Shaking the Table - Supporting Inclusive Leadership BY Zoë Flowers Women of Color Network logo National Resource Center for Reaching victims "Welcome: We are glad you are here" message with a sparkling sky and grass in a field Zoë Flowers Zoe Flowers, portrait, smiling. • Zoe is the founder of Soul Requirements. • With more than eighteen years of experience, Zoë has facilitated over 1000 workshops and trainings nationally and internationally. • She has appeared on National Public Radio, spoken about using the arts to heal from Domestic Violence at Yale University, Springfield College, Smith College, Brown University, Bowie State and in Fes, Morocco. GOALS • TO HELP YOU: Teacher Create Spaces of Mutual Respect Take risks. And support others taking risks. icon of 5 hands reaching into the center together Foundational Concepts icon of a head with gears 7 EQUALITY, EQUITY & LIBERATION Equality, Equity, and Liberation Graphic: a series of 3 images: Equality: 3 men standing on the same size crate to watch a baseball game over the fence. The men are all different heights, and the shortest man cannot see over the fence. Equity: 3 men standing on the number of crates they need to be able to to watch a baseball game over the fence. Liberation: 3 men watching the baseball game but there is no fence in the way. Diversity • Based on race, ethnicity, sexual identity, gender, etc. • Includes and accounts for differences within each group. Privilege • Includes the unquestioned unearned most often unconscious advantages choices, benefits assumptions and expectations granted based on membership in the culturally dominant group. • It is easily named by communities that have been oppressed. But, • To those who have it is invisible. • for example I don’t think about being able bodied in my everyday life Privilege cont’d • Privilege is not something that can be given back. There are no exceptional men or white people for whom privilege is not a constant reality. • Intention has no bearing privilege. 2 Faces of Privilege • Granted -includes all the privileges granted by the society to members of the privileged group. • Internalized -are the expectations and assumptions of superiority and entitlement internalized by members of the privileged groups 2 Faces of Privilege Granted -includes all the privileges granted by the society to members of the privileged group. Video: Black Male Privilege in the #MeToo Era. Theo E.G. Wilson Black male privilege in the #metoo era | Theo E.J. Wilson | TEDxMileHigh Implicit bias The attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. Speaking in Universals A false sense of the universality of beliefs perspectives perceptions responses and knowledge I believe my perspective is the valid one and the one by which a ll others are judged Institutional racism is a form of racism that is embedded as normal practice within society or an organization. Granted + Internalized Privilege White Men: Time to Discover Your Cultural Blind Spots | Michael Welp | TEDxBend Video -White Men: Time to Discover your Cultural Blind Spots Mysogynoir Serena Williams in a racist manner. She has exaggerated lips and is depicted as overweight and jumping up and down on her tennis racket and separately, an accurate depiction of Serena on a Vogue cover with her daughter. Mysogynoir • Coined by queer Black feminist scholar, Moya Bailey in 2010 who created the term to address misogyny directed toward black women in American visual and popular culture. Tweet by Trudy, @thetrudz that says: Russell simmons posts a "parody" rape vid of Harriet tubman on the same day as Ava shares a beautiful Black love film #BlackPowerIsForBlackMen 20 MYSOGYNOIR Latino news reporter from Univision. There is a caption over his head stating that Michelle Obama looks like she's part of the cast of The Planet of The Apes MYSOGYNOIR • Doctors perceive Black woman as having a higher pain threshold, and so they are treated differently. • Black women are viewed as threatening or angry whenever they speak up for themselves. • Maternal mortality rates for Black women are three times higher than for white women in the United States, with many attributing that to racial bias in the healthcare system. MYSOGYNOIR • Because of the stereotype of the “strong Black women,” many Black women are not allowed to show any emotion, pain or distress. • Styles that are deemed unacceptable when worn by Black women are celebrated when worn by white women • Pain as entertainment MYSOGYNOIR • Because of the stereotype of the “strong Black women,” many Black women are not allowed to show any emotion, pain or distress. • Styles that are deemed unacceptable when worn by Black women are celebrated when worn by white women • Pain as entertainment Culture and Cultural Identity ID badge Why Should We Consider Culture in Our Work? Graphic: Culture shapes an individual’s experience of violence. Culture shapes the harm doer's response to intervention and acceptance of responsibility. Culture shapes access to other services that might be crucial for the victim. Culture Culture shapes an individual’s experience of violence. Culture Culture shapes the harm doer's response to intervention and acceptance of responsibility. Culture Culture shapes access to other services that might be crucial for the victim. Culture (s)….. • The categories of race, class etc. do not exist in isolation from each other. • They intersect and interconnect in different ways for different individuals. User Network Cultural Identity Graphic: Cultural identity can influence how others see the presence or absence of interpersonal violence. Person might identify strongly with one culture than another, might experience several identities simultaneously or might shift between identities Cultural identity can influence how others see the presence or absence of interpersonal violence. Person might identify strongly with one culture than another, might experience several identities simultaneously or might shift between identities. Cultural Identity It is dangerous to use categories to characterize and define an individual; this creates and perpetuates cultural stereotypes and misinformation. Every individual, regardless of initial appearance has a rich cultural identity. Every individual, regardless of initial appearance has a rich cultural identity. It is dangerous to use categories to characterize and define an individual; this creates and perpetuates cultural stereotypes and misinformation. Remember… Graphic: •Culture is complex, fluid, changing and bound by time and space. •Identities are also bound by time and space and are usually multifaceted. •Therefore…Achieving Cultural Competency… •Is a challenge and a continuing process. •There are no simple answers 30 Culture is complex, fluid, changing and bound by time and space. Identities are also bound by time and space and are usually multifaceted. Therefore…Achieving Cultural Competency… Is a challenge and a continuing process. There are no simple answers Intersectionality Kimberle Crenshaw: What is Intersectionality? https://youtu.be/ViDtnfQ9FHc Racial & Economic Equity of Survivors Project (REEP) colorful Concentric Circles with concepts as text: gender, race, physical ability, trauma experience, criminal record, ethnicity, religion, class Seeks to increase capacity of the field to address racial and other structural and institutional biases that pose barriers to economic stability for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Developed by • Women of Color Network, Inc. • Southwest Center for Law and Policy • Asian Pacific Institute on Gender- Based Violence • Texas Council on Family Violence • Casa de Esperanza • Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity • Camille Holmes • Bill Kennedy logos of all the organizations listed in the slide The Process • 3 CALLS: advocates of color who also identify as survivors; • 2 CALLS: attorneys sitting at unique intersections of law who are people of color and/or aspiring white allies; • 2 CALLS: economic justice or policy staff from state and tribal coalitions who are people of color and/or aspiring allies. Snapshot of The Questions Talking About Racial Inequity How have you practiced both self-examination and self-care when it comes to racism and racial bias in the work? How could you foster more conversations with survivors about opportunities and barriers they face? What are your organization’s policies, practices, and protocols to address racial disparities for survivors? Within your organization? Within the DV movement? What would you like your organization, community, or state to look like or be doing in 1 year, 5 years, or 10 years? Screen Shot of a fact sheet about :"How we talk about racial inequity for survivors" 35 What we Heard (1 of 3) “I'm really struggling with being within a primarily white-led organization, working with sexual assault survivors and trying to contemplate how we fundamentally restructure our practice to center folks of color, queer folks of color, survivors of color.” -an attorney of color What we Heard (2 of 3) “I am a white person and it is sometimes very uncomfortable for me to talk about racial inequity because I don't feel like I really can...I see these things happening and I want to fix them and I want to address them but I don't know how...It's uncomfortable to me, I guess.” -a white attorney What we Heard (3 of 3) “I’m gay, male and Hispanic so even though I am part of a Hispanic community, I still have male privilege to check. In my community I have white privilege that I need to check. There are still things I have to learn around that because we all have isms that we have to check.” -gay, male, immigrant advocate who also identifies as a survivor Case Study “There was a survivor who was staying at the shelter who was already accepted into the transitional housing program…. She was a woman of color with one small child. But the staff at the shelter knew little to nothing about her actual circumstances...there was this constant stream of complaints about her because she was always breaking curfew. So, I was hearing stories about this person we need to exit because she kept breaking curfew.” Screen Shot of a fact sheet about :"The cumulative harm of racial bias" 39 Case Study-What could be happening What are the staff perspectives? What is the survivor’s reality? What do you see from where you’re sitting? Screen Shot of a fact sheet about :"What shows Up" Possible Assumptions What assumptions and beliefs are underneath this? What knowledge, skills, and capacity gaps are at play? Where are some bright spots? What facts do we need to get straight about the survivor’s economic and social reality? What program or organizational things are getting in the way? What are our existing policies about this issue? How are they being implemented? Screen Shot of a fact sheet about :"What may be at play" 41 Suggestions Do Your Work Needs: “Create avenues for conversations with survivors, colleagues, and staff; acknowledge racial bias and difficultly of navigating systems.” Wisdom: “Do your own work. Do the inward and outward work for equity.” Innovations: “To what extent and who at every level of an organization is carving out space to allow that wisdom that is generated from partnerships to really infuse the organization.” Screen Shot of a fact sheet about :"Doing our work: Needs, recommendations & innovations from the field" Explore • Who do you serve? • Who is offered what services? • Which services do survivors receive? • How do you currently collect data? For what purpose? What type of data (numbers, stories)? • What program data do you collect to help examine this issue? • What could partners offer here? • In what ways are you engaging with the communities you serve? • Are staff engaged in systems change efforts? Explore Graphic: •What’s your standard protocol for this situation? •How do you train staff? What do you train on? •How do you share information across programs? (coordinate cases) •What is your language access policy? Policies for accessibility? •Who’s at the table in developing organizational policies? Who could be? What’s your standard protocol for this situation? How do you train staff? What do you train on? How do you share information across programs? (coordinate cases) What is your language access policy? Policies for accessibility? Who’s at the table in developing organizational policies? Who could be? “…it is not about making sure that every oppression is named; it is actually about making sure every person is accounted for.” Youmna Chala, WILD for Human Rights REFLECTION QUESTION an icon with two people and a question mark between them What are some historical blocks or barriers unique to area that would prevent people of color/ underserved populations from coming to or obtaining services? REFLECTIONS QUESTIONS WHAT CAN YOU DO WHAT CAN YOU WHAT CAN YOU AS AN DO 6 MONTHS DO A YEAR FROM NOW? FROM NOW? ORGANIZATION TO BECOME MORE ACCESSIBLE? REFLECTION QUESTIONS WHERE DO YOU HAVE WHERE IS YOUR POWER? PRIVILEGE? Questions? What was challenging? What would you like to see in the future? What did you like? What was helpful? Video links • Kimberlé Crenshaw: What is Intersectionality? https://youtu.be/ViDtnfQ9FHc • Black male privilege in the era | Theo E.J. Wilson | TEDxMileHigh #metoo https://youtu.be/pRu2xvJefGQ • White Men: Time to Discover Your Cultural Blind Spots | Michael Welp | TEDxBend https://youtu.be/rR5zDIjUrfk three women of color smiling, Women of Color Network Logo: Addressing the Unique challenges facing women of color since 1997. THANK YOU! Contact Information Women of Color Network, Inc. www.wocninc.org Zoe Flowers, zflowerswocninc@gmail.com Grant Information This project is supported by the Vera Institute of Justice and was produced with funding from grant award #2016XVGX- K015, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this virtual training are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.