Right in Our Backyard: Community-Based Organizations and the Potential to Build a New Democracy | Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.

Democracy faces crisis as rights are eroded and people become disconnected from civic life amid constant misinformation. Protests and neighbor-to-neighbor protection are growing in response to government violence and repression, and new safety practices are emerging. Community-based organizations are positioned locally, rooted in neighborhoods, and provide services and opportunities that help residents create change together. These organizations offer safe spaces for young people, training for career pathways, support for accessing resources for financial stability, and other assistance. They also build trust and connection, often serving as cultural hubs where people can register to vote and advocate for community change, enabling bridges to larger pro-democracy movements through intentional strategy.

"We are in a moment of crisis and potential. The promise of democracy, never fully realized, appears to be slipping away as rights are eroded and as people are disconnected from the civic sphere while living in a constant stream of misinformation. At the same time, organizations and people are gathering to determine how we can defend the democracy we know, and fight for one that's better. Masses of people mobilize for protests and small groups of neighbors fiercely protect one another, quickly developing new practices to keep each other safe in the face of government violence and repression."

"Community-based organizations (CBOs) are right in our backyards. These organizations are rooted in neighborhoods, providing services and opportunities for residents to create change together, such as safe places for young people to have fun and connect with peers, a place to train residents to enter career pathways, help people to access the resources to build financial stability, and other supports. They are also places that already build trust and connection among neighbors, often acting as cultural hubs, places where people can register to vote and advocate for change in their communities."

"This offers the potential to more readily build bridges with larger pro-democracy movements. With intentional strategy, we can leverage the many strengths of CBOs to advance toward the democracy we dream of. The work of CBOs assumes that these organizations are run within the context of a functional democracy. In a functional representative democracy, the government will aim to meet the needs of its people."

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