In 2018, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David M. Kennedy came together from remarkably different backgrounds, life experiences and points of view to explore the idea of a unifying American creed. In a feature length American Creed PBS documentary, their spirited inquiry framed the stories of a range of citizen-activists striving to realize their own visions of America’s promise across deep divides. 

Now, in a new PBS documentary series, American Creed: Citizen Power, Drs. Kennedy and Rice gather together “extraordinary, ordinary” young leaders across differences in background and belief, to take on what the young leaders see as increasingly urgent challenges facing their communities and the nation. Each 30 minute episode for PBS, and a series of shorter films for classrooms (part of an ongoing PBS LearningMedia roll-out) and for PBS YouTube, will explore how young people discover their power to take action.

Across PBS channels and in person in classrooms and community centers across the United States, American Creed: Citizen Power continues a successful ongoing initiative that has engaged well over 1 million people, including students in all 50 states, in exploring ideals of freedom, fairness and opportunity that have fueled the expansion of democratic participation and civil rights at key moments throughout our history. With the help of our partners listed below, documentary episodes and associated curricula invite large and diverse audiences to engage with issues including economic and educational inequities, political polarization, and the erosion of democratic norms and institutions, while also exploring how young leaders are pursuing solutions that bring people together to revitalize communities and institutions by building power from the bottom up.