Social Justice and Anti-Racism Organizational Strategies 2021-2025
This summer our talented board and staff developed a five year strategic plan for the organization with new programming and approaches. In this vision we have included the objective to approach every aspect of our work, both externally and internally, from a perspective of social justice and anti-racism.
Here, we share this commitment and an overview of our strategies to achieve it
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Rationale
Colors of Connection recognizes the complex and historically situated power dynamics that result from an organization coming from the Global North and entering indigenous spaces in the Global South with ideas of offering services, and strategies for development to these communities. The colonialist systems that created hierarchies of power and influence based on racism, and the post-colonial systems that perpetuate these hierarchies are relevant to our work as an organization working in sub-Saharan Africa. These racist systems have resulted in allocation of resources that are a primary factor in the majority of conflicts that we see today, and racism is a factor in how Africa and its diverse populations are viewed in the present day.
Colors of Connection seeks to mitigate the power dynamics created by our presence as a foreign, Global North-based entity in order to avoid participating in neo-colonialist practices that perpetuate racist practices and inequalities by following the strategies outlined below.
“Colors of Connection seeks to mitigate the power dynamics created by our presence as a foreign, Global North-based entity in order to avoid participating in neo-colonialist practices ”
Strategy
Involve community stakeholders and youth in the design, implementation and evaluation of our programs.
Incorporate activities into program implementation plans that shift decision making and resources into the hands of local communities;
Recruit a member of the community where programming is currently happening to serve on the board of directors or advisory board;
Have a process for local community members or other experts to review programming in order to ensure anti-racist and social justice perspectives.
Create and follow an anti-discrimination policy for internal operations and programming.
Create a social justice and ant-racist public statement for dissemination on our website and other appropriate avenues.
Incorporate social justice and anti-racist training into our on-boarding for staff, volunteers, interns and board members.
Employ a communications strategy that includes the promotion of social justice and anti-racism as a way to broaden our impact. Create communications that portray the individuals and communities we work with in a holistic way, emphasizing their individual voices and human dignity, and recognizing them as complex individuals and communities capable of self-determination and the entire range of human experiences, both positive and negative. And to create communications that challenge stereotypes, generalisations, victimisation, exploitation, heroism, and the centrality of whiteness.
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