Transcript Connection between Health and Social Justice

Introduction to the Equity &
Empowerment Lens
(Racial Justice Focus)
Oregon Campus Compact
Shifting Through the Clutter
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Sonali S. Balajee & Josh Todd, Consultants
Purpose of Presentation:
1.
Develop common understanding of
the basic concepts and terms of equity
and racial justice;
2.
Connect personal experiences and
passions to the topic of equity and racial
justice;
3.
Apply one equity tool in the review and
analysis of a decision making process
recently used by Neighborhood House.
2
“Organizations move in
the direction of the
questions they ask.”
--Sonali S. Balajee
3
Briefly introduce yourself to your
partner. Choose who will go first.
You have 1 minute to say whatever
comes to mind when you hear:
Neighborhood
House
Trade roles
You have 1 minute to say whatever
comes to mind when you hear:
POWER
After 1 Minute-Trade roles
You have 1 minute to say whatever
comes to mind when you hear:
EQUITY
After 1 Minute-Trade roles
How are Positive
Community Outcomes
Connected to Social Justice?
• Inequities are disparities that result from
preventable, systemic conditions, policies,
and institutional practices
• Action to eliminate inequities requires a
perspective and a conceptual framework
grounded in principles of social justice
Neighborhood House
• Mission
–To provide opportunities for
individuals to enhance the
quality of their lives.
• Vision
–To break the cycle of poverty for
our children and our families.
Why Are We Focusing on
Race / Ethnicity?
• Racial and ethnic inequities prevent our
organization and community from
fulfilling our overall potential
• We move toward our vision of breaking
the cycle of poverty by eliminating the
root causes of such inequities many of
which are compounded by race.
Why Are We Focusing on
Race / Ethnicity?
We have made strides in reducing some
health inequities in recent years, but
research still shows:
• Overall, people of color have worse
outcomes than Whites in Oregon.
• In Multnomah County, white individuals
on average earn $33,100/year while
people of color earn $16,600/year. Half
the rate of whites.
“Personal transformation can and does
have global effects. As we go so goes
the world, for the world is us. The
revolution that will save the world is
ultimately a personal one.”
-Marianne Williamson
A Few Key Definitions
• Equity: An ideal and a goal.
--Ensures that everyone has the resources
to succeed
--Fair and just distribution of resources
--Just decision-making and involvement
processes, leading to greater shared
power and involvement of communities
most affected by inequities
A Few Key Definitions
• Inequities: Systemic, avoidable,
unfair and unjust differences in
indicators of success
A Few Key Definitions
• Root Causes: The underlying causes of
health inequities, and include:
--unjust decision-making;
--disempowering engagement
processes;
--inequities in living and working
conditions, access to transportation and
proper food sources; and
--racism, classism, and other forms of
discrimination (sexism, homophobia,
disabilism, ageism, etc.)
A Few Key Definitions
• Empowerment: A social-action process in
which individuals and groups act to gain
mastery over their lives in the context of
changing their social and political
environment.
Source: Wallerstein, 1992
Why an Equity AND Empowerment
Lens?
• Equity is an ideal and a goal, not a
process
• Connection to definition of equity:
improved and just distribution of resources
and voice / power
• Individual, organizational, and community
empowerment are the means to achieving
equity
• Keeps critical thinking about the social,
economic, and environmental context at
the forefront
A Few Key Definitions
• Prejudice:
–Having inflexible and irrational
preconceived beliefs or attitudes
held by members of one group
about another.
• Discrimination:
–Behaviors or actions irrationally
based on prejudice directed towards
another group or individual.
A Few Key Definitions
• Racism:
*Conduct, words, or practices which
advantage or disadvantage people
because of their culture, ethnic origin,
language, or color.
*It is just as damaging in obvious forms as
it is in less obvious and subtle forms, and
is still called racism whether intentional or
unintentional.
Source: (Lopes and Thomas, 2006)
A Few Key Definitions
• Racism, continued:
Only members of the dominant social
group can exhibit racism because racism
is:
prejudice + the privilege of belonging to
the group who possesses institutional
power to enforce it.
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A Few Key Definitions
• Structural Racism:
“…a system in which public policies,
institutional practices,
cultural representations, and other norms
work to reinforce and perpetuate racial
group inequity. It identifies dimensions of
our history and culture that have allowed
privileges associated with ‘whiteness’
and disadvantages associated with ‘color’
to endure and adapt over time.”
Source: PolicyLink, 2011
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Causes of Wealth/Income Inequities
Root Factors
Poverty
Discrimination
Immigration status
Institutional power
--the ‘-isms’
Upstream
Neighborhood
Conditions
Toxic contaminants
Joblessness
Unequal education
Poor transportation
Inadequate access to
food and exercise
Marketing of
unhealthy products
Unhealthy housing
Land use
Access to healthy food
Voter participation
Risk Behaviors
Gambling
Unbanked
Violence
Hopelessness
No/Poor Credit
?
Negative Outcome
Complete
Disconnection
Homelessness
Bankruptcy
?
?
Funding for
•Financial Literacy
•Individual Services
•IDA (Individual
Development Accounts)
Downstream
Adapted from: Prevention Institute. The Imperative of Reducing Health Disparities through Prevention:
Challenges, Implications, and Opportunities, October, 2006.
Solutions to Wealth/Income Inequities
Root Factors
Poverty
Racial
discrimination
Immigration status
Institutional power
--the ‘-isms’
Neighborhood
Conditions
Toxic contaminants
Joblessness
Unequal education
Poor transportation
Inadequate access to
food and exercise
Risk Behaviors
Gambling
Unbanked
Violence
Hopelessness
No/Poor Credit
?
Negative Outcome
Complete
Disconnection
Homelessness
Bankruptcy
?
?
Resources for
•Community capacity-building
•Policy advocacy
•Social and economic policy change
•Equity, Empowerment, Cultural Responsive
trainings
Upstream
Downstream
Adapted from: Prevention Institute. The Imperative of Reducing Health Disparities through Prevention:
Challenges, Implications, and Opportunities, October, 2006.
Relational Worldview Model
Values:
Balance
Inclusion
Systems
Empowerment
CONTEXT
MIND
Relationship
Sustainability
Connects:
SPIRIT
BODY
Land
Resources
People
Shared power
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Spirit and purpose
Video:
Unnatural Causes
End of Part 1
What was one thing you heard that
was new or an “aha” moment?
What was one thing you heard
which was confirmed by
experiences you have had at
Neighborhood House?
BREAK
“Do not wait for leaders; do it
alone, person to person. Be
faithful in small things because
it is in them that your strength
lies."
--Mother Teresa
Part II
Choose a key moment/decision
in your life that was driven by
your values.
Part II
In small groups at your table have three
or more people share their decision
and highlights from the handout
questions.
Part III
• In table groups answer
questions from handout.
• Be prepared to share key
highlights from your
conversation with the large
group.
Closing/Next Steps
“One of the things I learnt when I
was negotiating was that until I
changed myself I could not change
others .”
-Nelson Mandela
Be the change…
• Name one barrier to integrating
this information in your daily work
at Neighborhood House.
• Share one concrete action that
you can do to address this barrier.
• Feel free to contact us with
questions or further information:
–[email protected]
–[email protected]
• How are trainings developed, prioritized,
delivered in partnership with racial/ethnic
communities?
• Who benefits and who is harmed by decisions
around the training in terms of experiencing
emotional, physical, mental, spiritual health?
• How can we better promote and educate on
the impact of social determinants ?
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Thinking Upstream
Thinking Upstream, cont.
• Where are policies, practices, and overall
decision-making unjust, unfair, and overall,
leading to racial discrimination?
• What barriers (political, financial, emotional,
legal, etc.) exist in identifying and addressing
root causes?
• How can I as an individual better contribute
to eliminating racism and the ‘-isms’ in my
own work via empowering behaviors?
Racial Equity and Social Change:
Outcome Areas
•
•
•
•
•
•
Shift in social and cultural norms
Strengthened organizational capacity
Strengthened partnerships and alliances
Strengthened base of support
Improved policies
Changes in social impact
Source: Measuring Policy and Advocacy, Annie E. Casey Foundation
“The
things we fear most in
organizations…fluctuations,
disturbances, imbalances…are
the primary sources of creativity.”
--Margaret J. Wheatley
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Barriers to this Work
• Lack of acknowledgement and understanding
of historically inequitable policies, official and
unofficial (employment, housing &
homeownership, education, health care,
loans, etc.) and their effect on individuals,
communities, orgs
• Organizational and individual resistance to
change as well as sharing power
• The ‘–isms’ in practice
“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is
only to be understood."
--Marie Curie, Physicist
and first woman to win the Nobel Prize
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Transformational Change
and the Lens
• Environmental conditions
• A culture of innovation and improvement
• Balance promotion of learning environments while
maintaining efficiency / service
• Empowering strategies utilized
• We are all leaders
• Cultural humility
• Valuing and embodying respect, inclusion, honesty,
courage
• Integrating diverse talents, perspectives