Civil Unity

In “Civil Unity”, Shola Richards presents a vision of how civility. not polite passivity, can become a radical way to heal division. He argues that today’s fractured discourse, full of polarization, hostility, and misunderstanding, demands a new path: intentional, courageous engagement rooted in respect, empathy, and boundaries. He challenges us to reimagine how we disagree, how we listen, and how we extend dignity even to those with whom we fiercely disagree.

Richards doesn’t treat civility as a soft nicety or a passive surrender. Instead, he offers actionable tactics, “intentional consistent interventions” for how to engage more skillfully: setting ground rules before hard conversations, tracking emotional triggers, calling out fallacies and biases, and creating space for accountability and respect. He balances the personal and the systemic, showing how improving our own inner posture toward disagreement gives us the credibility and capacity to influence culture around us.

At its heart, “Civil Unity” is both a manifesto and a practical guide. Richards weaves in his own journey, from experiencing workplace toxicity to becoming a civility advocate, to humanize the stakes, and he invites every reader to act: to be civil in our conversations, to push past fear and indifference, and to model unity in our own spheres. He makes the case that while one person cannot fix all divides, each person can manufacture civil space in their relationships and communities and that accumulated, those efforts can shift how we talk, lead, and live together.