In early 2023, a small group of southwest Floridians met to discuss what they saw as autocratic trends unfolding in Florida and beyond. Not long after that first meeting just over three years ago, they formed a nonpartisan nonprofit called Floridians for Democracy. They’ve since grown to include thousands of members, mostly from Southwest Florida but some elsewhere in the state and beyond.
Their website now describes the group as “a network of social-justice advocates who believe democracy in Florida should include everyone.” and that "when rights are under attack, when voices are being silenced, when freedoms are threatened — we stand up, speak out, and act. Because democracy isn’t a spectator sport.”
On Tuesday, June 16 at 7pm they’re presenting a program called “Guardians of Democracy: Speaking Truth to Power." It will feature a Vietnam veteran named Ronn Easton, and an Ohio farmer named Chris Gibbs who was a leader in the Ohio Republican Party for 20 years before leaving it behind in response to recent times. Click here to learn more about the event and how to attend.
They will also be presenting Dr. Robert Hilliard with a Lifetime Achievement award. Dr. Hilliard is a humanitarian, author, educator and former professor and Dean at Emerson College. He is also a veteran of WWII and was Chief of Public Broadcasting at the FCC when the Public Broadcasting Act was signed in 1967.
Guests:
Jim Nathan, co-founder of Floridians for Democracy and retired Lee Health CEO of 34 years – and an adjunct professor at FGCU
Jeff Cull, FFD founding member and former Executive Editor of Florida Weekly and before that he was a reporter at the News Press
Dr. Robert (Bob) Hilliard, humanitarian, activist, educator, author & playwright.
Click here to listen to our conversation about Floridians for Democracy as it was first forming.
Click here to listen to our conversation with Dr. Hilliard in 2024.
Click here to listen to Bob's episode of Three Song Stories recorded in 2019.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.
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Transcript
Mike Kiniry
This is Gulf Coast Life. I'm Mike Kenyrie. Thanks for joining us. In early 2023, a small group of Southwest Floridians met to discuss what they saw as autocratic trends unfolding in Florida and beyond. Not long after that first meeting, just over three years ago, they formed a nonpartisan nonprofit called Floridians for Democracy. They've since grown incredibly and have members beyond the Sunshine State. On Tuesday, June 16th at 7 P.m., they're presenting a program called Guardians of Democracy, Speaking Truth to Power. And today we're getting a bit of a preview. Joining us remotely is Floridians for Democracy co-founder and retired Lee Health, CEO of 34 years and adjunct professor at FGCU, Jim Nathan. Welcome back to the show, Jim.
Jim Nathan
Mike, thank you very much for having us.
Mike Kiniry
And in studio, I'm joined by Dr. Robert Hilliard, or Bob as he's known to most. He's A humanitarian, author, educator, and former professor and dean at Emerson College, among many other noteworthy things, including being a founding member of Floridians for Democracy. Great to see you, Bob.
Bob Hilliard
Thank you very much. We're pleased to be with you, Mike.
Mike Kiniry
And Jeff Cole is a founding member of Floridians for Democracy. He's former executive editor of Florida Weekly. And before that, he was a reporter for the news press back in the early 2000s. Thanks for coming in, Jeff.
Jeff Cull
Yeah, thanks for having us, Mike.
Mike Kiniry
Jim, let's start with you remotely up there in North Carolina. What's Floridians for Democracy been up to in recent months? You know, and Jeff, chime in at any point during this catch-up phase?
Jim Nathan
We've continued our efforts to provide education on a regular basis. to participants. We've grown to just under 3,000 people, mostly in Florida, heavily Southwest Florida, but all over the state. And quite a few people have joined us on a national basis. We've been working closely with many state-based pro-democracy organizations, as well as national organizations and learning and growing from each other. Our challenge really is bringing people together and to realize that you might have a passion, whether that's the environment or women's reproductive rights or racial justice, et cetera, whatever it might be. But if we lose democracy in Florida and in the nation, all those issues become non-issues. So we continue to provide educational programs, but in our programs, we always try to finish them with recommendations for what individuals can do individually as well as collectively. So that's become very much our mantra. Also for the last year and a half, we have really made an effort to make sure that we demonstrate that we are truly cross-partisan. We've had a number of attorneys and communication specialists known at a national level that have spoken of their concern. We've done two programs with the leadership of the Cato Institute and share their concerns about the loss of freedom. as we move to a more autocratic direction in our nation. So we find that this cross-partisan concept is really important because it's not one party doing it by themselves. It's the nation coming together and saying, we've had enough of this. We want our freedom back and we want to be able to have a multicultural, loving, caring society. instead of a society that's more about a knee society or more about a pushback against all of the rule of law. So we identify the areas where we see fractions in the rule of law. And so that's our educational portion. We also work on advocacy. A lot of that is on a local basis, and we don't try to assume that we know it all, but we try to help work with other pro-democracy organizations and make sure that people show up for peaceful protests and be out on the streets like Jeff and Bob will be this Sunday in Fort Myers.
Mike Kiniry
Tell us about the program that's happening on June 16th, Tuesday.
Jim Nathan
One of the most exciting programs we've done is really to recognize and honor a special individual. You started by using a great word, humanitarian. Bob Hilliard truly is not just a war hero, not just a public broadcasting hero, not just a phenomenal professor, teacher, educator, multi-book author, all of those things, but he embodies speaking truth to power, and he's done it all of his adult life. And so we want to honor him. But in doing that, as we were visualizing this program, we thought we would want to fill the program with individuals that maybe a lot of people wouldn't know, but that have been brave enough in today's world to speak up and speak truth to power. That was going to be a challenge for us to find those individuals until we connected with an organization called Home of the Brave. And if anybody's interested in looking them up, you have to go to ofthebrave.org. Don't use the word home, just ofthebrave.org. But they have over 100 vignettes of individuals from around the country sharing how this autocratic movement has destroyed and damaged their lives or livelihood and is continuing to do so. But they've been brave enough to speak up and speak out. So we will have a few of them live on Tuesday night And if we have time, we may show one or two of the short videos. But most importantly, it'll be the interaction with a couple of individuals. We have a farmer from Ohio who was a political leader in the Republican Party in Ohio who ended up going independent and then switching to the Democratic Party and is now a Democratic leader. And his focus isn't about Dems versus Republicans. His focus is about freedom and the ability to have an effective job versus this power structure. We'll also have a wounded Vietnam veteran who has become very strong and a lot of people aren't aware of him and he'll be alive with us. So we'll do all of that on a special evening this coming Tuesday.
Mike Kiniry
Where are you guys going to be protesting this weekend, Jeff?
Jeff Cull
Well, you know, Bob and I have been to every protest in Southwest Florida, I think, haven't we?
Bob Hilliard
Yes, we have.
Jeff Cull
And Bob's 101, will be 101 next week. In a few weeks. Yeah. So the nice thing about those protests is everybody wants to get their picture taken with Bob.
Bob Hilliard
Well, I have been going in a wheelchair because I can't walk very far. And so that attracts attention. You don't have too many wheelchair people there, but we do have others. And many of them are, like myself, a veteran of a war. We know what happens in a country when we let a totalitarian leader, totalitarian political group take over. And so I have been associated now with Veterans for Peace.
Mike Kiniry
When you go to these protests, do you carry a sign? Do you have particular signs that you reuse? Do you make new signs? I'm just curious.
Bob Hilliard
Well, yes. Now, my wife Joanna and I have gone to every protest. She has signs. The last sign I used for no King's protest was no George III, no Donald I.
Mike Kiniry
We've talked to you on the show over the years a number of times. We talked to you when Floridians for Democracy was first being put together three years ago. I did a whole hour with you two years ago, which I went back and listened to this morning. It was interesting to listen back. the years continue to go, the events continue to happen. What is your big picture take on where we're at right now from your nearly 101-year-old perspective?
Bob Hilliard
The big picture right now for me is that I grew up in what I considered a democracy. I do not feel that America is any longer a democracy. I look at what is happening in Washington. And what I see are all the trappings, palpably a fascist government. And I've devoted my life for what I consider democratic principles for everyone living in any country, but certainly in the United States.
Jeff Cull
And this is not something new for Bob. He's been doing this for his entire life. he's been standing up for the little guy. I mean, he saved thousands of Holocaust refugees over in World War II after he'd been wounded in the Battle of the Bulge.
Mike Kiniry
You know, one thing you mentioned in passing, Bob, in a previous interview that I did with you that I kind of dug into for this, was 27 years ago, I guess when you were just 74, you published a book called Waves of Rancor, Tuning in the Radical Right with a guy named Michael Keith.
Bob Hilliard
Michael Keith, yes.
Mike Kiniry
And I dug into that and I don't know if you'd be surprised to know that AI, large language models know all about it. I was able to ask them questions about it. Hilliard and Keith argued that the rise of right-wing extremism didn't happen in a vacuum, but was actively fueled by the deliberate, highly savvy utilization of modern electronic media. So that was in 1999. I guess my question is, we have so many even more ways to communicate today. Are you surprised that this kind of movement can rise up in a time when exchanging information about it is so easy.
Bob Hilliard
Yes, Mike and I wrote that book. I remember we were listening to radio. We both have a radio. Mike Keith now has published about 30 books of what he calls short fiction. And in fact, just the other day, he was on a Zoom promoting a book and the first time I've seen him now in 11 years. Mike and I were listening to radio. And at that time, radio was the principal medium for hate groups, for far-right groups. And we thought, my goodness, this is really an astounding kind of thing, what they're doing. Has anybody written about this? And so we looked into it And we went further than radio because that was the beginning when we wrote that book. That was the beginning of their use of the internet for hate sites. We began to check some of these hate sites. We found that at one point there were as many as 2,000 hate sites going on and off in any year in this country, and 20,000 perhaps doing the same internationally. Now, that is using the new technology at that time. The hate groups, and we're talking about Ku Klux Klan and skinheads and neo-Nazi groups in this country, recruiting young people, particularly disaffected young people. So we decided to write that book. And I remember one day, I was reading the New York Times and in it said that our book Waves of Rancor, Tuning in the Radical Right was chosen by President Bill Clinton as one of the 12 books on his recommended leading list that year. And I picked up the phone and called, Mike, we can retire. Actually, the book did very well on the Amazon listing for a few hours. The book did fine, but it was not the blockbuster and we did not retire.
Mike Kiniry
You know, when you were a kid, news came through newspapers and radio and it took a lot longer than it takes now. And you said at the beginning of our conversation that you were afraid that we weren't living in a functioning democracy. It's easier to share misinformation and disinformation, but it's also easier to share good information. Do you think that Is any level of protection during these times compared to other times in our history?
Bob Hilliard
You know, when there's a revolution or change of control in any given country, what's the first thing they take over? Not the Treasury, not the educational institutions, not even the airport. They take over the radio and television and of the media. because those in the world today are the strongest, the most effective ways of controlling people's minds, emotions, and even behavior.
Mike Kiniry
Well, public radio is still going strong despite rescission of funding. You were in the media business, Jeff. You were in the newspaper business. What are your thoughts on that idea of We all still can say what we want to say. We all still, nobody's stopping us from saying the things that we want to say. I mean, there may be efforts to do that. But to people who say, oh, it's not as serious as you guys are saying it is, we're still able to have this conversation and put it on the radio.
Jeff Cull
Yes, but can a media company that is controlled by XYZ do that? You know, can Gannett do that? Or can you do that in Southwest Florida? Can you, be an honest reporter in Southwest Florida. Well, you're going to upset some advertisers. So, they tend to put a little bit of a control on that.
Mike Kiniry
And I guess there's what's happened at 60 Minutes and there's, and CBS Radio is now off the air after 100 years of doing news and things like that. Jim, what are your thoughts on this whole notion of, you know, the ability to express ourselves hasn't been stamped out down to the individual level, but where do you think we are overall?
Jim Nathan
I think it is happening at the individual level already. That there are many people are afraid to speak up. They're afraid for their jobs, their livelihood. And that really is what spurred us at the very beginning of starting this organization, this effort, where individuals that before we ever heard of something like Project 2025 or many of the actions that have been happening nationally or in the state. When we were watching and people having fear, I met a gentleman who was an excellent, his expertise was in teaching black history. And he looked at me and he said, I have three children, I can hardly afford to pay for my house and my rent, but I can't afford to lose my job, but I don't know what I'm allowed to say anymore. this effort to whitewash black education or to blackwash white education, however you want to look at it. It's happening and it's real and it's very concerning. And no, it's not to the level now where we've been shut down. But I think this is where Bob comes in as such a great hero because he knows what the pieces are that begin to crumble. He knows the pressure he was under, even as a successful war hero, Purple Heart, but from the military leadership, not wanting him to express his stories back to President Truman at that time. These fears of being able to express are real and they're growing. And the ones you rattled off just a couple minutes ago, Mike, they're happening right in front of our eyes. And we did a program with a phenomenal attorney just a little bit less than two years ago. And the title of it was Sleepwalking into Autocracy. It's easy to deny that all these things are happening, but when you look at the warning signals, they're all around us. And it's not to cry wolf, it's to say we need to speak out now while we're still allowed to do so, because who knows a year from now, if we just stay silent, will we really still be able to speak out? Yes, we can do it today, but what about tomorrow?
Mike Kiniry
Bob, you know, we've already pointed out that you're about to turn 101. When you were a kid, the Civil War was only as far back as the civil rights movement is to us today. In other words, you've seen a lot of arcs of history. What do you think that perspective gives you and why should people respect perspectives of people like you more because of that expansive view of history?
Bob Hilliard
I don't think age really is a factor. People can make their decisions in terms of what they believe the world and people should look like and experience at any time at any age. However, I think age does give you an advantage if you want to use it. I was an adult in my 20s during the McCarthyism era. And people say, this is terrible what's going on now. And I keep saying it has not yet reached the kind of thing that happened under Joe McCarthy and so-called McCarthyism. At that time, for example, you could be fired from your job. You could even end up in jail, guilt by accusation. As one writer, I believe it was in the Herald Tribune at the time, wrote, three dirty postcards from an empty lot can make any advertiser do anything because it was the advertisers who were responsible for McCarthyism and the blacklist. I knew a number of people who were put on the blacklist They had no idea why. Somebody would write an anonymous letter to their boss. This guy consorts with fellow travelers or reds or communists. They'd be able to job the next day and not know why. We've not yet reached that point. But with the kinds of things that the current administration is doing to control the media, For mind control in this country, we may soon reach that point. And given the kind of government organization we have at this very moment before the next elections, if we're going to have elections, we may very well surpass the kind of mind control, end of free speech and press and assembly that we almost had in the McCarthy era.
Jeff Cull
Are there any encouraging things, Bob, that you see out there?
Mike Kiniry
Good question, Jeff. No, seriously.
Bob Hilliard
Yes, encouraging things. We're doing it right now. We have people like Jim Nathan who took the lead to develop an organization that's going to fight to retain democracy. And we believe it's not too late to return and save democracy in this country. That's why we're here. That's why we're organized. That's why there is a Tuesday evening Zoom for as many people in the world who can turn in. And we let them know what is happening. And we ask them, ask them to take a stand. And we're going to tell them some of the things that they can do to save democracy.
Mike Kiniry
We're pretty much out of time, but I have to ask one last question, Bob. You got any plans for your 101st birthday?
Bob Hilliard
No, my wife and I just booked a cruise for early July. So we're gonna celebrate that way. And at this point, you know, when you reach this age, it's like you wanna please other people. But you think, how many more years do I have? Maybe I ought to start pleasing myself.
Mike Kiniry
In your second century. Well, I was lucky enough to be at your 100th birthday party and I was able to wish you a happy birthday. So happy birthday a few weeks ahead of time.
Bob Hilliard
Oh, thank you, Mike. You have been just terrific every time I've been with you. And Joanne says, he is the best interviewer she's ever heard.
Jeff Cull
She's probably right.
Mike Kiniry
Well, any last. Any last thoughts, Jeff? I'll give you the last word, Jim, but Jeff.
Jeff Cull
No, I think that there are some encouraging things out there. I think if you go to the corner of Daniels and 41 on Sunday between 10 and noon, I think you'll see that.
Mike Kiniry
Jeff, or Jim, rather, I'm going to give you the final word.
Jim Nathan
Tune in Tuesday night. Mike will give you the link for it. Anybody that has a registration, is welcome to come. And we have a surprise, so don't you listen, Bob. We'll be awarding Dr. Bob Hilliard with a lifetime achievement as the guardian of democracy.
Mike Kiniry
Jim Nathan is co-founder of Floridians for Democracy. Thank you so much, Jim.
Jim Nathan
Mike, thank you very much for having us.
Mike Kiniry
Jeff Cole is a Floridians for Democracy founding member and former newspaper man. Thank you, Jeff.
Jeff Cull
Sure, thanks, Mike.
Mike Kiniry
And Dr. Bob Hilliard is a humanitarian, author, educator, playwright, former professor and dean, World War II veteran, and former chief of public broadcasting at the FCC. He was there when the act was signed. Thank you so much, Bob. It's always a pleasure to have you in the studio.
Bob Hilliard
Oh, and I thank you, Mike. so good and so wonderful with your interviews.
Mike Kiniry
Thank you.
Transcript created with Copilot. Please forgive any spelling errors or mistranslations.
