The importance of a national conversation

Usually an election year means important in-depth conversations on big national issues. This year it sometimes seems like were missing the forest through the tweets.

Thats not the way it used to be. When I was growing up, national conversations was so comprehensive and provocative that they resonated all the way to our dinner table. My mother is Cuban and black. My father is Australian and white. So we often talked about race, privilege. These were the topics of that period. We didn't always agree, but the conversations were always lively, and those discussions shaped the way I think about my work and my fellow Americans today.

Thats why Im honored to be able to have an impact on the current political environment, a chance to recreate the atmosphere of my youth when facts-driven, in-depth conversations were the rule, not the exception. On Friday, October 21st, I will be facilitating the third in the National Archives series of National Conversations , this one entitled, Womens Rights and Gender Equality, in New York City. Conversations like this one have been happening across the country this year -- first in Atlanta , for civil rights and justice, then in Chicago for LGBTQ human rights, and next month, in Los Angeles on immigration.

The National Conversation in New York will focus on womens rights, gender equality, and advocacy. The all-day event will feature panel discussions with national leaders and remarks by national figures and activists from across the country. These are people who have been fighting all their lives on these issues and so many more. I'm so looking forward to hearing their thoughts, seeing their strength, and moderating the inevitable disagreements.

There will be questions about how best to support women in the workplace, including a need for childcare and equal pay, discussions we need to have. There will be a dialogue about reproductive justice, race and violence, and financial empowerment. We will look at the challenges facing women in business, technology, and education. We will aspire to have discussions that transcend politics in a way that will truly move the discussion forward.

Too often our current political discussions digress into yelling, name-calling, and far worse. They even come from right behind campaign podiums. In these National Archives series of National Conversations we hope to show that civil disagreements are possible, that we get closer to achieving our goals if we can talk to each other in meaningful ways.

We need these conversations. Without them we are no more than 140 characters -- and not much more.

Soledad O'Brien , an award-winning producer, journalist, documentarian and news anchor, is CEO of Starfish Media Group. Follow her on Twitter @soledadobrien .