The New Citizen Newsletter #14
“Politicians shouldn’t be elected to exercise power but to be facilitators that will empower citizens.” — Xavier Damann
In this month’s The New Citizen newsletter we bring you stories from Scott Cain, @celestehdennis, @YvonneOrji and @greatbigstory. Thanks for telling stories of New Citizens!
🏃🏾 Running across moonlit cities 🌃
Inspired by projects such as GoodGym or Project Awesome, James Holt has grown a new running movement out of London: The Midnight Runners. They gather in the evening (not quite at midnight) to run for the purpose of creating more togetherness in our rather isolated city lives. The idea has already spread to Barcelona, New York, Berlin, Boston, and Paris. Find out where to join their next on their website.
💆♂ Cutting the bullshit, not just the hair 💇♂
You either love it or hate it: the barber small talk. But in Arkansas, hairdressers are being trained to assist black men with their mental health concerns and act as first responders. The Confess Project was founded by Lorenzo Lewis in his barber shop because “if you can trust and respect someone to do your hair, you can trust and respect them to help you with a problem.” The initiative is now spreading across other cities in US South.
🛠 Making Nigeria’s motorbikes purr 🏍
Sandra Aguebor gained the nickname ‘The Lady Mechanic’ when she became the first female mechanic in Nigeria. Facing tonnes of prejudices for entering the male-dominated field, she decided to launch the Lady Mechanic Initiative. The project teaches former sex workers, victims of sex trafficking, school drop-outs and, mothers and wives how to become financially independent by fixing bikes and cars.
Watch the video by Great Big Short
🏛 Rethinking citizenship✋🏽
Last week, we attended the Fearless Cities Brussels conference where more than 230 citizens gathered to reinvent their city. Through 14 different workshops with professional facilitators, we experienced being at the center of a new political process. The initiative is part of a wider movement for municipalism spreading across Europe.
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Thanks Jesse Onslow for edits.
