Dear John:
There’s been growing interest in People’s Action’s deep canvassing work. We’ve had thousands of volunteers sign up since Rolling Stone ran this piece about our work.
Many sign up because they want to have an impact on an issue or an election. But something unexpected has come of these conversations, in many cases impacting not only the canvassed, but also the canvassers themselves.
Something profound happens between the two people having a deep canvass conversation. A new space opens up for the canvassed person to reflect and reexamine their views on issues.
And because this happens so consistently, from one 15-20 minute conversation, the canvasser begins to see people with whom we may not see eye-to-eye on many things in a new light.
I invite you to listen to the second episode of our new podcast, To See Each Other, and go deep with one of our canvassers from our member organization, Michigan United. The canvasser, Caitlin, tells the story of how she applies what she learned canvassing to move hearts and minds on immigration to personal relationships back home with people who have views different than her own.
Caitlin’s story is one of several featured in To See Each Other. This new documentary podcast challenges the idea of writing off people and places. Since being released, To See Each Other has consistently ranked as a top documentary podcast on leading podcast platforms. And this episode, “Learning How To Listen,” appears to be a favorite.
You can listen to the whole series here, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
I hope you'll listen!
In solidarity,
George Goehl
People’s Action
