Who knew that President Lyndon Johnson was a champion of civity!?!? During much of the pandemic I’ve been living in Arlington, Virginia. Early of a summer morning, before the heat of the day begins to rise, I often bike along the Potomac River. I pass by geese and goslings along with a few ducks, and …
Category Archives: Blog
The Push of Antiracism & the Pull of Civity
Beverly Daniel Tatum, psychologist and author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, provides a metaphor for racism that captures the feeling of being part of a larger system: the moving walkways that are found in many airports. Once you step onto the moving walkway, its motion carries you along. Even standing …
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Join Us for a Virtual Civity Workshop on June 24!
We are pleased to offer our first virtual open-to-the-public workshop! If you haven’t experienced a Civity workshop yet, you can take advantage of this from wherever you are. Get a first-hand experience of how Civity works with leaders to build “social muscle,” cultivating relationships of respect, empathy and trust across difference. You’ll have a chance …
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“It’s All About Relationships” – Civity, Systems, and Philanthropy
Civity has, from the beginning, taken a systems approach to social change. In complex adaptive social systems – such as our communities, our nation, and our world – it is the interactions of the people within them – our relationships – that create the system’s energy and character. The challenges and injustices that we see and experience are created by us – all of us.
A Civity Foundation for A House Divided
Dear Friends- As we look ahead – coming off of the challenges of 2020 and the turbulent beginning to 2021 – Civity’s vision and Civity’s work are more vital than ever. We are seeing once again how race and class – the deep cracks in the foundation of our democracy – can lead to physical …
Civity Is Now Offering Virtual Workshops!
Civity is excited to announce that we are now offering virtual workshops! We are thrilled to share this opportunity at a time when pandemic isolation is keeping us apart. Throughout this year, we’ve been hearing the same thing from our community partners again and again: People are hungrier than ever for spaces and opportunities in …
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Civity Stories: CFRA Jordan Feyerherm
Civity Leader: Jordan Feyerherm Organization: Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA) “When I think about what a welcoming community looks like,” says CFRA’s Jordan Feyerherm, “it’s not just saying the right things. It’s coming together and working for your fellow community member when they need it and when someone comes to threaten that sense of community.” …
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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