In the quest for civic success stories, the very last place to look might appear to be climate news. The best efforts of the United Nations Climate Change Conference will not be enough to avert the worst effects of warming, scientists say. Little wonder youth climate activist Greta Thunberg has dismissed the COP26 global summit in Glasgow as “a green wash festival” and “a failure.” But the derision of Thunberg and thousands of other young…
The Civic Circle is very grateful to the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County for three outstanding visits to our students the week of October 25. Students had a lively time playing “emotional charades,” and filled in the blanks on an “anger thermometer,” gaining valuable skills to take the first “step to democracy,” which is Listen!
Munit Mesfin and Bomani Armah put on an amazing show at the Petworth Neighborhood Library on October 23. Thanks to the D.C. Public Library for the opportunity, and to Munit and Bomani for taking us all on seven “steps to democracy” with hip hop, movement and song.
Big thanks to Lana Anderson, founder of Small Things Matter, for speaking to Civic Circle students on October 20 and 21 about service-learning and voluntarism. Lana started the kid-powered volunteer group Small Things Matter as a high school student. After Lana’s visit, Civic Circle students decorated bookmarks to give out with books donated at Small Things Matter’s food distributions.
Author and policy expert Robert Kagan drew broad notice with his Washington Post essay declaring that the nation is “already in a constitutional crisis” and may be on the cusp of “mass violence,” but he is hardly the first to forecast democracy’s demise. Headlines like “Will 2024 Be the Year American Democracy Dies?” and books with titles like “How Democracies Die” and “Twilight of Democracy” have become commonplace in the post-Trump era. The apocalyptic tone…