An Entreaty: An excerpt from The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation by Richard C. Harwood
Newsletter 362 - June 19, 2025
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Richard Harwood, Founder and President of the Harwood Institute has written a wonderful new book entitled The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation. He was willing to share an excerpt from the book, and also talked to me about it and about his life-long work, trying to help people work together, across divides, more effectively. We will release that video and a newsletter about it on Monday. But first, here's the excerpt.
by Richard Harwood
Dear friend,
I am writing to you because we suffer from a crisis of belief in our country today—and we must act. This crisis has been brewing for decades; you know that. And yet, as I have been crisscrossing the nation for well over a year as part of a new civic campaign I launched, it has become clear that many of us yearn to step forward and do something to put our lives and this nation on a more hopeful trajectory. Our central task today is to meet this historic moment.
But how? What should we do? This is why I am writing to you.
So many people—especially young people—have lost faith in America. We have lost belief in our leaders, institutions, systems—even in one another. Many people have turned away from organized religion. We have been hit hard by COVID, roiled by debates over racial injustice, troubled by growing inequities and disparities, fatigued by wars, and worried about the very health of our democracy. There is too much division, hatred and bigotry, mistrust, and a lack of hope. If the 2024 election proved anything, it is this: The status quo is not working for far too many of us. And that’s regardless of who you may have voted for.
So many of our communities—indeed, so many of us—feel stuck. Unsure how to move forward. It is wearing us out. As Fannie Lou Hamer famously said, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” You may be, too.
I wrote this book because I believe we must name concretely the realities that people are experiencing today and the fundamental challenge facing communities and this nation. Indeed, I wrote this book to make the case for a new civic path that grows our belief that we can move forward amid our real differences.
I have been leading and supporting change efforts in diverse communities across all 50 U.S. states and overseas for nearly 40 years. It has been a long time—indeed, at times I have felt like I am walking through the wilderness in search of a promised land.
These efforts have taken me to a wide variety of communities and situations. They’ve included some of the hardest-hit communities in the nation like Jackson, MS; Flint, MI; Fresno, CA; Mobile, AL; and Youngstown, OH. Rural areas that struggle to move beyond their pasts to forge a new future, such as Clark County, KY; the Mississippi Delta; and Logan County, OH. And places that wrestle with how to manage their fast-paced growth, such as Las Vegas, NV; Lexington, KY; Union County, OH; and Clarksville, TN.
I was called in to lead the initial response in Newtown, CT, to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I have worked in the most conservative to the most progressive communities; ones that are predominantly White to those that are predominantly Black or Latino; the wealthiest and the poorest. I’ve engaged with communities seeking to work through a host of fault lines and divides—from faith to geography, from economics to race, from education to politics. I have led communities seeking to move from trauma and despair to healing and hope.
What have I found? Amid the many challenges and problems, I have witnessed the immense goodness and decency in this country. It’s everywhere. It is within each of us. In these hard times, we can forget that it exists; but we must always remember that it does.
The central issues for me today are these: How can we create a path forward where we tap into our innate goodness? How do we grow our belief that we can get things done together—not as Republicans or Democrats or Independents, but as Americans? How do we build together, such that we exercise a greater sense of control over our shared lives and put this nation on a better trajectory?
More hand-wringing and wallowing in negativity won’t get us anywhere. Resistance to change on its own will not lead to a better place. Ignoring reality won’t, either. Nor will allowing our challenges to persist, drag us down, or tear us apart.
My experiences tell me we all want some basic things. We want to be seen and heard. To know our voices matter. To feel our dignity is upheld. We want to know we can make a real difference in our lives and in the life of our communities. We want to feel a sense of belonging and connection. And we want to create real, substantive change in our communities and this country. These are the basics we must address in our nation. This is why the new civic path that I argue for in these pages is so damn important. It is a way to truly meet such a profound need.
So before you read on, allow me to define some terms. First, how I am using the word “civic.” Civic life is where we interact with others to foster and build community. It’s where local nonprofits, faith institutions, the arts and music, neighborhood associations, public forums and the like operate. Civic life is beyond our strictly personal lives; it is where we can be part of something larger than ourselves. It is where we solve common problems, trust forms, and hope grows. It is the very source for putting our shared lives and this nation on a new path. I’ll say much more about what I mean by civic life later in the book.
The “we” I am referring to is us. I am appealing to each of us—you, me, and others—to see ourselves not merely as consumers, patrons, fundraisers, donors, taxpayers, or even voters—as important as these roles are—but as invested members of a community. As I said earlier, we live not solely, or even primarily, as Republicans, Democrats, Independents, disaffected or disinterested voters. We are Americans. We share more than mere political affiliations; indeed, rampant partisanship is getting in the way of seeing and hearing one another, and knowing what we do share in common.
So what is the new civic path? It is rooted in the basic idea that the catalyst we need in our nation—and we do need a catalyst—must begin in our local communities. The new civic path starts with turning outward toward one another, figuring out what we can agree on amid our differences, and getting in motion together to take action on what matters in our daily lives. Why start local? Because it is in our local communities where we can best demonstrate to ourselves and one another that we have the wherewithal and will to get things done together. Then, we can lift up the proof of our shared work, and give rise to a new can-do spirit in this entire nation.
Let’s be clear. The new civic path is not simply about implementing the next best solution to a problem or getting people to bridge their divides or even joining a new civic club, as important as these things may be. Actions on issues like gerrymandering, election reform, getting money out of politics, and the like are important—but I do not believe they alone can get us out of this mess.
And while I recognize there are state, federal, and even international issues we must tend to as a country, something much deeper and closer to home is needed to grow belief and get this country moving again.
It is through the very act of creating the new civic path that we can renew the American spirit of being builders, doers, and innovators. It is in our active and direct engagement with others that we build trust. Forge new relationships. Reduce loneliness. Reclaim a sense of personal and shared agency. And put this country on a new trajectory.
Let me be honest here. I am always leery of those who sound the alarm about the “stakes at hand.” Every four years, we hear that the current presidential election is the most important in recent memory, or even in the nation’s history. We are warned the country is in danger of an impending civil war at times. We are told we are on the brink of democratic dissolution. I do not share these views.
But what I am concerned about—what I do hear on a daily basis from our fellow Americans—is that we cannot address the crisis of belief we face until and unless we find a new path forward. Without such a path, we will continue to separate and segregate from one another. Demonize each other. Fail to address what people need and want. Fall prey to loneliness and fear. Be gripped by endless culture wars. Wallow in disappointment and disgust about disconnected politicians. None of this bodes well for our lives and our futures. You know that; I don’t need to overstate a situation that we all realize is dispiriting and dangerous.
Thus, I believe the way forward is not more divisive politics. We need a new civic path that starts in our local communities, which is where so much significant change has begun in our nation’s history.
To engage in this work, here’s what you’ll find in the pages that follow. I begin by discussing why each of us must see ourselves as agents of hope, which I have come to believe is central to the task at hand. Then, I want to share with you what I have learned from crisscrossing the nation on my civic campaign, lay out the challenges we face, and describe what they mean for how we move forward. With this context in mind, we’ll dive more deeply into what the new civic path is and how it can address the fundamental challenges we face today. Then, I will lift up why we are meant to go together and how this relates to our very idea of patriotism.
I wrote this book to be a manifesto of sorts because I believe there is an urgent need to make the case that there is a better way forward. A better way that meets people where they are. A better way that is practical and doable and something that each of us can contribute to. A better way that taps into our innate desire to come together and be builders, doers, and innovators. It is my hope that you will take up this idea and share it with others. My intent is nothing less than to sow the seeds of a civic renewal that will sweep across this nation and ignite a new wave of belief in ourselves and a genuine sense of possibility about our shared future.
The new civic path I am calling for is one of the best ways I know to help us reverse the negative conditions now plaguing our society and tearing us apart. We must get our individual communities and the country moving again. On a more hopeful trajectory, with increasing momentum, and ever-expanding civic confidence. This is our task.
I’m asking you to join me on this new civic path.
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