We Know how to Rebuild Our Democracy - final story

We Know how to Rebuild Our Democracy - final story

Author: iHeartPodcasts April 21, 2025 Duration: 8:08
How To Citizen with Baratunde
SocietySociety & CultureCultureNewsTechnology

There is a model for how we rebuild and heal after the human-made disaster being inflicted on the USA right now. Welcome to Dena Heals—a mutual aid marketplace and wellness center born in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire in Altadena.

See the visuals for this story and all our Week of Citizening stories here:
https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/this-is-how-we-recover-from-disasters 

This is our final story (for now) in the Week Of Citizening. Join our mailing list and share the stories you’re seeing. stories.howtocitizen.com 

When the 💩 hits the fan, we are told people become selfish and look after themselves alone. Every disaster ever proves otherwise including after the most devastating fire to hit Los Angeles. Something extraordinary took root. Not fear. Not isolation. But care for each other.

Rebecca Solnit said it well: “When all the ordinary divides and patterns are shattered, people step up—not all, but the great preponderance—to become their brothers’ keepers. And that purposefulness and connectedness brings joy even amidst death, chaos, fear and loss.”

Rooted in Indigenous wisdom and the Black Panther 10-Point Program, Dena Heals is a blueprint for what happens when we lead with love, show up for each other, and practice power together.

They’ve supported 3,500+ people from over 500 families. This is what it looks like to citizen in the midst of disaster. Not with despair—but with collective action, healing, and hope.

We saved this story for last in our Week Of Citizening series because it reflects all the pillars of How to Citizen:

🌱 Show up & participate

⚡ Understand power

🤝 Commit to the collective

❤️ Invest in relationships (including nature)

This is how we rise. This is how we rebuild. This is how we citizen. Happy Earth Day

Sign up to share and discover more stories like this: https://stories.howtocitizen.com

Video Produced by: Revolve Impact

Week of Citizening Collaborators: Baratunde Thurston, Jon Alexander, Shira Abramowitz, Elizabeth Stewart

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


Finding your place in a world that often feels broken can be disorienting. How To Citizen with Baratunde, from iHeartPodcasts, tackles that confusion head-on by treating "citizen" not as a static label but as a series of actions we can all learn. This podcast moves beyond the headlines and the outrage to explore the tangible, often surprising ways we can participate in shaping our communities and systems. Each episode is a deep dive into the mechanics of collective power, featuring conversations that span society, culture, technology, and news. You'll hear from people who are actively redefining what it means to belong and contribute, offering practical insights that replace helplessness with agency. The discussions remind us that while voting is crucial, a functioning democracy requires much more from all of us. This isn't about abstract theory; it's about the real-world application of citizenship. Tune in for a thought-provoking and actionable guide to wielding your influence, discovering how to move from being overwhelmed to being effectively engaged. The entire premise of this podcast is built on the idea that we can learn to citizen better, together.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 69

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How To Citizen with Baratunde
Podcast Episodes
Introducing: Season 2 of How To Citizen with Baratunde [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:13
How do we wield our collective power for the many, not just the few, in order to live together even with our differences?We feel the dangerous divisions within our democracy daily: the pandemic response, racial oppressio…
To Be Less Polarized, We Must Humanize (with Esther Perel) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:59
Baratunde ends Season One focused on the state of our relationships, a key pillar of how to citizen, and thus the health of our society after the most contentious election in modern history. In conversation with world-re…
Flexing Our Civil Resistance Muscle (with Jamila Raqib) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:08
Baratunde wrestles with how to handle rising political violence in the U.S. by learning from a leading steward of strategic nonviolent action. Jamila Raqib, executive director of the Albert Einstein Institution, shares l…
Making Our Returning Citizens Whole (with Desmond Meade) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:50
Baratunde learns to think about sacrifice and having skin in the game in terms of a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich analogy. Desmond Meade, founder of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), reminds us that to err…
Making Our Presence Felt (with Angela Lang and Quentin Palfrey) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:05
Baratunde digs into the feeling of disconnect and neglect felt by the black community in Milwaukee during the 2016 election and learns from Angela Lang, Executive Director of Black Leaders Organizing Communities (BLOC MK…
Making Our Votes Count (with Sherrilyn Ifill) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:50
Baratunde speaks with Sherrilyn Ifill, the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund about the very long history of voter suppression, why it still exists (hint: white supremacy and rac…
Making Our Voices Heard (with Maria Teresa Kumar) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:30
Baratunde speaks with Maria Teresa Kumar, President of Voto Latino, about the power in numbers of Latinx voters and the work of relationship-building for this moment. Maria shares stories of what effective government loo…
Building Bridges, Not Walls [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:08
Baratunde ignores the headlines about Chicago and heeds a listener’s advice to learn more about the southside from a local artist who is building bridges in her community and literally helping people find common ground.

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