Live Like a Citizen.
This article is part of Finding the Words, a newsletter that delivers practical insights on the day’s issues.
This summer, as small towns and big cities across the country lit fireworks for America's 250th birthday, there was something noticeably absent: the voices of many nonprofit and foundation leaders.
For several of the leaders I've spoken with, the anniversary felt less like a celebration than a trigger, an event that risked dividing already fragile communities instead of uniting them.
The data bears that out. In a spring 2026 Pulse Poll survey from the Communications Network, nearly 60% of organizations said they would not be communicating about America's 250th anniversary. Only 1 in 5 planned to, and those that did said their communications would lean toward hopefulness rather than celebration.
The hard truth is that Americans have grown less proud of their country's history, according to a recent survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Even the American flag and who chooses to fly it are now divided by politics, age, and race.
I can understand the instinct to step back. But earlier this week, I sat down for lunch with someone who has spent his career making the case for stepping in.
Eric Liu has been in my consciousness for the better part of 15 years. I first learned about his work as a social entrepreneur, author, and co-founder of Citizen University through my work with Points of Light. His 2011 book with Nick Hanauer, The Gardens of Democracy, asked us to stop thinking of democracy as a machine that runs on its own and start treating it like a garden—something that thrives only when it's tended.
I found his work compelling then and find it even more so now. His faith in democracy has held steady through changing administrations, social upheaval and uprisings, technological disruptions, economic shocks, and political uncertainty. Eric believes in what we as citizens are capable of, especially when we don't believe it ourselves.
That's exactly why his newest book, Live Like a Citizen: 8 Ways to Change Your Mindset and Our Country, is one this moment calls for.
When Eric talks about citizenship, he isn't talking about formal documents or status. He's talking about our role in tending the garden, and he defines citizenship with a simple equation: Character + Power = Citizenship.
In his view, citizenship is the ethical and pro-social foundation that guides how we use whatever power we hold—in a family, a workplace, a neighborhood, or a nation. By that definition, citizen is a word that belongs to all of us. And the book offers a framework for activating that power through eight action verbs.
As Eric says, the moment we're in is not forever. The mood will change. The pendulum will swing. What can remain constant is what we choose to practice, as a people, in service of the democracy we want for ourselves and our children.
Which brings me back to that word: citizen.
A few years ago, a client came to me wrestling with a question. Should they stop using the word citizen in their materials and say something like "people living in the U.S." instead? The concern was that the word no longer reflected an inclusive view of everyone who lives here, and that it drew a line around who belongs, and who doesn't.
It was a thoughtful question, asked for the right reasons, and in that instance, a change of words may well have been the right call. But I'm grateful for Eric's invitation to reclaim the word citizen. Defined as character plus power, citizenship isn't a line drawn around who belongs. It's an invitation to everyone willing to show up.
In past columns, I've written about the stitching role that each of us can play in reweaving our civic fabric, one thread at a time. Eric gives that work a name and a set of daily practices to go with it. As he told me, living like a citizen in small, deliberate ways is what will carry us through this season. It's also how we'll come out stronger, more united, and more engaged on the other side.
So, in the weeks and months ahead, I'll be working through Eric's eight practices for living like a citizen, and I'll share what I'm learning in future episodes of the Mission Forward podcast. I hope you'll practice with me.
However it may feel, civics is not dead. It's being practiced every day in schools, at community gatherings, around shared tables, and yes, in politics, too. We can all choose to live like a citizen, and we can reclaim the joy of practicing that citizenship where others can see it.
Oh, and if you want to see some remarkable young people living like citizens, tune in to C-SPAN at 8:00pm ET tonight for the 2026 National Civics Bee.
Bottom line: Citizenship isn't a status we hold. It's a practice we choose, and it belongs to all of us.
This post is part of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communication insights direct to your inbox. If you like what you read, we hope you’ll subscribe to ensure you receive this each week.
