One woman's post on Facebook:
“I’d like to take on gerrymandering in Michigan. If you’re interested in doing this as well please let me know.”
She added a smiley face emoji.
24 months later, the people of Michigan voted by a 2-to-1 margin to end gerrymandering in our Great Lakes State.
It's a story of coming together as one nonpartisan voice. It's a story of working through the details to do what's right for the people of Michigan. Organizers were dedicated. Not because they were getting paid. Because they were civic minded. They believed that Michiganders, of all political parities, would come together to do what's right.
You can almost hear the voice of the people ringing out as these signature gatherers deliver petitions to Lansing.
This is fellowship. This effort was built with a civil tone. It takes a belief in civility to bring two-thirds of the people together to agree on any idea. And this wasn't just anything - this was solving a problem that plagued Michigan for over two hundred years.
Civility is bringing people together to solve a shared problem. Civility is how you get more than 425,000 people to sign petitions. Civility is how you stand firm as an advocate for the people when you're drawn into court battles. This is the power of people.
This is what Civility looks like.