Note: this is an excerpt from a longer story written by Gabriella Timmis, a journalist with Braver Angels. The full text is available at: How a workshop in Michigan helped politically-divided strangers connect on something deeper – Braver Angels
On a Friday morning in the middle of spring, fifteen people drove across Michigan to attend our state’s first official Red/Blue Workshop in the little town of Alto, strategically chosen as a rough midpoint between the populous southeast and west sides of the state. I was among them.
I woke up at the crack of dawn in my childhood bedroom – my temporary refuge as I wrapped up graduate school finals – and prepared myself for the road trip ahead. I’d been the field reporter for Braver Angels since January but had yet to attend the organization’s premier workshop. It felt right to do it while I was back home amongst fellow Michiganders.
The workshop was first proposed in December when a handful of Michigan-based Braver Angels leaders were in a steering committee meeting, exploring ideas for the year ahead. Vince Boileau, a Red from Holland, Michigan, pitched an in-person Red/Blue Workshop. David Joseph, the Blue state coordinator from Southfield, Michigan, agreed to work with him on it, and momentum gradually built from there.
But it wasn’t easy at first. “There were so many obstacles,” Sarah Brabbs, one of the moderators for the workshop, said. “Bringing together different people with different beliefs and vulnerabilities – especially during COVID – felt insurmountable.” Luckily, they had an engine. “Vince became the fire who got us going, ‘okay, how can we do this?’ instead of, ‘why can’t we do this?’”
Lingering uncertainty around the trajectory of the pandemic eliminated many potential locations for the workshop, but the organizers were committed to making it work. Eventually, they found the perfect venue at Wildwood Family Farms, but it exceeded their allocated budget. “We decided to pony up and cover the extra costs ourselves,” David said. “My position was: if we believe this is necessary, we will do what we need to do to make this happen.” And they did.
Read more at: How a workshop in Michigan helped politically-divided strangers connect on something deeper – Braver Angels
