Watch, Read, Listen

  • Promoting the Joy of Voting

    by

    Richard Bell
    in

    When we first settled on Citizen Joy as a name, we assumed that we were hardly the first group to emphasize the importance of joy in motivating people to participate in civic life. I recently ran across a Seattle-based organization with a webpage promoting “The Joy of Voting.” The organization is Citizen University, co-founded by…

  • My First Time

    My First Time

    by

    citizenjoy.org
    in

    Agency. One of the fundamental questions about democracy that we at Citizen Joy! ask is: “What choices are you able to make that are dear to your heart?” Everything we enjoy in our lives flows from one simple precept: America is a country where the people are sovereign, where the leaders serve at the pleasure…

  • The Origin of “Uncle Max”

    The Origin of “Uncle Max”

    by

    citizenjoy.org
    in

    I created The “Uncle Max” character to carry the message of joyful celebration of democracy in 1995. I conceived Uncle Max, as a combination of my Maternal Grandfather and my Father (and maybe some Aunts too, you should live and be well!) He debuted as a voice-over character for my voice submission tape that I…

  • The Power of Joy

    by

    Richard Bell
    in

    When we started working on Citizen Joy, we always assumed that we would be discovering people and organizations out there whose work involved tapping into the power of joy. Here are two examples I’ve discovered recently. First, there’s the work of Ingrid Fetell Lee, author of the 2019 book, The Aesthetics of Joy. On the…

  • Keeping Joy Alive

    by

    Richard Bell
    in

    Political pundits of all persuasions are struggling to deal with the explosion of joy in Democratic ranks with Harris’ ascension to the nomination. It didn’t take long for them to start questioning what they claimed was a lack of “policy” coming from the Harris campaign. They warned that it was just not possible for a…

  • Joy Over Anger

    by

    Richard Bell
    in

    Stevie Wonder calls on Democratic Convention to “choose joy over anger” to get to “Higher Ground.”

  • Joy Takes Center Stage

    by

    Richard Bell
    in

    When we first conceived Citizen Joy late last winter, we were looking at a political landscape that was far from joyful. Donald Trump’s campaign of negativity was on a roll, and there were growing concerns about Biden’s ability to win. People were not happy with government in general. In January 2024, Gallup polling showed that…

  • How to Get Involved in Elections

    by

    John Boyer
    in

    ➡️Choose your candidate/campaign: you can focus on the presidential election, senate races, house races (your own or a nearby district that’s more contested), or local races.  ➡️You can sometimes have more impact by choosing a local race.  For example, county District Attorneys and Sheriffs are key players in criminal justice issues and those races are…

  • Sanchez Art Center invites California artists to celebrate democracy

    Sanchez Art Center invites California artists to celebrate democracy

    by

    Barbara Kibbe
    in

    Sanchez Art Center, a Citizen Joy partner, invites all California artists age 18 and over to submit their work for a juried, in-gallery exhibition of art that celebrates democracy, by exploring these three themes and questions: Interested artists in all fine art disciplines will be able to submit work for Citizen Joy: a Celebration of…

  • Traffic is an Emergency

    by

    Jeff Raz
    in

    Guest Blogger — Citizen Joy partner Micheal Weiser “Citizen Joy.” Both words give me warm feelings – “citizen” and “joy.” Once I heard there was a group to support citizen joy, I wanted to connect. In my 40-years of bringing humor and music to Chicago area hospitals and senior centers, I’ve found joy is readily available…