Mo's 2026 Canopy Fundraiser

I am becoming a civics nerd...and so should you!

I don't know if you've heard, but things are kind of rough for a lot of people in our country right now. When I ask folks why they think things have gotten this bad, the answer that I usually hear is:

"It's the politicians and billionaires!"

Sure, yes. Our political and economic spheres are controlled by a few very powerful people.  

So how do we actually get more power to regular people? 

The organizer in me says that we need to build political power through organizing! And yes, I think that is part of it. But where are the spaces that can happen? And not just for the people who are extremely politically motivated but to engage MORE people in the decisions that shape our lives? And how can those decisions go beyond how we vote?

Truthfully, until recently, I didn't exactly know what civics meant beyond the three branches of government or school house rock. 

Civic life is all the things we do in community to solve problems together.

If politics are the bones of our democracy, civics are the muscle. And our collective civic muscles have become extremely atrophied. This can look like: mindsets ("my voice doesn't matter"), habits ("I'd rather watch Netflix"), cultural norms and narratives ("the system is too big to change"), and systemic barriers ("I'm just trying to feed my family"). 

But we've got to strengthen our civic muscles- let's get swol! 

(So sorry to my colleagues, Daniela and Laura, who I had to describe what 'swol' means...)

We're doing it at the Civic Canopy - I hope you'll join us in strengthening the civic muscles across our beautiful state!