April 6th Civil Saturday

Civic Saturday had its second meeting of the year on April 6th at the impact hub. Civic Saturday is an event that allows people to learn more about their community by bringing the community together for an event filled with civically oriented singing, poetry, and discussions. It was great to see more and more interns attending the event, and we hope to see more of the younger generation actively participate in civic engagement.

Civic Saturday began with its usual introductions with wonderful music, poems, passages read by audience members (shout out to advisor Sam), and a delightful get-to-know-each-other among the audience. Simply talking to people opens new perspectives that are important if we want to improve our society collectively.

The theme for this session was “Beyond Responsible”, and Eric opened new perspectives to the meaning of responsibility, how blame allows us to avoid our duties, and how important it is for us to fulfill each of our individual duties to support the collective. Indeed, Eric made sure that the audience new that how the location of the Impact Hub in Seattle, with poor infrastructure and many homeless nearby, provided a glaring visual reminder of how much more responsibility for social problems we each have to take. The full transcript of his speech can be found here: https://www.citizenuniversity.us/wp-content/uploads/Being-Responsible-April-6-2019.pdf Following the sermon, participants had the opportunity to digest Eric’s lessons in small discussion circles. Everybody was able to gain insight from listening to each other’s actions and how they view impact on one’s community, how one can act not out of selfishness but instead out of the collective good, and what steps they could take to improve society.

If you didn’t get the chance to meet Eric at this event, you can come to our annual conference on August 2nd where Eric will be the keynote speaker. We hope to see you there!

Laurent Man