As we celebrate Independence Day and the country’s 250th anniversary, our All-America Cities are a reminder of the nation’s resilience in the face of adversity. Whether it’s overcoming natural disasters, personal struggles, or political confrontation by outsiders, this year’s AAC finalists, the communities that competed for this year’s award showed the power of community in overcoming challenges.
Franklin, TN, first won the All-America City Award in 2020 during an online event in which our awards ceremony was Zoom-bombed by hackers that yelled epithets until we had to shut the event down. In this year’s presentation, Franklin’s delegation described their experience three years later, in 2023, when White Supremacists interrupted a mayoral debate sponsored by Franklin Tomorrow in which a candidate friendly to their cause was debating.
The other candidate, who ended up winning the election, Ken Moore, worked with the civic group, Franklin Tomorrow, to reject the messaging of the White Supremacists and were joined in passing a resolution of opposition by eight of nine city councilmembers. “When democracy is tested,” Moore told this year’s AAC jury, “the government either strengthens democracy or not. We did!”
Harlingen, TX, is another story of resilience, having withstood two huge rainstorms and flooding in 2025 and 2026, then going on to harness the community to create a new comprehensive plan, business revitalization program, and workforce education system.
Several AAC finalists have created local programs to help residents overcome adversity and personal challenges. Monrovia, CA, for example, has a Care-Centered Public Safety program that uses a mobile crisis team to help residents experiencing a mental health crisis to avoid involvement in the criminal justice system. The crisis intervention team in Morrisville, NC, offers similar services. For residents experiencing food insecurity, Chelsea, MA, highlighted a food distribution system involving faith-based providers.
Perhaps no other story showcases America’s resilience more than the story of New York City following the terrorist attack of 9/11/2001, now 25 years old. AAC event participants were treated to a showing of “Reclaiming Ground Zero,” a documentary about the 2002 “Listening to the City” program in which over 5,000 residents contributed ideas to guide the future of the World Trade Center site.
As the Ground Zero story illustrates, the important ingredient for resilience is community engagement, what I call civic muscle, and this is a quality shared by all 20 of this year’s All-America City finalists and the 561 communities that were designated over the past 77 years. As a City Councilman from Norfolk said this past weekend, “you can’t lead the people unless you hear the people and you’re part of the people.” This is the power of an All-America City.
In his keynote speech at the All-America Cities event, David Cicilline, President and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, called out the importance of local government and community engagement.
Democracy isn’t something you admire from a distance. It’s something you experience and make a reality by your active participation. The more responsive, more resilient democracy we want — the one built to last another 250 years — won’t be handed down to us from any capital. It will be built from the ground up — requiring trust and civic health — by people who refuse to wait for permission.
As we celebrate our independence, let’s also celebrate our interdependence. America’s story is less about bootstraps and more about barn-raising. It’s about the civic muscle shown by All-America Cities in building community, solving problems, and demonstrating resilience in the face of difficult times.
And, by the way, all the finalist communities mentioned above, Franklin, Harlingen, Morrisville, Monrovia, Chelsea, and Norfolk, won the All-America City designation this year! To see the other winners and all the finalists, click here.
