Hello, Blog Friends
It has been exactly one year since I've last posted a blog.
The reason for this abstinence isn't a lack of anything happening. Quite the opposite.
In 2017, I enlisted as a volunteer with a campaign to amend the Michigan constitution and end gerrymandering in our state. I served on a regional council as the Outreach Coordinator in Southwest Michigan.
In early 2018, I became the Public Education Coordinator in that same geographical area.
Having worked solo as a freelance writer for most of my professional career, I suddenly found myself coordinating nearly 150 other volunteers who were also eager to deliver the anti-gerrymander message. What a growth experience ... for all of us!
In the three months prior to last November's general election, our regional Education Committee delivered nearly 200 presentations to public audiences in seven counties.
Our speaking venues ranged from formal service club meetings and church gatherings to information tables at farmers markets, fairs, and festivals. Believe me, it was quite a ride.
In 2017, over 4,000 Michigan volunteers collected more than 425,000 signatures, well above the required minimum of 315,654.
Our validation rate was an amazing 92 percent, well beyond what "experts" said was possible by unpaid, volunteer petition circulators.
But the experts and the skeptics -- or even the opposition -- had no yardstick to measure our passion.
In the summer of 2018, our ballot proposal overcame legal challenges put forth by the status quo in both the Michigan Appellate Court and the Michigan Supreme Court.
On Election Day, Michigan voters approved our amendment by an overwhelming 61 percent ... a landslide victory.
Today, this citizen initiative is now engraved in our state constitution. The foul practice of gerrymandering, which deters representational democracy, is no longer part of Michigan's political landscape.
After the next decennial census in 2020, the legislative districts for the Michigan House of Representatives, the Michigan Senate, and the US congressional districts in Michigan will be drawn by an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission ... not the ruling political party in the state legislature, as had been the previous norm.
If you live in Michigan, you already know this. If you want to read more, search online for keywords "gerrymandering" or "gerrymandering in Michigan" or the name of our volunteer-based organization,
Voters Not Politicians.
But back to the blogs.
Prior to my involvement with Voters Not Politicians, I had drafted a series of short stories on the Civil Rights Movement in America. I had posted the first two installments in January and February a year ago.
Then came the hiatus. With my next blog, I'm going to rekindle that series. I'll start by repeating those first two.
Those blogs are based on a
Living Legacy Pilgrimage that I and 34 others went on in November 2016, traveling by bus to 13 locations in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama.
The content of these blogs covers the deep issues of colorism, racism, slavery, segregation, suppression, violence and murder, hope, prayer, resourcefulness, courage, and determination to overcome.
The stories you will read in upcoming weeks are historical. Yet, the underlying message is ongoing.
Because, sadly, the story of suppression versus civil rights is still woven into the fabric of America's social structure today.
It appears in the form of white supremacy, immigrant alienation, voter disenfranchisement, attacks on women's' rights, threats and violence against people of certain religions and lifestyles, and other malpractices.
It is woven into the practice of gerrymandering that packs African American voters into a few legislative districts and, thus, dilutes the power of their voices in the broader political arena.
Yes, there is a connection between then and now.
Inequality might not be as overt and obvious as enslavement, but it is still present. The elite have just gotten slyer and slicker with their subversion.
Removing gerrymandering from their bag of tricks is a step in the right direction.
I'm proud to have been a part of that campaign in Michigan. And I'm also glad to now be back in the practice of writing and sharing my stories with you.
Please read on.
This is the story of a people, of hopes and dreams, of challenge and change. It is an American story. This story and struggle that started many centuries ago continues today ... with you.
--Statement from the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot and killed on April 4, 1968
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