Hendrick Smith is clearly a very experienced and smart person. His experience covering grassroots movements and politics over the course of many years is very impressive. He talked about how he has been covering these stories for six presidencies, and has traveled to a very large number of countries, an opportunity that almost no one gets.

One statement Smith said that struck me was that to really understand a country, you can not just stay in the capitol. This will not provide you with a real understanding of what the true state of a nation is. Rather, it is necessary to travel outside of these bounds and go to the real parts of the country. He traveled to where the “every day” people lived in order to understand how life is like for the average citizen in these countries. By doing this, he is able to see and hear the opinions of the many, not just the thoughts of the few in power. He can report on and write about movements of the people, thoughts that may be common, but are not set by the location’s authorities.

People will always be fighting for just and fair treatment, and Smith has taken on the role of showing this to the world. This fact is true of any time period and of almost any location. He discusses how he was present for the civil rights movements of the sixties, where college campuses like Alabama and Ole Miss finally became integrated. Additionally, he talks about his involvement in the much more recent issues that have arisen such as gerrymandering or the unlimited funding of political campaigns. This shows that he has covered stories across many different time periods and also in any location, whether this is across the United States, or in countries around this globe.

Smith is very confident that any and all movements that are able to cause big impactful change in our country and around the world start from the bottom up. For something to be changed, it originally has to be something that not everyone agrees with, but some people that truly believe in their cause take action and do what is necessary to get things done. In collaboration with this, Smith said the movement is always beginning with the minority of people. That is, change like the movements he covers are never easy, and people will always be against a larger group when they are fighting for a difference.

Smith references the Citizens United Initiative when discussing strategy for reform, and how it can be more successful. He says the leader of this movement, Elaina Nunez, showed that fixing the political system was the gateway to making progress and reform. He explains it should be a top priority, which is not the case for many other movements.

I found it interesting how Smith discusses how in today’s society, movements can be more effective if they are not strictly based along party lines. With the growing number of young independents, over 50%, it is much smarter to embrace everyone and bring as many people into a movement as possible. It is much less relevant today how they may stand politically, as long as they support your cause.

This podcast was very insightful, and I would be interested in hearing more from Hendrick Smith about how change can be brought about, and the best ways and methods to do so.