Who's Normal?!

We think of our community as a Black Sheep Club. The centerpiece of our art collection is a large diptych by local artist Frank Sampson titled Celebration—a whimsical portrayal of humans, animals, and mythic hybrids gathered around a dining table. The painting reflects a simple truth: what appears strange at first often reveals itself as familiar once we share a few meals and stories.

City Club embraces this truth, rejecting the fantasy of human perfection as an aspiration fit only for gods. Instead, we strive to attract members willing to do the more complex work of self-reflection—those brave enough to confront their shadow sides, rather than those who presume themselves to be evolved.

This paradox lives most vividly in our leaders. Consider the sexual transgressions of Kennedy, Clinton, and Martin Luther King Jr.; Jefferson’s slave ownership; or Churchill’s lifelong dependence on alcohol. Even Donald Trump’s unchecked appetites remain a mirror we must reckon with. Reducing people to their worst traits is lazy. Wrestling with their contradictions—our contradictions—is what it means to be fully human.

City Club serves as a civic laboratory for this kind of engagement. In a world of curated identities and moral posturing, we offer an alternative: real connection rooted in humility. By looking past each other’s masks, we begin to remember what it means to be human, not perfect, but present.

And maybe that’s the point. The more honestly we face our shadows, the more generous we become toward the imperfections of others. Let us not confuse moral clarity with moral purity. The future won’t be built by saints or cynics—but by flawed, self-aware humans courageous enough to break bread with one another despite our differences.

— Sina.