To truly understand a society, community, county, or country, the best approach is to engage directly with the people on the ground.

Sitting comfortably in rooms or making high-level analyses from afar may be intellectually easy, but such approaches often lack genuine insight and fail to capture the true spirit, aspirations, fears, and realities of the community members.

I had the unique opportunity to be part of Working America, an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), hired by the Democrats to conduct a house-to-house survey across Michigan.

This grassroots initiative aimed to explore the preferences of local communities regarding Michigan’s future, identify the biggest issues they face, and gauge their thoughts on the presidential candidates best equipped to address those challenges.

This experience provided invaluable insight into the real concerns of everyday people, bridging the gap between policy discussions and the lived experiences of the population.

Being part of the team conducting surveys across various localities in Michigan provided me with a profound understanding of the communities and the extent of freedom of expression and speech they experienced.

A stark and startling realization emerged from these surveys: while the White population generally enjoyed full freedom of speech, many other communities, particularly immigrant groups, lived without such rights.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024