The Reunited States

I seriously don’t have to remind you that we’re a divided nation. Going onto my social media feeds is like watching mommy and daddy in the final fights before their divorce. While some are content with ending any further debate, digging in their heels, and ruthlessly fighting for their side, Ben Rekhi’s The Reunited States shines light on four Americans on a journey to bring civility back to our country—almost considered an act of treason today.

Susan Bro is the mother of Heather Heyer. Heather was killed at the 2018 Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville when a man drove his truck into a crowd of people. She is now dedicated to preventing other mothers from losing their children by seeking to understand better both sides of the protest and the racial issues that led up to this point.

“…shines light on four Americans on a journey to bring civility back to our country—almost considered an act of treason today.”

Greg Orman is attempting to do the virtually impossible, which is to be elected governor of Kansas as an independent. The task at hand is to convince voters that the two-party system is broken while realizing that being taken seriously as a viable third-party candidate is almost impossible. The ultimate challenge is convincing Kansas voters that voting for an independent does not mean that they are throwing their votes away.

Former Republican worker, David Leaverton, saw the error of his way by being part of the machine that sewed so much division in this nation. Along with his wife Erin, they set off in an RV to travel across the country and listen…listen to people whose voices are not being heard and comes to understand why they did not hear them. At every stop, they hold dinners and bring in members of both parties to listen to what is on their hearts and find common ground.

Lastly, Steven Oikara is the son of Indian immigrants and founder of the Millennial Action Project. When you look at Congress these past few decades, with few exceptions, voting goes straight down party lines as neither side can afford to give the other side a victory. Oikara’s sole purpose with MAP is to build a coalition of bi-partisan lawmakers to transform government, where opposing sides found ways to agree and compromise for the sake of the nation.