Over the past fifty years, we’ve both dedicated our lives to telling the story of America through songs and documentaries. We have traveled millions of kilometers and visited thousands of restaurants, dance halls, truck stops, airports, classrooms, churches, museums and historic sites.
The wonder, beauty and radiance of this country never cease to amaze us. As we reflect on the rich experiences we have had across the country, we wonder why there is no national tradition to celebrate our hometowns.
We have a special day or week for just about everything from Taco Day and Handbag Day to Name Your Car Day, but we do very little to honor our towns and villages. We decided to do something about it. Today, we are proud to represent more than 150 leaders, including artists and iconic leaders from many of our country’s preeminent community services, veterans, educational, cultural and historical institutions, as well as dozens of mayors, to announce “Honor Your Hometown,” an unprecedented campaign to recognize every American city.
Honor America’s hometowns
The campaign is a strictly non-partisan, volunteer-led effort with one simple but powerful goal: to remind all of us that the experiences and values we have in common are far more important and more important than the issues that divide us.
Our theme comes from Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. Garth says, “Let’s focus on the things that bind us together, not the things that divide us. Trisha adds, “This whole hometown mentality is something we have to take with us. Our favorite part about this initiative is that we have turned the tables and invited people to tell us a story.
We asked each participant to produce a one to two minute video telling us about their hometown. As you will see when you visit HonorYourHometown.com, the stories we have received are inspiring and surprising – and filled with fun, love and hope. The first two people we approached with this idea were Colin Powell and Dolly Parton.
Powell embraced the idea and made the first tribute video for this campaign in honor of his native “street” – Kelly Street in the Bronx. With his passing last week, we appreciate more than ever that he wanted to share with America the great blessings his neighborhood and New York public schools, especially City College of New York, have given him.
Our friend Parton was equally supportive, and in her tribute video she sings a verse from her hometown classic song, “My Tennessee Mountain Home”, which she humbly calls “kind of like an everyday thing” .
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We all love Dolly for many reasons, but one of her greatest qualities is the endless respect and affection she has always shown for the people and culture of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Then the idea took off. Astronaut Mark Vande Hei somersaults back to his hometown, the International Space Station. Chef Robert St. John tells the incredible story of Coney Island, a hot dog stand in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Trust tells us how donations from every American city have helped build and maintain one of our greatest national treasures.
Chris Nikic, the first person with Down’s syndrome to complete an Ironman competition, tells us about his love for his hometown of Maitland, Florida, but even more about the love he feels for every hometown he has visited. There are moving videos from the National Mall and the White House, and wonderful tributes to veterans of the Foreign Wars and the American Legion.
Home towns remind us of the past
Perhaps the most touching video is that of Tim Frank, the historian of Arlington National Cemetery, speaking of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
“Although Arlington is now his hometown,” he says, “he could have come from your hometown.”
There are also some flashy videos like the one from the Yogi Berra Museum, which has Yogi’s oldest son, Larry, and granddaughter, Lindsay, in a mad rush to tell us about all of the great baseball player’s hometowns.
Honoring our hometowns may seem small or insignificant to some. We do not agree. American democracy, the essence of our civic life, is built on the basis of strong communities.
Oscar winner Jon Batiste sums it up best: “(New Orleans) taught me the importance of bringing all generations together and how everyone has something that they’re connected to that. is taller than themselves. ”
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There is a saying in Nashville that it all starts with a song. At the start of this project, Deana McCloud, with the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, sent us a video with Woody’s original lyrics from “This Land Is Your Land.” It’s our soundtrack.
The Honor Your Home Town celebration will continue into the next month – and, hopefully, even longer. We hope you join the cause and tell us a story on social media about your hometown using the hashtag #HonorYourHomerown.
Ken Burns is a 15-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker who has produced some of the most acclaimed and critically-watched documentaries of our time. Marty Stuart is a country and bluegrass singer, songwriter, and musician. He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
