end of the ordeal, the killer had fired at him at three separate moments during the eleven-minute assault. Goddard had been shot four times. He heard the rescue workers walking through his classroom, shouting ‚”red tag, black tag, black tag‚” a dire roster of the critical and the dead. He was later told he might not walk again but fought his way through arduous physical therapy. And he grew a fire in his heart to do something about keeping dangerous people from having easy access to deadly weapons. The killer had two semiautomatic handguns, dozens of 10- and 15-round magazines, and 400 rounds of hollow-point ammunition.
After recovering and finishing his degree, Colin Goddard decided he was going to volunteer for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the nation’s largest gun control organization. And he was going to convince them to sponsor him in wearing a hidden camera and going undercover into gun shows all across America, to prove how easy it is for anyone to buy a gun, with no identification, no Brady background check, and just a wad of cash.
Living for 32 is his story.
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The Wisconsin Worker's Revolt and the National Ramifications
The Common Good Hosted an open discussion with Congressman George Miller and Steven Malanga, of the Manhattan Institute, on the Wisconsin Worker’s Revolt and the national ramifications of the protests. The conversation was hosted by Charles Myers and Joseph Fichera.
The Common Good Hosted an open discussion with Congressman George Miller and Steven Malanga, of the Manhattan Institute, on the Wisconsin Worker’s Revolt and the national ramifications of the protests. The conversation was hosted by Charles Myers and Joseph Fichera.
Former Congressman George Miller served California’s 7th district for more than half of his life, championing liberal causes such as increased funding for public education, support for labor unions and environmental causes throughout his tenure.
A close friend of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Miller was appointed in 2003 co-chair of the House Steering and Policy Committee, which shapes and articulates Democrats’ policy proposals. He was chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee in the Democratic majority 111th Congress and has served as the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Steven Malanga is the George M. Yeager Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and City Journal’s senior editor. He writes about the intersection of urban economies, business communities, and public policy. Malanga is the author of The New New Left: How American Politics Works Today (2005); The Immigration Solution: A Better Plan than Today’s (2007), coauthored with Heather Mac Donald and Victor Davis Hanson; and Shakedown: The Continuing Conspiracy Against the American Taxpayer (2010). In 2013, former Florida governor Jeb Bush called Malanga “the best thinker on state and local fiscal matters” in a tweet; in a 2014 Manhattan Institute speech, he said that Malanga’s warnings on states’ coming debt and pension crises had influenced fiscal reforms undertaken in Florida.
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Desert Flower
The Common Good hosted a film screening and discussion about the film Desert Flower. Joined by the star of the film, Liya Kebede, Acclaimed Producer and Author, Susan Fales-Hill and Former First Lady of New York, Michelle Paige Paterson, in partnership with InStyle Magazine and National Geographic Entertainment
The Common Good hosted a film screening and discussion about the film Desert Flower. Joined by the star of the film, Liya Kebede, Acclaimed Producer and Author, Susan Fales-Hill and Former First Lady of New York, Michelle Paige Paterson, in partnership with InStyle Magazine and National Geographic Entertainment
Desert Flower was adapted from the international bestseller of the same name which has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. It traces the improbable journey of a young Somali woman who treks across the African Desert to find fame and fortune in the west, and in doing so, discovers the strength and voice to bring attention to the dismaying practice of female genital mutilation and it’s assault on a woman’s freedom and dignity.
Waris Diris lives a double life - by day she is a famous model and UN spokeswoman on women’s rights in Africa, one night she dreams of her native Somalia. Waris, one of 12 children, was born into a traditional family of desert nomads in East Africa. She remembers her early childhood as carefree -racing camels and moving on with her family to the next grazing spot - until it came her turn to meet the old woman who administered an ancient custom imposed on most Somalian girls: circumcision. Waris suffered this torture when she was just five years old. Then, age 12, when her father attempted to arrange a marriage with a 60 year old stranger in exchange for five camels - she took flight. After an extraordinary escape through the dangerous desert she made her way to London and worked as a maid for the Somalian ambassador until that family returned home. Penniless and speaking little English, she became a janitor in McDonalds where she was famously discovered by a fashion photographer. Her story is a truly inspirational and an extraordinary self-portrait of a remarkable woman whose spirt is as breathtaking as her beauty.
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The American Spirit Awards 2011
The Common Good honored Ruth Gruber with the American Spirit Award. Catherine Crier served as the evening's emcee and presenting the award was Ann Curry. Hosted by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Catherine Keener, Kelly Klein, Barbara Kopple, Former First Lady of New York Michelle Paige Paterson, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Bob Richman, Rachel Roy, and Naomi Wolf. Other VIP guests included: Lola Astanova, Debbie Bancroft, Kathleen Chalfant, Henry Chalfant, Rita Cosby, Dr. Lewis M. Feder, Rachel Lee Hovnanian, Ara Hovnanian and Lynne White.
The Common Good honored Ruth Gruber with the American Spirit Award. Catherine Crier served as the evening's emcee and Ann Curry presented the award. The event was hosted by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Catherine Keener, Kelly Klein, Barbara Kopple, Former First Lady of New York Michelle Paige Paterson, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Bob Richman, Rachel Roy, and Naomi Wolf. Other VIP guests included: Lola Astanova, Debbie Bancroft, Kathleen Chalfant, Henry Chalfant, Rita Cosby, Dr. Lewis M. Feder, Rachel Lee Hovnanian, Ara Hovnanian and Lynne White.
There was also a special screening of “Ahead of Time”. Born in Brooklyn in 1911, Ruth Gruber became the youngest PhD in the world before going on to become an international foreign correspondent and photojournalist at age 24. She emerged as the eyes and conscience of the world. With her love of adventure, fearlessness and powerful intellect, Ruth defied tradition in an extraordinary career that has spanned more than seven decades.
Ruth was an inspiration not only for her ground-breaking career, but for her vitality and humor at 98 years old. The film interweaves verite scenes with never-seen-before archival footage.
Ruth Gruber was distinguished for many of her achievements, but especially for her efforts as a humanitarian and trailblazer for women. Ruth Gruber became the youngest PhD in the world before going on to become an international foreign correspondent and photojournalist at age 24; she emerged as the eyes and conscience of the world.
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The Common Good has been hosting events since 2006 that cover important issues of today, highlighting speakers who have worked to bolster our democracy and can provide great insight on the issues that matter.