Last winter I heard historian Heather Cox Richardson say, “We are living in effervescent times.” My first thought was “WTF!” but now I’m quite sure she was right. A couple of decades in the future, a Heather Cox Richardson protégé might write an article like this about our effervescent times:
“By Thanksgiving 2025, after a blistering 10 months of attacking democratic norms, the MAGA movement was finished. It didn’t look that way at the time, but massive and wildly creative demonstrations, strong judges and courageous opposition politicians, along with strong communities supporting immigrants and families in need of food and healthcare, and the nationwide pain from legislation designed to increase the flow of wealth to the ‘1%,’ set the stage for the monumental changes in 2026, the country’s semi-quincentennial.”
“Two hundred and fifty years after Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman drafted a Declaration of Independence, the people of the United States once again took up the task of organizing their power to ensure their ‘Safety and Happiness.’” And while many people took part in the resistance to, and the rebuilding from, the MAGA movement – activists, organizers, lawyers, politicians, teachers, students, journalists, etc. – artists filled a critical role. Calling themselves Imaginal Cells* artists of all kinds and from every part of the country, alone, in groups and in loose coalitions, created their visions of a “more perfect union.”
*In the caterpillar’s chrysalis there are cells are called ‘imaginal cells’ that hold the image of the butterfly that will emerge. The original cells struggle, trying to stay like the old caterpillar, but eventually, the imaginal cells begin to build the wings of the butterfly.
Jack Kornfield
Of course this is speculative fiction, except the part about caterpillars and the fact that artists can imagine beyond the present darkness and inspire people to work for the transformation the country needs. Our songs, quilts, murals, dances, plays, films—our truth—can turn despair into new hope.
Citizen Joy is already embracing the role of Imaginal Cells. We’re bringing together artists and arts organizations nationwide to create a tsunami of art for democracy in the weeks leading up to July 4, 2026. The goal of We the People: Artful Visions for Our Future is to flood streets, feeds, and venues with work that reminds us of what’s worth saving in our country, what new we need to create and how we might build this vision for our future.
Please let me know if you would like to join one of our monthly We the People: Artful Visions for Our Future Zoom meetings – the next one is Wednesday, December 10.
Let’s make a better future visible—and irresistible.
