Excellent post—actionable for elected officials. Communal civic spaces are so important for creating a sense of belonging and strengthening civic spirit and capacity. When people don’t have those things, they are disconnected, are disenfranchised from decision-making (I see this particularly with public schools where parents have no power or voice, except when the real topic— the quality of a young persons educational experience — spills into culture wars issues) and lose hope.
Re: welcoming people. I remember the Welcome Wagon women from growing up—every time someone moved into town, they got a call from a woman who came over with a lovely welcome, a bit of conversation and a welcome basket. The caveat is that our town was almost 100 percent white—I’m wondering how this would have been different in a multiracial community—though I bet I know the answer.
In our community many of the newcomers are Hispanic, so are not openly welcomed (at least by the White community) for many reasons—language, class, politics. Having said that, there ARE places they are welcomed and can get some services and food.
I wasn't aware of these strategies by the Democracy Policy Network to make citizenship “something much more than voting, as an existential sense of membership.” It’s fascinating. This sense of citizenship as meaningful civic belonging, I think, would help us understand Paul’s remark about citizenship—and the Philippians' evident concern about their citizenship (or lack of citizenship) in Ancient Rome.
Excellent post—actionable for elected officials. Communal civic spaces are so important for creating a sense of belonging and strengthening civic spirit and capacity. When people don’t have those things, they are disconnected, are disenfranchised from decision-making (I see this particularly with public schools where parents have no power or voice, except when the real topic— the quality of a young persons educational experience — spills into culture wars issues) and lose hope.
Re: welcoming people. I remember the Welcome Wagon women from growing up—every time someone moved into town, they got a call from a woman who came over with a lovely welcome, a bit of conversation and a welcome basket. The caveat is that our town was almost 100 percent white—I’m wondering how this would have been different in a multiracial community—though I bet I know the answer.
In our community many of the newcomers are Hispanic, so are not openly welcomed (at least by the White community) for many reasons—language, class, politics. Having said that, there ARE places they are welcomed and can get some services and food.
I wasn't aware of these strategies by the Democracy Policy Network to make citizenship “something much more than voting, as an existential sense of membership.” It’s fascinating. This sense of citizenship as meaningful civic belonging, I think, would help us understand Paul’s remark about citizenship—and the Philippians' evident concern about their citizenship (or lack of citizenship) in Ancient Rome.