Good news, my people!
If you do one thing, just click through on this Instagram reel where I’m announcing a weeklong storytelling sprint around How To Citizen. If you don’t sharecrop for Mark Zuckerberg, here’s a LinkedIn version.
Now…
What if democracy isn’t something you have… But something you do? That would make it harder to "lose."
That’s the idea at the heart of How To Citizen, and it’s one I’ve seen proven time and again—not in headlines, but in human stories.
I’m teaming up with my friend and fellow citizenist Jon Alexander (author of CITIZENS) to do something we believe is urgent and necessary: shine a light on the everyday people practicing democracy in extraordinary ways.
We’ve gathered a week’s worth of short, powerful stories from across the U.S.—people showing up for their communities, bridging divides, building something better.
We’re releasing one story per day this week on LinkedIn and Instagram. But we know there are more.
We’re not doing this for clicks. We’re doing this to prove there’s demand for a different kind of story.
One where people aren’t problems to be fixed, but solutions already in motion.
Here’s how you can help:
📩 Sign up at https://stories.howtocitizen.com
✅ Follow @baratunde, Jon (@thecitizensguy), and @HowToCitizen on Instagram
💬 Engage. Comment. Share. Tag someone doing similar work.
📣 Know someone with a platform or newsletter? Ask them to help spread the word.
We want to show funders—and each other—that this kind of storytelling matters.
Let’s make this the week we saw the democracy we deserve and counterprogrammed the nonsense and chaos with something beautiful and joyful already happening.
Major appreciation to Shira Abramowitz who has run point on finding the stories we are releasing this week. And to Elizabeth Stewart for great partnership.