It took billions of dollars and dozens of years to dig a huge political trench through America. And right now, all of us – left, right and center – are getting hurt by the folks who dug it.
In the coming weeks and months, the conversations you have with folks who voted differently, and the actions you take with your political allies, will help determine what kind of country we live in.
Here are some thoughts on conversations and demonstrations:
Conversations
It’s time to talk with Trump voters. That can feel nerve-wracking but disillusioned Trump voters are valuable allies. So, two of my former consulting colleagues, and current Citizen Joy partners, Janet Watson and Martin Ganapoler, and I have created a FREE Zoom workshop that will give you concrete conversational tools for bridging this great divide. Our first session is full so please send me an email if you’d like to hear about others.
Direct Action
It’s time to hit the streets again, and many of us are nervous. We all want to follow John Lewis as he gets into ‘good trouble’, but we know what happened on the other side of the Edmond Pettus bridge. I’ve never had my skull fractured, although I have been teargassed, arrested and shot at by the national guard. It’s all scary.
But what I remember most about growing up in the embattled streets of Berkeley is the beauty of chanting with thousands of people, the love and protection I felt as ‘the kid’ hanging out at Peoples’ Park and the joy of watching the East Bay Sharks perform their radical retelling of the Noah’s Ark story in Sproul Plaza during a riot. And I learned that we, the people, could change our country for the better, that together we could help form a more perfect union.
See you on a Zoom session and at a demonstration on Saturday, April 5 and beyond!
