The Lesson from Des Moines, IA
By Rich Harwood
Just last week I sat in the home of Nan and Dan Valentine in Des Moines, Iowa. Unlike the presidential candidates zigzagging across the state asking for people’s votes, I was there to ask people about their lives and how we each can step forward to move our lives and nation forward.
I’ve now done 16 tour stops across the U.S. in the past few months, with multiple events at each one. Around the table in Des Moines, as in other parts of our nation, people tell me they’re deeply fearful and afraid of the polarization and acrimony shaping our lives.
Rich, Nan, Dan, and community members from Des Moines, IA.
In Des Moines, one person recounted how hard it has become to canvas for a presidential candidate, which he has done many times before. He said people are much more combative when they answer their door these days, if they answer at all.
And yet, as we all talked at Nan and Dan’s home, what became clear is that when we remove “partisan politics” from the discussion, when we pause long enough to suspend our fixed political positions, when we stop trying to “win” every argument—we can begin to see one another’s humanity again.
In Des Moines, and elsewhere, I find a deep, deep yearning among people to step forward and focus on our shared aspirations, become doers again, and take back a shared story rooted in a can-do spirit.
“There is work to do in our communities and country; and people want to get to work, together.”
Rich and others around Nan and Dan’s kitchen table in Des Moines.
American history tells us such change often begins in local communities and builds from there. Today is no different. In short, I believe our local communities will save our nation. For it is there we can turn outward toward one another, and provide a sense of dignity for all people, engender real hope, and include everyone in moving ahead.
The reception our message is getting is profound. As one person in my Des Moines conversation said, while conditions in the country keep getting worse, we are getting closer to a “turning point” where we will bottom out and eventually start on a new path.
I agree. But this will only happen if we—you, me and others—make the intentional choice to step forward to get on a more hopeful path and work to restore our belief that we get things done together.
This is the message of my new book and the Stepping Forward campaign, which will continue throughout 2020 and well into 2021. Let me be clear: I want to come to your community, conference or organization to talk about how we can get on this more hopeful path.