Belonging When the System Feels Broken
Community Engagement, Civic Renewal, and the Work of Belonging
With these recent developments:
➡️ The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the Voting Rights Act that seriously curtails voting rights and protections especially for Black Americans…
➡️ The current administration’s ongoing and desperate bids to ignore Congress, manipulate Congress, or stack the deck in its favor to hold onto power and avoid oversight or accountability on matters of war, trade, corruption and justice…
➡️ Congress’ inability and unwillingness to assert its constitutional authority and independence as a separate co-equal branch of government and provide checks and balances…
➡️ The dizzying speed with which Tennessee responded to the Supreme Court ruling with a newly approved district map that eliminated the only majority-Black district in Tennessee, a state where Black people make up 16% to 17% (and we know other southern states with overindexed Black and Brown populations, or large Black population centers are quickly following suit)…
➡️ And the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision that struck down a voter-approved redistricting referendum to temporarily redraw the district maps in a counter to the previously mentioned administration’s desire to stack the deck ahead of the 2026 midterms (see Texas)…
It can feel like constitutional failure across all three branches of government, as if there is no fairness of any kind now available to Black people, other People of Color, and eventually women. (Yes, all women, because, as we’ve said for the past 10 years, it will not stop with Black folks. I pray that not all lessons must be individually experienced to be collectively learned.)
This current administration and the party that gives it power are hellbent on rolling us ALL THE WAY back, pre-Civil Rights, pre-Jim Crow, quite possibly pre-Civil War. How ironic this is when we are on the eve of our nation’s 250th anniversary. (But you already know, it’s bigger than that, a dream deferred is not a dream denied.)
The agony and pain you hear in the cries of injustice aren’t about being “sore losers.” Rather, they are guttural, ancestral and intellectual frustration and exasperation at the fact that the rules only apply in one way; and if you are White, male and wealthier than the average American, you are above the constitution, you are above the law.
These things make some of us blind with rage; others of us want to organize and resist; and for others, these efforts are designed to get you to give up. To give in. To say, “I won’t participate any more, because the game is rigged and nothing matters anyway, no matter what we do!”
This is not true! YOU matter. And your voice matters. And your actions matter. Even when we suffer defeats in the immediate, the actions reverberate across history.
Understanding the Backlash and Why Belonging Matters Right Now
The injustices we see are a fear-based response to prior justice and progress. They are a response to an increasingly multicultural, multiracial, and multiethnic society. They are a response to the myth of White erasure. The truth is that Indigenous peoples and Black Americans have borne the deepest and most enduring forms of systematic erasure in this country’s history.
And let us be clear: more people of different races does not mean fewer White people. It simply means a growing and diversifying population, a dynamic as old as humanity itself. It does, however, mean continuing to redefine the broader American identity. It does mean sharing power more broadly. And that may be the crux of the matter.
So now we have a choice: to absorb the blow, regroup, protect ourselves and one another, preserve our peace and our communities, and recommit.
What does that actually look like, though? And what do we do next?
Well, in this space, I think more leaders are needed, including people who don’t think of themselves as leaders – or people you don’t view that way, either. Because we need to lead ourselves and one another, with shared accountability and collective responsibility for the path forward.
So that’s where I’m starting: how do people who love this country, who understand our moral responsibility to critique it so we can improve, and who want to live in a more just, more free, and fairer America lead through these moments?
For the answer, I went to what I learned from you good people about belonging. It might seem slightly weird to talk about belonging in the midst of an environment that seems determined to expel me and people like me and people I care about – and the people who aren’t like me but care about my survival and thriving.
And yet, when you dig into what it actually means, how it’s experienced, and how we create it, you might agree with me that what we actually need more of — in this very moment — is belonging. Not “feel good”, “belonging as a program” stuff. But leader-led, structural, systemic, human experience-centered belonging. And to my well-intentioned White friends and allies: if you have ever seen yourself as an ally, now is the time to step forward. I don’t believe in “I don’t see color,” but if you mean well by that sentiment, now’s the time to act on your good intentions, by seeing Black folks’ humanity and inalienable rights the same way you see yours. Would you stand to have your voting rights dismantled? Probably not.
So I’m gonna borrow from the State of Belonging, because that’s where we put what we learned from y’all.
Here’s what you taught me about what belonging — and the absence of it — looks like in Community Engagement and Third Spaces (necessary places of refuge, safety, healing and thriving):
“Belonging in community environments – parks, gyms, libraries, coffee shops, community centers, schools, museums, faith spaces, and other places where people gather – emerges through shared rituals, care, and emotional presence. Stories reflecting connection, welcome, or mutual support often align with sympathy [empathy], the strongest belonging indicator across all contexts. Sympathy reflects environments where people feel seen, welcomed, or cared for. In the absence of belonging, communities become emotionally unpredictable or distancing. Emotionality, anxiety, and self-consciousness appear in stories about exclusion, feeling out of place, or sensing misalignment. Low-intensity indicators like excitement or gregariousness reinforce that belonging does not depend on extroversion or high energy—it depends on acceptance, respect, and shared humanity.”
REFLECT AND ACT: what can you do to create the conditions of belonging described above in these kinds of Third Spaces?
Here’s what you taught me about what belonging — and the absence of it — looks like in Civic Engagement, relative to Social Cohesion:
“Societal belonging emerges through shared purpose, representation, fairness, and the belief that one’s voice matters. Stories about contributing to community life, engaging in civic action, or feeling part of something bigger than oneself align closely with self-transcendence. Self-transcendence reflects connection to collective identity, higher purpose, and the desire to contribute to something beyond the individual. The absence of civic belonging is often marked by emotional instability, distance, or distrust – expressed through emotionality, anxiety, or self-consciousness in contexts where people feel unheard, unseen, or unrepresented. Civic belonging requires shared meaning and emotional safety at scale; when these fail, social cohesion weakens and people withdraw from collective life.”
REFLECT AND ACT: what can you do to give people fresh, new hope that their voice matters, somewhere, somehow? Even hyper-locally, how can you meet the need of people to be heard?
Here’s what I learned from you about experiencing belonging as a Citizen Who Is Driven By Purpose:
“The Purpose-Driven Citizen — core drivers: self-transcendence, morality. Belonging feels like: meaning, contribution, alignment with shared purpose, fairness. Risks to belonging: misalignment, distrust, unpredictability, collective instability. “I’ve always tried to make decisions based on what feels fair and what contributes to the good of the people around me. When I’m part of something that has purpose, I feel like I belong.” (SEEQ Story, 2023–2025) “What matters to me is making an impact. When we’re aligned on values and working toward something meaningful, that’s when I feel connected and grounded.” (SEEQ Story, 2023–2025)”
REFLECT AND ACT: how can you reach out to people who are purpose-driven, but questioning the meaning and fairness of it all? How can you align on just 2 or 3 things that are meaningful to the people in your community or group, and give them an opportunity to contribute?
And here’s what you said we need to do to create more belonging in Civic Engagement:
“Practical actions include designing public engagement efforts that focus on listening, using stories to illuminate community priorities, increasing accessibility in communication and participation, and creating opportunities for meaningful contribution. Personas provide a way to understand what different residents or stakeholders need: the Purpose-Driven Citizen seeks alignment and meaning; the Empathic Connector looks for care and humanity; the Steady Relationalist seeks predictability and clarity; the Curious Collaborator seeks dialogue; and so on.”
REFLECT AND ACT: what can you do to bring people together and reinforce how deeply interdependent we are? What can you do to give people multiple on-ramps to participate at different levels, so that we can measure progress in smaller steps?
The Work Ahead
For me, I’m going to keep applying my calling (for people to experience hope and revelation with and through me) to community engagement, through my work, through my creative expression, and by participating more in community and civic engagement opportunities. I don’t have to be in control of the outcome to make a meaningful difference in my life, and hopefully have a positive impact on yours as well.
Love y’all. Mean it. ❤️🙏🏽
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