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The Tony Awards this past Sunday night made me aware of a play I’d never heard of —What the Constitution Means to Me. 

 Really?  A play with that title nominated for the “Best Play” of 2019? I google’d it.

Written and performed by Heidi Schreck, it tells the story of the effects this historic document has had on generations of women, including those in her own family.  Wow.  Who’d have thought?  Obviously a gifted writer and actor with something to say that’s resonating. Because it’s on Broadway, or technically off-Broadway, the play could make Americans more aware of what the Constitution actually says than what we hear in snippets on the news.

What Else I Found

That info became the first act, so to speak, of my research. A copy of the “Preamble of the Constitution” then caught my eye. The first three words were writ large and with flourishes.   Descriptions of the document explained  that the Preamble is the introduction, the overture,  to the  highest law of the land.  It sets the stage for the Constitution.  it’s also the most overlooked part. 

In one sentence, 52 words—

  “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” (Italics, mine)

What an awesome concept.  We the people.  Not We the Congress.   Not We the President. Not We the Bureaucrats.  Not We the Talking Heads.

We the People.   

“In 1787, no country in the world had ever allowed its citizens to select their own form of government, much less to select a democratic government. What was revolutionary when it was written, and what continues to inspire the world today, is that the Constitution put governance in the hands of the people.” (National Constitution Center)

The People?

 It seems the only times I hear those two words used together are when political candidates describe the White House as “The People’s House.”  Or when they refer to what’s getting done — or not — in Washington as “The People’s Business.” (Lots of squabbles these days about who has the right to know what goes on in “the people house” and what exactly constitutes “the people’s business.”)

Not often heard is We the people.

The events unfolding in our country today are different from those of 1787.  Thanks to the Internet and social media, they also play out on a much larger stage in front of a world-wide audience.  Arguably with some bad actors.  

 So Consider

What role do we the people play today to ensure a more perfect union and  our country’s domestic tranquillity?