Over the last few decades, I’ve come to learn that “community organizing” is 80% about community building and 20% organizing.
That ratio might sound simple, but it’s almost radical in practice. Most political work today skips straight to the 20%. People rush to tactics, messaging, or mobilization without first building the trust, relationships, and joy that make our communities worth fighting for.
And nothing builds people together like food, art, and music.
In 2025, RuralOrganizing and RuralProgress together supported three local community-building experiments:
- 2050Fest in Lititz, Pennsylvania
- Y’allidarity Social Hour in Nashville, Tennessee
- Madrona Music Festival in Vaughn, Washington
Through lessons learned from supporting these events, our team has begun to refine its approach to civic engagement, especially in civic deserts where traditional models of community organizing have failed to take hold.
Building a Civic Empowerment Model that Thrives in Civic Deserts
“Community organizing” assumes there’s already a community to organize, but across rural America, we can no longer take community networks for granted.
Research shows that 60% of rural youth now live in “civic deserts,” places with little access to organizations that foster civic participation.
When people are disconnected from one another, democracy itself suffers. In fact, recent research shows that friendship itself predicts civic involvement, yet nearly a third of rural young people say they don’t have anyone locally to talk with about social or political issues.
That’s why our first rule is simple: before you organize people, give them something to gather around.
In Lititz, Pennsylvania, Rural Progress hosted 2050Fest, a two-day festival that invited people to imagine what rural life could look like in 2050. Local civic leaders, teachers, and young artists came together to discuss renewable energy, small-town main streets, and sustainable agriculture. But the real power wasn’t in the panels; it was in the shared meals, live music, and conversations that lingered after dark.
At RuralOrganizing.org, we call hosting events like 2050 Fest “planting perennials”—a metaphor borrowed from ecology. Change doesn’t happen overnight; it grows slowly, like the regrowth of a forest devastated by wildfire. Grassroots movements start as fragile seedlings that need time, care, and consistent attention before they can weather political storms.
The forces trying to divide rural America, such as disinformation, economic hardship, and political isolation, sometimes make it feel like community building in today’s world is nearly impossible. But perennials, both in the ecological and civic sense, teach us patience and persistence. Once their roots take hold, they return stronger each season.
In Nashville, Tennessee, we saw this principle at work with the Y’allidarity Social Hour, a monthly gathering that brings together musicians, activists, and neighbors to celebrate solidarity across rural and urban lines. It’s not a campaign meeting—it’s a community ritual. People come to play music, share stories, and find joy in each other’s company.
Those relationships may seem small, but they’re the roots of a healthy civic ecosystem. As we’ve learned from Damon Centola’s Change: How to Make Big Things Happen, fast viral movements spread through “firework” networks of influencers, but deep social change happens through “fishnet” networks built on strong ties.
That’s why we’re planting perennials. Quick bursts of online activism can start a fire—but strong, overlapping relationships sustain a movement.
In Vaughn, Washington, we co-hosted the Madrona Music Festival, a local event that became a celebration of community resilience. You can see a glimpse on Instagram. Families danced, small businesses sold crafts, and local leaders talked about preserving open spaces and building sustainable livelihoods.
We didn’t dictate a message or agenda. We listened, showed up, and supported what the community was already creating. That’s “organizing up”—identifying and investing in vocal locals who are already trusted in their towns, and helping them use their voices to solve local problems through local means.
When communities lead, they not only organize—they grow power. And power, as we teach in our workshops, is simply work done over time.
Real change happens when anticipation meets action, and when local assets—time, trust, creativity—are leveraged to alter the course of events.
Why This Work Matters
The stakes are higher than ever. Rural Americans are facing shorter life expectancies, declining local economies, and disinformation designed to pit neighbors against each other.
In moments like this, the solution isn’t despair—it’s deeper democracy. True populism, as we define it, is pluralistic and progressive. It’s about returning power to the people through strong communities.
RuralProgress exists to help communities rediscover that power—to turn civic deserts into civic oases, and to prove that joy, music, and belonging aren’t luxuries in political work; they’re its foundation.
So here’s to the organizers, artists, and neighbors who brought that spirit to life in 2025. Let’s keep building, planting, and organizing up.
You can learn more at 2050Fest.org, MadronaFest.org, and by following the Y’allidarity Social Hour.
Because in the end, community organizing isn’t about power for its own sake. It’s about belonging—and belonging is how democracy begins.
