“America is crying out in pain, but I would submit that we have a choice in this very moment. We retreat into our comfortable homogeneous tribes and lash out. Or we step out and bravely step forward into a different future—a future that’s built on fresh, authentic relationships that weave a stronger social fabric and local communities, and build bridges across our differences.”
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How do we work across differences to create a future with all people and places thriving?
CIVIC LIFE IS ABOUT LIVING, LEARNING, AND WORKING TOGETHER, as shared stewards, to shape our common world. It encompasses the infinite ways that people may connect and contribute to their community and society: from voting in an election, organizing a neighborhood arts festival, standing up for a just cause, or doing everyday work with pride in its public impacts and civic significance.
For the last several decades, many democratic norms and structures have been decaying, while mistrust has been rising. Pernicious forces, such as systemic racism, hyperindividualism, and partisan division are also causes and consequences of declining civic life. The physical distancing of COVID-19 reminds us that we are social beings. The crisis has revealed a civic silver lining, shown in an outpouring of civic generosity and mutual aid. However, public displays of racial injustice remind us of the many ways we are not yet in right relationships with each other.
This is a legacy moment, an opportunity to reimagine and renew our civic life. We have a chance now to embrace our interdependence and strengthen the civic muscle we need to create just and productive communities. Success depends on our ability to create pluralistic spaces that foster relationships of belonging, ensuring everyone has the privilege and motivation to contribute to a thriving community.
This issue is dedicated to the ways the WIN Network and our partners are moving toward civic renewal. Explore signs of momentum and trend bending ideas on Thriving.US.
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Overcoming Polarization through Local Dialogue and Storytelling
By Joan Blades and Parisa Parsa
Access Code: TT21
Civic connection and cohesion have diminished in too many places in recent years, as have our levels of trust in institutions and ability to take collective action for the common good. As our disconnections have become increasingly apparent, individuals and organizations have recognized a need to restore connections that have been strained as well as create connections that may never have existed.
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Civic Engagement and Inclusion Through Art
by Michael Greer
Access Code: TT21
Our country is emerging from the most engaged civic exercise in American history. More individuals exercised their right to vote than in any other time in the past hundred years, and the context of this election was one dominated by events that will shape our world for a generation. Arts and culture are another important vehicle for engaging with our communities.
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Photo by Path with Art, Path with Art dance class.
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Partnering with Healthcare to Create Career Pathways
Build Healthy Places Network
Learn more about how community economic development organizations can partner with healthcare institutions to create career pathways in underserved and BIPOC communities.
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National Week of Conversation 2021
June 14-20
National Week of Conversation 2021, the fourth annual, is powered by the #ListenFirst Coalition of 300+ organizations and invites Americans of all stripes to listen, extend grace, and discover common interests.
Pick an event and join the movement!
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2021 All-America City Awards Event
June 7-June 9
The National Civic League is hosting the 2021 All-America City Awards Event virtually from Monday, June 7th, to Wednesday, June 9th.
This year's virtual event will include community presentations to a panel of judges and workshops and roundtable discussions tackling issues such as racial equity and resilience.
Keynote speakers include Dr. Gail C. Christopher, D.N. and Honorable Lori Lightfoot, Mayor of Chicago, IL.
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Commons Good
Michael Romy Greer, Artsfund Seattle
In this episode we’re talking with Michael Greer about the arts and it’s essential role in our social and civic fabric. We might also consider it’s role in our economy. The arts industry employs more than 5 million people and drives 900 billion in economic activity across our nation. The choices we make in the next six months about how we support and find our intersectionality with the arts will impact the next 60 years.
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Peace Podcast
Joan Blades, Co-Founder of MoveOn.org and Living Room Conversations
In this episode we’re talking with Michael Greer about the arts and it’s essential role in our social and civic fabric. We might also consider it’s role in our economy. The arts industry employs more than 5 million people and drives 900 billion in economic activity across our nation. The choices we make in the next six months about how we support and find our intersectionality with the arts will impact the next 60 years.
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TOOLS TO BUILD WELL-BEING
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Institute for Healthcare Improvement Forum
The IHI Forum will give health care professionals a platform to learn and contribute to a shared vision of quality, equitable care for all. Submit a speaking proposal for the IHI Forum 2021. All proposals are due by May 24, 2021.
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Data Capitalism and Algorithmic Racism
By Yeshimabeit Milner and Amy Traub
Data Capitalism and Algorithmic Racism
Big companies are using data to preserve the power imbalance that keeps them rich. This economic model is rooted in chattel slavery and relies on the extraction and commodification of data.
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The West Lakes Community Wellness Center, Orlando, Florida
by Ashley Hernandez and DaJaneil McCree
Lift Orlando continues to leverage assets in the neighborhood along with the resources of the broader community with the intent of achieving measurable results in asset-based neighborhood transformation.
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Shareable
5/20 at 10:55 AM PT / 1:55 PM ET
This interactive dialogue with librarians who manage farmers' markets, summer feeding programs, community fridges, and culinary literacy centers will focus on building understanding of the unique roles of local librarians in community food systems.
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Rising Majority
5/22 at 10:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET
The Rising Majority presents an art workshop led by Durham based artist Saba Taj.
We recognize that resilience is something we cultivate out of a need to survive that which oppresses us. We hold that side by side with a desire to care for ourselves and one another.
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ChangeLab Solutions
5/25 at 1:00 PM PT / 4:00 PM ET
Planning policies guide many decisions about how, where, when, and why the public and private sectors invest in communities. But planning processes have not treated all communities equitably, and planning policies have played a central role in creating and perpetuating discrimination.
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