Trust can make history – and begins with kindness

<div class="header alignfull header--article has-background has-blue-diagonal-gradient-background"> <div class="header__layout"> <div class="header__content"> <div class="header__metadata"><div class="header__metas"><div class="header__meta header__meta--taxonomy header__meta--tax-category"> Blog Posts</div></div></div> <h1 class="header__title">Archives</h1> <p class="">By Frederick Riley</p> <div class="header__metadata"><div class="header__metas"><div class="favorite-block"> <button class="favorite" data-id="249349" data-state="" title="Favorites are not currently available" disabled><span class="favorite__on">Unfavorite</span><span class="favorite__off">Favorite</span><svg class="svg svg--svg-assets-svg-icon-bookmark" role="img" height="15" width="11"><use xlink:href="#svg-assets-svg-icon-bookmark" /></svg></button></div> <div class="header__meta header__meta--date"> July 1, 2026</div> <div class="header__meta header__meta--taxonomy header__meta--tax-program_tax"> <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/weave-the-social-fabric-initiative/">Weave: The Social Fabric Project</a></div></div></div> </div> </div> <figure class="header__media" role="presentation"> <img decoding="async" src="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Handshake-photo-by-Andy-Clayton-King-1539x1090.jpg" alt="Neighbors enjoying a community meal and shaking hands. Photo credit: Andy Clayton-King" width="1539" height="1090" srcset="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Handshake-photo-by-Andy-Clayton-King-1539x1090.jpg 1539w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Handshake-photo-by-Andy-Clayton-King-800x566.jpg 800w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Handshake-photo-by-Andy-Clayton-King-1500x1062.jpg 1500w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Handshake-photo-by-Andy-Clayton-King-768x544.jpg 768w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Handshake-photo-by-Andy-Clayton-King-1536x1088.jpg 1536w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Handshake-photo-by-Andy-Clayton-King-2048x1450.jpg 2048w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Handshake-photo-by-Andy-Clayton-King-1600x1133.jpg 1600w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Handshake-photo-by-Andy-Clayton-King-953x675.jpg 953w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Handshake-photo-by-Andy-Clayton-King-955x676.jpg 955w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Handshake-photo-by-Andy-Clayton-King-300x212.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1539px) 100vw, 1539px" loading="eager" class="header__image" style="object-position: 49% 36%"> <span class="header__overlay" style="opacity: 0.8"></span> </figure> </div> <div class="alignfull cta has-primary-background-color has-background"><div class="cta__layout"> <div class="cta__content"> <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-h4-variant" id="h-subscribe-to-weave-s-newsletter">Subscribe to Weave&#8217;s Newsletter</h2> <p class="">This story was originally published on Weave’s newsletter. Every week, you’ll get resources on how to weave our communities and restore social trust.</p> </div> <div class="wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-button"><a class="wp-block-button__link wp-element-button" href="https://aspeninstitute.tfaforms.net/forms/view/5146617">Subscribe<span class="wp-block-button__effect"></span></a></div> </div> </div></div> <p class="">Many of us have experienced a moment when we trusted someone enough that a handshake was enough to confirm an informal agreement, even an important one. Trust was the invisible thread that sealed the deal.</p> <p class="">But it’s a quality that seems ever-more elusive lately, at least in public life. The lack of trust is a silent crisis, one that is in the background of everything else going on. It doesn’t make news. It isn’t noticed by most.&nbsp;</p> <p class="">Yet there are plenty of examples, even in history, where trust — or lack of it — made all the difference.&nbsp;</p> <p class="">One reason Paul Revere was able to alert the American colonists of the imminent British attacks was simple: He was a natural networker. People<a href="https://thehistoryjunkie.com/paul-revere-and-william-dawes/"> knew</a> him and trusted him. They heard his late-night warnings, didn’t dismiss them and didn’t go back to sleep. We know the rest of the story.</p> <p class="">In London’s 1854 cholera epidemic, a man named John Snow didn’t believe the common notion that “miasma” or bad air, spread the disease. He thought the source was polluted water. But to prove his theory, people had to talk to him and few would. Only when a trusted local priest, Henry Whitehead, went with Snow door to door to encourage residents to talk could Snow prove that the disease was spread through water from a public pump.&nbsp;</p> <p class="">Today Americans trust family or friends but have a historic lack of trust in government and institutions such as schools, according to a 2024 report by the<a href="https://www.pew.org/en/trend/archive/fall-2024/americans-deepening-mistrust-of-institutions"> Pew</a> Charitable Trust. But there is hope. Most respondents Pew surveyed thought trust was important to address, even through simple steps such as being more kind. </p> <p class="">In our experience, there are few community projects that weavers take on that do not increase community trust. They are natural connectors and trust builders. Their actions and desire to help are rooted in kindness in action.</p> <p class="">One of those acts could be attending <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/these-neighbors-launched-a-movement-of-care-from-their-front-porch/">“Trash Church”</a> in the Reynoldstown neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, where neighbors spend an hour every Sunday picking up litter. Or, if your aim is to revitalize your neighborhood, maybe you start by hosting a monthly barbecue like members of the <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/can-a-house-with-an-open-door-policy-change-a-neighborhood/">Micah 6 Community</a> in Pontiac, Michigan. It might be something that seems insignificant but beautifies a street, such as <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/in-north-philly-two-neighborhoods-bloomed-with-connection/">Ms. Jackie’s efforts</a> in giving newcomers plants from her home in North Philadelphia. Kindness can be a radical act in a callous world.&nbsp;</p> <p class="">Weavers show, every day, how showing up can heal a community, provide building blocks of trust, and bring people together for shared action. Even Paul Revere knew that. As the nation celebrates America’s 250th this week, I invite you to thank the weavers in your community who are leading with kindness and love. It’s these weavers who make our neighborhoods strong and who are reweaving our nation’s social fabric.</p> <p class=""></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/trust-can-make-history-and-begins-with-kindness/">Trust can make history &#8211; and begins with kindness</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org">Aspen Institute</a>.</p>