This Week’s Hot Topic: The Preamble of the US Constitution & The Constitutional Convention
This Week’s Expert Guest: Author James Best
James D. Best is the author of many books, including the bestselling Steve Dancy Tales, and our favorite: Tempest at Dawn, a classic novelization of the Constitutional Convention – which he donates each year to the Constituting America Auction! Mr. Best is also the author of “The Shutmouth Society,” a modern day fiction thriller based on the discovery of a secret historical Abraham Lincoln Document!
Mr. Best is a long time friend of Constituting America, having written in every one of our 90 Day Studies, more than 27 essays in the last 10 years!
In addition to being a best selling author, Mr. Best is a sought after speaker, and enjoys film, surfing, skiing and watching his grand children! Mr. Best splits his time between Omaha, San Diego and New York City!
Janine Turner, Cathy Gillespie, and Constituting America’s Student Ambassadors, Tova Love Kaplan and Dakare Chatman, chat with Constitutional experts on hot-topic issues via Zoom!
‘Constitutional Chats’ Hosts
Janine Turner
Actress Janine Turner is famous for her role as Maggie O’Connell in televisions’ Northern Exposure. She is the Founder and Co-President of Constituting America which launched in 2010. She is still acting but she is also actively teaching kids about the U.S. Constitution given over 540 speeches to classrooms across the country.
Cathy Gillespie
Cathy Gillespie is the co-president of Constituting America and one of 16 private citizens serving on the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, helping organize the celebration of our country’s 250th birthday in 2026! She is a former Congressional Chief of Staff and former Commissioner of the White House Fellows Commission.
Tova Love Kaplan
Tova Love Kaplan is sixteen years old and lives in Chicago, Illinois. She currently serves as the National Youth Director for Constituting America, and runs the National Youth Advisory Council. She is a three-time winner of the “We the Future” contest in the Entrepreneurial (where she created a marketing plan), PSA (entitled “Know Your Rights. Read The Constitution”) and STEM (where she created an app). She is passionate about educating and empowering young people to use their constitutional rights!
Dakare Chatman
Constituting America Student Ambassador Dakare Chatman is 16 years old, and is currently a junior, full-time college student in South Carolina. He has won Constituting America’s We The Future Contest twice, once for best PSA where he reminded viewers the Constitution is “An American Thing, So Know It” and twice for his short film “Man On The Street.” He is also actively involved in our National Youth Advisory Board. He’s a working actor seen most recently in HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones and on April 15 in Netflix’s: Outer Banks. Dakare wishes to be an actor, but also a politician. But says you must be an actor to be a politician.