On June 14^th, Flag Day, which also happened to be Trump’s eightieth birthday, the Committee for the First Amendment (CFA) hosted an event at New York’s historic Town Hall: Rise Up! Sing Out! A Concert for the First Amendment. I think everyone in that theatre would agree that it was a smashing success.

And it wasn’t just the people in the theatre. The event was livestreamed. Justin Krebs, a terrific organizer, went to Christian churches, Jewish congregations, bookstores, comedy clubs, local theaters, libraries, community organizations, the American Library Association, the No Kings coalition, and Indivisible groups, and they organized viewing parties in 1,500 locations in every state, Hawaii, even Paris, from beer halls to church halls.

That night, we estimate 30,000 people were watching at these gatherings and many millions since then on YouTube. One viewer wrote us saying, “Everyone who came had a great time and we definitely achieved ‘collective effervescence!’”

The show was produced by Rob Nanus of Rigor Ruckus and Bruce Cohn, directed by Schele Williams and scripted by Bess Kalb. We focused on the five freedoms contained in the First Amendment: Freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition, which is an old-fashioned way of saying ‘protest.’

Our speakers ranged from Lily Gladstone, Julia Roberts, Joy Reid, Rev Adriene Thorne, Rabbi Rachel Timoner, Hussein Rashid and Tessa Thompson to Ms. Rachel, Robert De Niro, Ayo Edebiri, Wilson Cruz, and Pepermint.

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But I did get to know Atlanta and much of the rest of Georgia because in 1995 I founded GCAPP: The Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, a statewide organization to empower teenagers and address the chronic problem of children having babies. Georgia had the highest rate of adolescent pregnancies in the U.S. when I moved there. While some young mothers turn out to be wonderful parents, too often this is not the case. A fourteen or sixteen-year-old girl likely hasn’t figured out her own life and having a child to raise will make it virtually impossible to take advantage of opportunities that may come along…like a job or schooling.

Here are key things I learned in the thirty years since GCAPP now known as The Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential was created:

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Twenty years ago, at 68-years old, I began working for L'Oréal Paris, the international skin and hair care company. The company’s CEO back then was a trans woman named Sue Nabi. She had transitioned while working her way up the corporate ladder to the very top which made me really respect the company.

Turns out, the year before, Sue had seen me promoting my latest book on a very popular national TV show. I had my dog with me, was speaking fluent French and making the audience laugh. She decided I would make a good brand ambassador.

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Last week I attended opening night of the TCM Classic Films Festival. The opening film was Barefoot in the Park, and I was invited to be interviewed on stage before the screening by Ben Mankiewicz, the host of TCM (Turner Classic Movies) and to talk about Robert Redford.

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