A "101 night" is simple: a few people, a couple of hours, and a guided walk through the basics together. Around a kitchen table, in a community room, on a video call, or even threaded through a group chat. Here's everything you need.
The simple format (about 90 minutes)
- Open (10 min) — Welcome people and set the tone: nobody needs to be an expert, nobody will be put on the spot, and questions are welcome. Name that it's okay to feel uncertain.
- Watch together (25 min) — Watch The Present together. Start with a person, not a debate.
- Walk the 101 (30 min) — Move through the six steps together on a screen, pausing to read the timeline and glossary aloud. Let people ask as you go.
- Talk (20 min) — Use the prompts below. Your job isn't to have all the answers — it's to keep the room curious and kind.
- Close (5 min) — Point everyone to the "one action this week" door. Send them home with one small, concrete thing.
Discussion prompts
- What did you believe about this before tonight, and where did that belief come from?
- What surprised you most?
- What's a question you still have — that you'd be a little embarrassed to ask elsewhere?
- Where in your own life do you have a little power to do something — your work, your circle, your money, your vote?
- What's one small thing each of us will do this week?
A few tips for holding the room
- You're a guide, not a professor. "I'm not sure, let's look it up" is a perfectly good answer and models honest learning.
- Keep it kind. If someone arrives skeptical, that's fine — curiosity beats winning an argument. Let the material and the human story do the work.
- Protect the nervous. Don't put anyone on the spot. Let people pass.
- End on capability, not guilt. People come back to things that made them feel capable, not ashamed.
That's the kit. Everything you need is already on this site and free to use. Bookmark this page, gather a few people, and walk them through. If even half of them host their own night someday, you've started something that grows on its own.