What do we face today? What are we willing to look at, see, engage with? What is asked of each of us, and all of us, especially as the scourge of COVID continues to ravage our nation, our economy sputters and indiscriminately spits people out, and systemic racism calls out to us to bravely step up and take action?
Read MoreIn response to the four crises we face—COVID-19, economic turmoil, systemic racism, and political breakdown—foundations, corporations, and other groups are all running into the void offering more funding and more resources to various causes and groups. All good. And yet these alone will not enable us to seize this moment.
Read MoreWhile there is so much to despair these days, there are also signs of hope resting just beyond it. We must be willing to open our hearts to our collective despair, grab hold of it, and turn it and us into something better.
We see such signs of hope in the protests that have only kept growing.
Read MoreI’m announcing a new national initiative called Engaging Frontline Civic Leaders in Responding to COVID-19. We’re sending this questionnaire to you and thousands of public innovators in our national network. These open-ended questions will help us all to better understand how you and others are responding to COVID-19 and what we need to do to move forward in our communities and as a nation.
Read MoreLike you, I find myself intensely wrestling with the effects of this pandemic. On so many levels, in so many ways, our lives are fundamentally changing before our very eyes, and it is nearly impossible to predict what will happen in the days and weeks ahead. But here are some things I have been thinking about.
Read MoreOn my office wall, I have a sign from Newtown, Connecticut that I got after my work helping the community respond to its school massacre, which reads: “Our collective strength and resilience will be an example to the rest of the world.”
I am recalling these signs now as panic and fear grips the nation over the coronavirus.
Read MoreThis blog comes to you one day after the South Carolina primary and two days before Super Tuesday. As I write this to you, the results aren’t in yet. But what I do know is that regardless of what happens, there is profound and troubling anxiety running throughout America today.
What are we to do with all our anxiety?
Read MoreOn this President’s Day, I find myself drawn to President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, presented on March 4, 1865. It could have been written yesterday. We must heed it today.
“With malice toward none, with charity for all…”
Read MoreThis week’s political events unfolding in the nation’s capital are just one more indication of why local communities must lead the way in placing our shared lives on a more hopeful, inclusive path.
We can do better. We must.
Read MoreAs MLK Day nears, I am reminded of work that we’re doing in Jackson, MS. Just recently, we released A New Civic Covenant: Jackson Ready To Step Forward, which sets out an inspiring agreement among a diverse group of local leaders to work together to make real and lasting progress for the community.
Read MoreAround the table in Des Moines, as in other parts of our nation, people tell me they’re deeply fearful and afraid of the polarization and acrimony shaping our lives.
Our local communities will save our nation. For it is there we can turn outward toward one another, and provide a sense of dignity for all people, engender real hope, and include everyone in moving ahead.
Read MoreWhile tired old debates rage over politics and policy in the wake of this new violence, our social norms rot away. So many people feel utterly bewildered and enraged about the direction of our country. Many of us also feel powerless. But we are not. It is a dire mistake to wait for our politicians to reset our social norms. They are waiting for us.
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