HER Citizenship
What is Everyday Citizenship?
When you hear the word citizenship, what comes to mind? You may think of casting a vote or serving on a jury. While those formal civic acts certainly are a part of citizenship, we need to expand our definition to better reflect our world today. Women’s significant acts of everyday citizenship include honoring our heritage, formal and informal engagement, and fulfilling our responsibilities as community members.
Acts of everyday citizenship are powerful antidotes to loneliness, factionalism, and divisiveness. In fact, they are a critical duty of citizens today. Women are at the heart of our communities and central to civic life. They have unique abilities to create spaces where everyday citizenship can be on display. HER Arizona 250 seeks to empower us as women to recognize the significance of our everyday civic acts in our families, neighborhoods, cities, and towns. Seemingly simple civic deeds are truly the threads that strengthen the civic fabric in Arizona.
Let’s share some ideas of what everyday citizenship could like in practice:
HER Citizenship
Heritage
Culture
Shared values and practices that define our identity & character
-Visual arts
-Music & Dance
-Food
-Traditions
History
Past groups and individuals that inspire our potential
-Predecessors
-Citizen examples
-Historic groups & causes
Engagement
Institutional
Organized groups and individuals that uphold our communities
-Nonprofit service
-Faith communities
-Civic groups
Connections
Organic, grassroots clubs and groups meeting locally
-Clubs and Associations
-Recreational groups
-Online communities
-Social groups
Responsibility
Civic
Participation in the civic sphere
-Serving on boards or commissions
-Assisting with elections
-Holding elected office
-Fostering civic education
Neighborhood
Commitment to support the local community
-Neighborhood organizations and service
-Supporting local businesses
-Preparing future leaders
-Strengthening local education