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Good Citizenship

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of joining members of my community in Reading, PA at the Women’s Rally, in City Park.  In attending to standing with my sisters, I had the opportunity to share my support as a man for all of women.  As The Practical Prof®, I have often written and spoken about women in the workplace because I see my responsibility as a man to be a vocal advocate and ally for women.  There are many reasons I feel this way, but two in particular bear mentioning.  First, we (men) need to be there for women because that’s what members of the human community do – we support one another when and where it is needed.  Second, I because we (men) are responsible for creating many of the problems women still face today, not only in the workplace but in our society.  So, I spoke and I felt in some small way, I contributed to making a positive difference. But, as a person who is a social worker at his core, I worry that rallies and marches will be seen as the end, instead of the beginning, of our proactive efforts toward long-term positive change.  This concern made me think about change and community organizing in the broader sense – in the way we look at good citizenship.  Also, a message on social media about the Obama Foundation’s next steps was another prompt to remind me about our “next steps” in the movement to ensure human rights remain at the forefront of who we are as a country.  I certainly don’t have THE or ALL of the answers, but I do have a contribution to keep the conversation proactive and positive:  we need to refine and revisit our notion of Good Citizenship.  There are and should be many ways to conceptualize this hallmark of our democracy, today, I share mine. Good Citizenship starts with commitment to community.  I describe that commitment as authentically caring about one another, whether we live across the street or around the world. Good Citizenship requires having and honing certain qualities.  I offer ones that rise up as essential in my view:

• the vision to imagine our potential beyond what seems probable or even possible
• the commitment that all Americans, including the marginalized and vulnerable members of our society (e.g. women, LGBTQ, disable, ethnic and religious minorities) have “unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” as provided in the Declaration of Independence (1776)
• the ability to listen more than we speak, and to speak when others won’t or can’t
• the courage to do what is right, that comes from the heart, rather than the ego
• the desire to serve first, as Robert Greenleaf described, which “brings one to aspire to lead”
• the empathy to understand, rather than judge
• the need to seek the truth, instead of the need to be right
• the maturity to use power with people, not over them, as advanced by management theorist and social worker, Mary Parker Follett
• and, the acceptance that EI (emotional intelligence) is far more important than IQ (intelligence quotient)

I invite you to join me as we strive to be Americans who emulate and practice Good Citizenship.  Let us continue with positivity and proactivity as “We, the People” are proud, inclusive, supportive and loving citizens of our country and the world!

– Dr. Santo D. Marabella, The Practical Prof ®

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