To See Each Other is a documentary series that complicates the narrative about rural Americans in our most misunderstood, and often abandoned, communities. Host George Goehl - a leading grassroots organizer - travels to Michigan, Iowa, New Jersey, North Carolina and Indiana to reveal how small town folks are working together in fights for everything from clean water and racial justice to immigrant rights and climate change. The show believes that when we see each other, we’ll understand that we can never give up on each other.

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This is To See Each Other. Throughout this season, we’ll meet everyday people who are reshaping small-town America. In this first episode, our host, George Goehl, Director of People’s Action, shares more about growing up in Medora, Indiana, and the economic devastation that’s left his hometown and so many others feeling left behind. By resisting the urge to write these communities off as Trump country, organizers are building people power, listening to their neighbors, and building community. Because when we see each other, we change the world together.

You can learn more at ToSeeEachOther.org

People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations united in fighting for justice.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we're traveling to Michigan, where we hear how our politics are separating us from our neighbors, from our families, and from our friends — and how listening can bring us back together again.

In Michigan, deep listening animates the immigration work of Michigan United. George visits with Ryan Bates, director of Michigan United, and Caitlin Homrich-Knieling, a native of The Thumb, and the leader of Michigan United’s Hometown Voices program. Caitlin organizes volunteers and staff to go door to door, meeting constituents — many of them older and white — where they’re at, and fostering conversations with radical empathy. Just as Caitlin herself has discovered, deep listening helps us rediscover the dignity of everyone’s experience, and helps us rediscover ourselves, as well.

You can learn more at ToSeeEachOther.org

People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations united in fighting for justice.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The fight for clean water is a form of inequality. The people who are poisoning the well and those who have to drink from it. The people who have access to water and those who don't. The people who can afford to be healthy and those who can't. George takes us to Iowa, to the frontlines of an intergenerational, intersectional fight for the right to clean water and a return to a stewardship of the earth, while local farmers push against corporate greed and environmental contamination.

In Iowa, as factory farms have been poisoning the drinking water, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement has been re-imagining what rural Iowa’s community looks like. In this episode, George talks with Hugh Espey, Director of Iowa CCI; Larry Ginter, a retired, third-generation farmer based in Rhodes; Emma Schmit, an organizer with Food and Water Watch; and Lakeisha Perkins, a lifelong Des Moines resident and Iowa CCI community organizer. They’ve discovered that it’s not greed or individualism that bind Iowans together. It’s a concern for everyone’s safety, a commitment to responsible stewardship of the land, and leaning on each other.

In honor of the great Joe Fagan.

You can learn more at ToSeeEachOther.org

People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations united in fighting for justice.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Climate change is a relentless disaster. It is wreaking havoc on entire regions, countries, and continents, which will need to be rebuilt and reorganized. While we do all we can to prevent that decimation from happening, we also have to learn from the rebuilding and recovery that we do do. In New Jersey, we get the chance to learn from Hurricane Sandy survivors who refuse to give up and let their community be washed away, against all odds.

During this episode of To See Each Other, George talks to members of the New Jersey Organizing Project, who have been building solidarity among Jersey Shore residents since Hurricane Sandy. Co-founder Amanda Devecka-Rinear is joined by Sandy survivors Jody Stewart, a native of Little Egg and NJOP organizer; Alison Arne, an NJOP organizer; and Chuck Griffin, a victim of contractor fraud who has found solidarity through NJOP. Coming from across the political spectrum, NJOP’s membership doesn’t always agree on climate change. But from the wreckage, they have found collective purpose and are remaking their community together.

You can learn more at ToSeeEachOther.org

People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations united in fighting for justice.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In North Carolina, we see friendships being forged in the face of centuries of racism; anti-racist organizing happening at the corner of Plantation and Corporation avenues; and meet a historical political candidate, a Black woman quite literally from the wrong side of the tracks, campaigning to co-govern with her community.

In Alamance County, Down Home North Carolina has been building a multi-racial grassroots movement against white supremacy. George talks to Brigid Flaherty, co-founder of Down Home North Carolina; Sugelema Lynch, a Latinx mother; Pat Rogers, a young white engineer; and Dreama Caldwell, who’s running to serve as Alamance County’s first Black woman Commissioner. For all of them, meeting the left-behind where they are is key to transforming the landscape. And it’s creating a new common identity that Alamance County can be proud of.

This episode features additional music by Jake and Sarah Owen.

You can learn more at ToSeeEachOther.org

People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations united in fighting for justice.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In our final episode, George goes home to Indiana. It's a place where the most pressing issues of our time come together, and maybe our solutions too. We'll meet a doctor, a mother, and a recovering addict doing their best to mobilize their community, eradicate their shame, speak, and work with compassion to help their neighbors and win change against the odds.

Hoosier Action is refusing to give up on fellow Hoosiers. George recalls growing up in Indiana with Kate Hess Pace, founder of Hoosier Action. Members of Hoosier Action like Tyla Barrick Pond, Scott County physician Dr. William Cooke, and Tracy Skaggs detail environmental hazards and the devastations of Indiana’s opioid epidemic. Together, they have made space for shame to turn into vulnerability and creative resilience. All these Hoosiers — George included — testify to how when we see each other, we strengthen our communities together. And we win.

Additional music this episode by Brad Leftwich and the Humdingers.

You can learn more at ToSeeEachOther.org

People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations united in fighting for justice.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we're here with a special bonus story from Michigan.

This is the story of MariaElena Fournier, who lives in Detroit and who is out in the field right now traveling throughout Michigan, asking questions and holding really profound conversations - that change all the people involved.

MariaElena was born in Puerto Rico and moved to the mainland as a child. After navigating a difficult relationship with a white supremacist roommate in college, they were “bewildered” by people’s openness in rural areas when they were participating in the deep canvass — which gave them incredible hope. They shared their story with us.

And be sure to listen to all 6 episodes of To See Each Other wherever you're listening to this!

You can learn more at ToSeeEachOther.org

People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations united in fighting for justice.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.