Good luck to David Isay.
And he’s going to need it, I expect, with his mission to heal this nation.
He wants to make it easier for the Reds and Blues to be in the same room, or same town or state or country.
In fact, that’s his strategy. Put a couple of political opposites face-to-face and let them talk.
Of course, it’s a bit more involved than that, but that’s the basic process he is using. And it’s a process he knows has the amazing power to connect two people.
If they take the time to talk to and really listen to each other.
Isay is the guy behind StoryCorps that began in 2003 with a single recording booth.
“The idea was simple: to create a place for loved ones to honor one another with the sacred act of listening, and to have their story become part of history at the Library of Congress,” he explains.
“In the nearly 20 years since then, we have recorded 600,000 Americans – people from cities and towns in all 50 states – making StoryCorps the largest collection of human voices ever gathered.
“The good that can result from two people truly listening to each other has been on my mind a lot recently, as the divisions in our country have deepened to the point of violence,” he said.
Well, now he’s mixing it up a bit by starting a new initiative called “One Small Step” that asks two strangers with opposite political views to step into a conversation together.
“Conversations we believe can mend the fabric of our nation,” Isay said, noting his experiment is being tested in four cities: Wichita, Shreveport, Richmond and Birmingham.
Isay referred to a 2020 study that shows about 40% of Americans view the other party as “downright evil.” And the tendency to support violence to achieve political goals has increased from 8% to more than 33% in the past three years.
The secret to success lies in what he calls “the sacred act of listening.”
“Listening takes focus, commitment and patience,” he said. “It’s not easy, but it’s critical to regaining our humanity.
“These small steps, taken one conversation at a time, are a powerful reminder that no matter how fierce our political differences, our fellow citizens are our neighbors, not our enemies,” he said.
“After all, it’s hard to hate up close.”
The process works if you follow his simple rules. Rules that could just as easily be applied the next time you are on the verge of a political shouting match.
Here’s how it works: two strangers agree to meet. (The meeting “room” is virtual ... online ... to protect against COVID-19.)
Then talk, but not head-on about politics.
“Take a moment to reflect upon and share what we care about and the dreams we have for our future generations,” Isay explains.
There’s no cost. Just the time it takes to listen and share personal feelings. StoryCorps matches the two and provides a short autobiography (first names only) and both agree to questions ahead.
Questions can be like:
• Who has been the most influential person in your life? What did they teach you?
• Do you ever feel misunderstood by people with different beliefs than you (i.e. by people from “the other side of the aisle”)? How so?
• Is there something about my beliefs that you don’t agree with, but still respect?
The conversations are not directly about politics, Isay said.
“They are about who we are as people and what we share as Americans,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to talk about the life experiences that formed your values, and to listen with respect while learning about the person across from you.”
The key is listening, of course. That involves more than hearing. It requires an attempt to understand the meaning of what is being said.
The goal is to understand where differences come from and embrace what people have in common.
Also, I have to believe the process helps individuals better understand their own beliefs and how they were formed.
Isay says he has seen success, using Wichita participants as an example.
“We have matched people from different backgrounds in Wichita, facilitated and recorded their conversations,” Isay said.
“The interviews are about 40 minutes long. Already we’re hearing that after these conversations, participants want to stay connected – despite their differences.”
This process cannot be easy for some. The fact that someone would volunteer to try this through StoryCorps, however, is more than one small step.
Getting two opposites willing to listen to each other is a huge step forward. And Isay is doing that.
Again, the keyword is listen. Listen to more than my words. Listen to me and see who I am.
Know what is important to me, where I come from, what I want for my home, my family, myself and my country.
Do that and you will see we are not that different. And we can stand together on the common ground.
So yes, good luck, David Isay. And Godspeed.
• Lonny Cain is the retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa and was a reporter for the Herald-News in the 1970s. Email him at lonnyjcain@gmail.com.