The Purposeful Warrior: Standing Up for What’s Right When the Stakes Are High

From Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a road map for shattering the status quo and standing up for ourselves, our communities, and our country.

AN OPEN FIELD BOOK FROM MARIA SHRIVER

As Michigan’s Secretary of State and chief election official, Jocelyn Benson has overseen several of the highest turnout, most secure elections in the state’s history. But her life changed one snowy evening in December 2020 when armed protesters descended onto her doorstep, threatening her family. Her only crime: certifying a fair and accurate Presidential election in which the protesters’ preferred candidate - Donald Trump - did not win. Benson refused to back down. She stood her ground, spoke out louder, and helped expose and defeat a coordinated national effort to overturn the election.

In The Purposeful Warrior, Benson shows us how to turn fear and frustration into a fight for integrity and truth. She shares powerful stories from her rise in politics--investigating domestic terrorist cells, becoming the youngest woman in U.S. history to lead a top 100 law school, and running the Boston Marathon while more than eight months pregnant--as well as those of paradigm-shifters throughout history, to demonstrate how we can be warriors for ourselves and for each other. It starts when we stand up for others, call out bullies, raise our voices, and work with grace and grit to ensure truth, integrity, fairness and justice prevail - even when it is difficult, risky, and the stakes are high.

In times of intense conflict and anxiety it’s easy to believe we are powerless to make a difference. But we’re not. We are purposeful warriors. And we all have the power to define a better world.

Jocelyn Benson is Michigan’s Secretary of State. She ascended into the national spotlight during the 2020 election cycle as one of the ＂Women from Michigan＂, a group who led the effort to successfully stymy Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn with the results of Michigan’s presidential election. She was subsequently featured on the cover of Time Magazine and was honored with both the JFK Profile in Courage award and the Presidential Citizens Medal.