The word “civity” is not new. The Oxford English Dictionary lists “civity” as an archaic, no-longer-used word for “city.” “Civity” calls us back to the essence of “city,” which originally meant the people. The people of a city. Civity comes from the Latin civis, meaning citizen, and civitas, meaning the body of citizens. Other English …
Category Archives: Blog
Seeding Civity: An Update From Louisville
We asked Louisville community leaders to share examples of spaces in the Louisville community where they see Civity connections happening or potential for them to happen. Over the past year, we have been steadily strengthening the foundations for Civity connection in Louisville, Kentucky—the 29th most-populous city in the U.S. and one of the pilot communities …
Continue reading “Seeding Civity: An Update From Louisville”
Seeing Beyond the Title: Supporting Civity Conversations at the Human Library
This summer, Civity worked closely with Derek Wolfgram and Jenny Barnes from the Redwood City Public Library to help bring to life the city’s first-ever Human Library event. The Human Library project—launched 18 years ago in Denmark—challenges stereotypes and prejudices through one-on-one conversations. In a Human Library, the “Books” are people with “Titles” such as …
Continue reading “Seeing Beyond the Title: Supporting Civity Conversations at the Human Library”
Claudia Cohen & Everyday Dignity
Acts of dehumanization and humiliation are tools of war and submission. But, the flip side – the impact of offering dignity and acknowledging humanity, is less well studied. Claudia Cohen has coined the phrase everyday dignity to describe small acts that can restore our humanity. Cohen is adjunct faculty at the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Columbia Teachers College, and a founding member of the Summit Interfaith Council Anti-racism Committee and Anti-Racism Community Collaborative in Westfield/Scotch Plains, NJ.
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 …
Continue reading “Civity Update: Standing Up for Connection in a Divided Country”
Civity, Relationships, and the Art of Playground Jump Rope
“Relationships carry action verbs. Love. Marry. Rule. Fight. Correspond. Mix.”Dorothee Kocks* Malka and I arrived at Civity by different paths. By the time we met, Malka had spent decades convening and facilitating a wide range of civic engagement processes in communities all over California, and she had noticed that the relationships between the people involved …
Continue reading “Civity, Relationships, and the Art of Playground Jump Rope”
Seeding Civity: An Update From Redwood City
Our Seeding Civity initiative is off to the races in our first partner community: Redwood City – home to around 86,000 residents and located 27 miles south of San Francisco. Redwood City’s diverse population and changing demographics create ideal opportunities for Civity-building. Like many cities in Silicon Valley, Redwood City is a changing community. The …
Continue reading “Seeding Civity: An Update From Redwood City”
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 …
Continue reading “Civity Update: Growing the Civity Counter-Story”
The Power of Civity: A Story with a Moral and More
Many of us are feeling powerless these days. We are overwhelmed by disturbing news stories and feel the weight of the world on our shoulders. Yet we also want to contribute to making things better. We ask ourselves, “What can I, just one individual, do to make a difference? How can I be the change …
Continue reading “The Power of Civity: A Story with a Moral and More”
How Complexity Makes Civity Clearer
By Daniel Friedman In everyday parlance, to describe a situation as “complex” is to deem it complicated, intractable, and unmanageable. Politicians might label an issue as “complex” if there is no clear path toward resolution, essentially using the adjective “complex” as a rhetorical parry to side-step further discussion. Thus, from the smallest towns to the …