Civity is everywhere! All over the country, people are acknowledging that political and social divides are making it more difficult to address a range of challenging community issues. And all over the country, people are recognizing how civity and the relational infrastructure that civity creates are essential for community resilience. We are thrilled to announce …
Author Archives: Malka Ranjana Kopell
A Civity Social Contract
It is time to be honest with ourselves about the social contract of the United States, the core of our shared understanding about who We the People are and how we are going to be with each other. Most of us learn the basics of this social contract in elementary school. We are stirred by …
Civity Dreams
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are having weird and vivid dreams. Some of these dreams may be due to the anxiety many of us are feeling; others are due simply to the radical shifts in how we are living our everyday lives. One of the ways, apparently, that we as individuals respond …
Where We Gather – Missing Our “Third Places”
The COVID-19 shelter-in-place protocols are keeping us apart. Soccer and baseball fields lie empty, as do picnic tables and playgrounds, beaches and trails. Restaurants and coffee shops are in-and-out or delivery operations. Barber shops and hair salons are closed. The doors of churches, synagogues, and mosques are locked. And library buildings are quiet. Not even …
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Civity Is Up to Us
The fundamental question facing any community or society is how its members are going to be with each other. This question is more pressing now than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic is taking lives, and the shelter-in-place directives aimed at saving lives are devastating many people’s livelihoods. A natural disaster is creating a social and economic …
Seeding Civity in Welcoming America Communities …Moving Forward!
Earlier this fall, in partnership with Welcoming America, we offered our services to four of their Welcoming Network members following an RFP process. We have now started seeding civity in San Jose, CA; Champaign-Urbana, IL; Salt Lake County, UT; and Pittsburgh, PA. One of the most exciting things about these new communities is getting to …
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Weaving a Civity Cloth
New York Times columnist David Brooks brings a compelling voice to the conversation about how Americans should be with each other. He has been bearing witness to the pain of feeling isolated and disconnected, of feeling forgotten and left behind. He has been speaking and writing about dignity, decency, and truthfulness. In talking to people …
Listening to Understand the “Who” as Well as the “What”
Larry Kramer, president of the Hewlett Foundation, recently asserted the value of “listening with empathy” in the nation’s current political and social climate of “polarization” and “tribalism.” It is essential, he says, for us to be able to “debate and reason with those with whom we disagree.” Kramer also asserts that listening to others, even …
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Civity Update: Standing Up for Connection in a Divided Country
At a time when “our divided country” is all the buzz at cocktail parties (well, at least the cocktail parties I’m going to!), Civity is standing up for connection, compassion, and conversation. And Civity is not alone. Other organizations with aligned missions – The Village Square, One America Movement, Everyday Democracy, Islamic Networks Group, Living …
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Civity Update: Growing the Civity Counter-Story
I’m writing at my desk in San Francisco, where terrible fires have been burning just north of me over the last few weeks. I have been glued to the radio, TV and Internet, trying to discover news of friends and colleagues and hearing terrible stories of death and loss of homes. I have also been …
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