Renewed focus on building up Fresno can overcome today’s political divisiveness | Opinion
America’s challenges are mounting, inequities are growing, and hope is in short supply. Election season rhetoric is already tearing us apart, not building us up. According to a recent Pew Research Center report, 65% of Americans say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics.
Too many of us have retreated amid the fear and exhaustion. There’s a vacuum in our public square being filled by the loudest, most divisive voices. But there’s a way out of this mess. It’s time for community leaders and active citizens to step forward and declare, “Enough!” Enough hate, division, and fear. Enough hopelessness. Enough retreating. It’s time to build together.
That’s why the United Way Fresno and Madera Counties partnered with Rich Harwood and The Harwood Institute to bring the “Enough. Time to Build” campaign to Fresno as part of the Prosperity Summit last Friday. This campaign brings a fresh, practical message of hope that there is a real pathway forward. Not with a utopian vision, false promises, or comprehensive plans. Our task is to grow our belief in one another and remind ourselves that real change starts in our local communities.
The path forward is to reclaim the public square from the most divisive voices and unleash our capacity as builders and doers.
Make no mistake, voting is important. But voting alone won’t solve what ails society today.
Creating authentic hope starts with recognizing that we are not where we want to be as a country or as individual communities. It’s as if we got in a rowboat and closed our eyes, only to open them after some time and realize we drifted farther from shore than we imagined possible. We are untethered from what grounds us. We are untethered from one another. But we cannot wallow in despair. It’s time to build together. That’s how we find our way back to shore.
We can’t wait. Real change is going to come from our local communities. The history of our country proves it, from the Women’s Suffrage Movement to the Civil Rights Movement. Starting local is the best way to demonstrate progress and then spread change across the nation.
That’s why The Harwood Institute is focusing much of its efforts on working deeply in a handful of iconic communities. Places like Alamance County, North Carolina, one of the most divided places in the country, to Reading, Pennsylvania, once named the poorest city in the country. These communities are proving Americans have the will and ability to come together and build even amid people’s real differences.
Positive things are already happening in Fresno, too. For instance, the recent Prosperity Summit, coordinated by United Way Fresno and Madera Counties, brought together scores of community leaders and active citizens to build capacity and find new ways for the community to work together to ensure every individual has a real chance to thrive and fulfill their potential. The community can build on this.
But to build on the good and create a new trajectory of hope, leaders at every level must be laser-focused on what matters to people. People’s aspirations must be at the heart of future endeavors. It is essential to focus on developing a stronger sense of shared purpose in the community.
We need more communities like Fresno to step forward and prove that Americans have the will and ability to build together again. Only by coming together to build do we unearth our innate potential to foster communities that thrive.
The future is in our hands. We need you, Fresno needs you, and the country needs you.
Lindsay Fox is the president-CEO of United Way Fresno and Madera Counties. Richard C. Harwood is the president and founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization located in Bethesda, MD.
