Designed by Social Activist Pheobe Wahl
In 2020, we, as a people, need to build awareness and advocacy for all issues. It is time we recognized and grappled with the reality that we are all interconnected. As Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This implies that injustice locally, nationally, and internationally must be identified and reconciled for justice to be a possibility. Likewise, King’s quote pinpoints the vast multitude of harm and trauma that must be named, reflected upon, and interculturally transformed for us to work towards justice truly.
Yes, both aspects are complex, with no clear cut solutions. Nevertheless, the various injustices that have occurred for generations and currently are not motivating us to come together. In December 2019, a woman from Iowa committed three racial incidents in one hour, where she hit and run two non-white people and yelled racial slurs in a store (Vigdor, 2019). Then, in 2019, “at least 22 transgender people and gender non-conforming people [were] killed” (Human Rights Campaign, 2019). According to Ghebreyesus (2019), climate issues today are harming people, communities, environments, and livestock with warmer weather increasing mosquito based diseases, and elevating sea levels endanger fish and water quality. Hence, we, as a people, cannot afford to let hatred for difference dehumanize individuals and communities. Also, the planet and the world will not be able to withstand our indifference around various issues.
With considering all of this one of the big questions entail:
So how are we going to come together and tackle injustice everywhere?
A starting point for exploring this question is finding ways to build capacity for unpacking harm and transforming injustice through increasing intercultural awareness, developing a growth mindset, and proactively working through privilege and oppression.
Increase Intercultural Awareness
Intercultural awareness is having an understanding of both your own and other cultures, and particularly the similarities and differences between them (SkillsYouNeed.com, 2019).
For cultivating intercultural awareness, one should create goals for education, curiosity, and self-awareness. Education entails learning about other cultures and how social issues are different within communities. With curiosity, it is about being open to the unfamiliar by fostering a willingness to learn more through self-education and intercultural engagement. Self-awareness involves reflection on what one knows about different cultures, what one needs to learn, and how one plans to enhance the way they approach cross-cultural engagement.
Develop A Growth Mindset
A growth mindset is when "people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point" (Renaissance, 2019 as cited in Dweck, 2015).
Having a growth mindset with awareness and advocacy is vital since mistakes will occur, and people have to work through their biases. Moreover, a growth mindset is necessary for awareness and advocacy because one will continuously need to shift or adapt their perspective and behavior. A simple way to embody a growth mindset is by implementing the mindful s.n.a.c.k. analogy by Carla Naumburg.
Mindful s.n.a.c.k. analogy graphic
Proactively Work Through Privilege and Oppression
Privilege is "unearned access to social power based on membership in a dominant social group" (UpWorthy.com, 2019 as cited by University of San Francisco, 2019). Social oppression refers to "the oppression that is achieved through social means and that is social in scope—it affects whole categories of people… [, and it] includes the systematic mistreatment, exploitation, and abuse of a group (or groups) of people by another group(s)" (Crossman, 2019).
We all have a flex of privilege and oppression that shifts depending on the context and the identities we hold. Therefore, understanding privilege and oppression on a baseline level is crucial regarding awareness and advocacy for individuals to be conscious of what they bring and what they need to work through regarding justice. With privilege, it is essential to recognize the unearned advantages one has regarding their social identities and consider how those advantages influence how they think about and react to social issues. People have the option to utilize privilege to enforce a dominant culture, do nothing, or build coalitions with diverse communities.
Privilege graphic
Below are reflective questions to understand your privilege(s) and what you could do with them:
Based on your identities, what privileges do you have?
How do the privileges named impact the way you perceive marginalized communities or social issues?
What would it take for you to broaden your worldview on marginalized communities and social issues?
How could you utilize your privilege to build coalitions with different communities?
Oppression can cause one to harm community members and dislike themselves when oppressive norms are internalized. Also, oppression could result in one being completely done with dominant groups and cultures, which stifles any potential opportunities for restorative healing. Thus, awareness of oppression is important for the dominant culture to recognize the level of difficulty marginalized communities face with building relationships and collaborating on justice initiatives. Then, regarding oppression for marginalized communities, they could consider the effort dominant group members are making to build coalitions with the community.
Lens of Oppression Graphic
Below are reflective question for processing oppression:
What ways have you been oppressed?
How has your oppression shaped the way you view marginalized communities and social issues?
What do you need to heal from your oppression?
What would it take for you to engage in coalition-building with the dominant group members, who are trying to make intercultural social change?
With any of the suggested ideas, the process is not linear; one will continuously be working on them and reassessing their efforts. Increasing intercultural awareness, developing a growth mindset, and proactively working through privilege and oppression is a start to prepare us to individually and collectively seek justice everywhere. Let’s make an effort for 2020 to be a year of intentionality doing better with social issues.
Sources
Crossman, A. (2019, January 28). What is social oppression? Thought Co. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/social-oppression-3026593
Ghebreyesus, T. (2019, September 23). Climate change is already killing us: How our warmer and wetter planet is getting sicker and deadlier by the day. Foreign Affairs. Retrieved from https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2019-09-23/climate-change-already-killing-us
Human Rights Campaign. (2019). HRC releases annual report on epidemic of anti-transgender violence. Retrieved from https://www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-releases-annual-report-on-epidemic-of-anti-transgender-violence-2019
National Equity Project. (2019). Lens of systemic oppression. Retrieved from https://nationalequityproject.org/resources/featured-resources/lens-of-systemic-oppression
Naumburg, C. (2019). A mindful s.n.a.c.k. Retrieved from https://www.carlanaumburg.com/2016/11/488/
Renaissance. (2019). Growth mindset. Retrieved from https://www.renaissance.com/edwords/growth-mindset/
SkillsYouNeed.com. (2019). Intercultural Awareness. Retrieved from https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/intercultural-awareness.html
UpWorthy.com. (2019). Annoyed when people talk about white male privilege or whatever? Think they're trying to guilt you? Retrieved from https://www.upworthy.com/these-stories-of-kindness-and-generosity-will-de-grinch-even-the-hardest-of-hearts
Vigdor, N. (2019, December 23). Driver who hit girl because she was ‘a mexican’ is charged in 2nd hit-and-run. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/23/us/Nicole-Marie-Poole-Franklin-hit-run.html