Step Forward has been a digital communication and podcast series that challenges anti-Black racism within Ontario’s community-based HIV response. Over the past six months, we've shared resources, perspectives, and teachings from Black leaders from diverse professional backgrounds.
In that time, this newsletter has received more than 5,000 opens, while more than 700 people have listened to the Step Forward podcast.
Now, we're turning it over to you. In this issue, we're sharing a final set of tools, resources, and readings to help you LEARN, PLAN, and ACT towards embedding equity and liberation work within your work and organization.
In this newsletter, you'll also hear a final podcast episode featuring key lessons from our series speakers.
A Word of Thanks
In this final edition of Step Forward, the OAN gives its sincere thanks and appreciation to Kondwani Mwase of 54Lights, and to Jefferson Darrell and the Breakfast Culture team for their support in creating this series.
In this final series episode of Step Forward host, Kondwani Mwase, revisits key lessons, wisdom, and calls to action from each of our five speakers. Hear key reflections, what's next, and how to Step Forward in your own work.
This series, hosted by Kondwani Mwase is a collaboration spearheaded by the Ontario AIDS Network and produced by 54Lights podcast.
Here we are in April 2021, as COVID surges in its third wave across our province. Ontario community-based HIV/AIDS organizations, their staff, peers and volunteers continue with the profoundly fundamental work of supporting the over-policed working-class, and impoverished Black, Indigenous, homeless, disabled, communities most at risk for HIV, hepatitis C, sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, fatal opioid overdoses…and COVID-19. Like our partners in healthcare, shelters, and food banks we are exhausted, and deeply concerned by the widening inequality we observe as we do our work. We are being asked to continue administering care while we are personally, and institutionally, pouring from an empty cup. We are being asked to administer what we are not adequately resourced to give to the communities we are mandated to serve.
This weekend, the façade was removed from the police state, while no new resources were given to the organizations providing care to the communities most at risk for COVID-19. Police were given more tools in the form of emergency measures to intensify their harassment and surveillance of homeless individuals, Black, Indigenous, and other non-white racialized people, people with disabilities, and queer communities least able to limit their interactions with police. As HIV/AIDS community-based organizations we continue providing care, while generating employment letters for our staff, in the form of institutional pass cards hopefully permitting safe travel for work, perhaps between the metaphorical reserve and town, or between plantations.
These travel letters may provide our staff cover after they suffer the indignity and danger of being questioned by police, after being labelled as suspicious for attempting to reduce the harms of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have few solid protections we can extend to the communities we walk with; our service users. They will continue to experience disproportionate harm from inadequate health equity measures, income supports, housing protections, food insecurity systems and policing. Ill health and fatalities from COVID-19 will be exacerbated, particularly for Indigenous, Black and impoverished white communities targeted by multiple forms of police violence in the form of carding, surveillance, or punitive systems offered in place of further supports. Despite being essential, our work, our staff – are still not acknowledged as essential. The life-sustaining actions we have undertaken this year are not resourced as being essential.
In this moment it can be overwhelming to think of ways forward, unless we think historically, and analytically, and see the real connections between HIV and COVID-19. If we use an intersectional lens, if we acknowledge policies further entrenching anti-Black racism, colonialism, and our current economic and social arrangements as being the true drivers of the devastating harm these viruses and associated conditions have in our communities, we can see solutions in the interventions we have employed in the past. We will see the desolation in this moment as not being about the qualities of each virus, their transmission, or even about characteristics of the groups most devastated by these viruses. The greater similarities are in the evidence-based interventions that have provided us with the most resources in the past, and the actions that have created reprieve for the communities to which we belong, and are mandated to support.
It is important to remember that our HIV/AIDS community-based sector has perhaps had its greatest impact in the intervention or ongoing work of organizing. Much of what currently exists for the communities we serve was manifested through organizing for services, for free and accessible medications, for health equity in the form of healthcare access, and for income supports for those living with HIV. Those who may argue that research resulted in life-saving medications, a fundamental life-saving intervention, will need to be reminded that resources for research were also a result of organizing from a place of peer expertise, led by people living with HIV and people with shared identities and experiences of oppression from the communities most impacted by HIV.
Much like HIV, and our under-resourced opioid overdose response, COVID-19 will be left to our sector and allied organizations to address once it is no longer a concern for vaccinated mainstream populations. Our organizing for rights and liberation against oppressions must once again become central to our work if we are to ever eliminate stigma and health disparities for those living with HIV, those at risk for fatal overdose due to our poisoned drug supply, and those who are placed most at risk for violence, disability and death by a carceral response in the form of a police state. This expansion of punitive systems is offered as a substitute for broader human rights and expanded protections through resourced systems of care, including health, social, community service supports, and adequate income and income supports to care for one’s self with dignity.
To be effective, we will need to organize our coalitions more broadly, this time thinking of which individuals within our communities are most marginalized by intersecting forms of oppression. Our expertise in supporting the communities least able to access HIV care and supports, those most in need of housing and food security supports, and those least supported to avoid COVID-19 infection, protect themselves from police interaction, and access COVID-19 vaccination can be envisioned as an expanding circle. It is a protective circle, rooted in principles of mutual aid.
Our past HIV/AIDS activism, mutual aid efforts and organizing must be informed and invigorated through new movements. For the past few years, we have been learning and taking small steps within our Ontario HIV/AIDS community-based sector to learn about addressing ongoing colonialism, supporting Indigenous solidarity and identifying anti-colonial actions we can implement in our HIV/AIDS work. We have started to examine the absence of a Black queer feminist analysis of structural anti-Black racism in our HIV prevention work, and realize that the goal of eliminating HIV stigma for those living with HIV and ending new HIV infections requires an elimination of all structural oppressions, and a hard look at which individuals, identities and experiences are overlooked or erased from our circle of care, as they are likely to be communities that are simultaneously experiencing the violence of multiple oppressions. The demands put forth in organizing and mutual aid, queer liberation, anti-poverty and harm reduction movements, alongside movements for Indigenous solidarity and Black liberation create space and resources for us to both provide better services to the communities we support, while creating opportunities to reduce the growing inequality we observe. Disinvestment from punishment frees up spaces for liberation.
PODCAST RECAP
SERIES EPISODES AND SPEAKERS
Ruth Cameron: EPISODE 1 Ruth Cameron is the executive director of ACCKWA, member of the Waterloo ACB Network's advisory committee, a doctoral student at Wilfrid Laurier University, and a consultant who focuses on anti-racism, anti-oppression and organizational change-management initiatives. She also researches effective ways to improve health and equity.
Amanuel Melles: EPISODE 2 Amanuel Melles (Aman) is the Executive Director of the Network for Advancement of Black Communities (NABC) at York University. He is the Principal of Aman Consulting and has over 25 years of senior management experience and expertise in settlement and immigration, community health, community development, community peacebuilding, funding and philanthropy.
Jefferson Darrell: EPISODE 3 Jefferson Darrell is founder of Breakfast Culture, a marketing and communications firm specializing in diversity, equity and inclusion. Breakfast Culture supports organizations in achieving their strategic goals by bringing current diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) theories and practices combined with modern change management techniques.
Beth Jordan: EPISODE 4 Beth Jordan is founder and principal of Adobe Consulting Services and has deep practical and strategic experience as a trusted organizational developer and management consultant.
She has consulted extensively to municipal, provincial and federal levels of government and NGOs on the issues of violence against women, HIV/AIDS, social justice policy and the integration of anti-racism and anti-oppression frameworks.
Evolve Benton: EPISODE 5 Evolve Benton, MA, MFA,is a speaker, educator and curator who inspires audiences to think about questions of performance, diversity, inclusion, transformation, climate, and equality. They are the founder of MAR Media, LLC, through which they offer services as an Educational Consultant and their online educational platform called Speaking 4 Profit Academy.
Kondwani Mwase: Host, Step Forward
Kondwani is a Toronto-based podcast producer, host and marketing branding specialist at 54Lights Studios. Throughout the past six months, Kondwani has guided our Step Forward guests and listeners through deep conversations about privilege, power, and doing the work. Kondwani is also the host and producer of 54Lights, a podcast that offers offers an alternative to mainstream depictions of Africa, and celebrates the resilience, strength and extraordinary journey(s) of each guest.
LEARN
The books, articles and resources in this section can help organizations learn more about how racist structures are created and maintained. To learn more about core concepts of racial equity work and access additional tools and resources, visit the Racial Equity Tool's Fundamentals pages.
By Mary-Frances Winters
Politics, religion, race - we can't talk about topics like these at work, right? But in fact, these conversations are happening all the time, either in real life or virtually via social media. And if they aren't handled effectively, they can become more polarizing and divisive, impacting productivity, engagement, retention, teamwork, and even employees' sense of safety in the workplace. But you can turn that around and address difficult topics in a way that brings people together instead of driving them apart. Once you're ready to engage in bold, inclusive conversations (you can take the self-assessment included in the book to make sure), Winters gives detailed instructions on exactly how to structure them. A key component is beginning with a conversation to establish some kind of common ground, which makes it easier when you go more deeply into differences.
MODEL FOR CHANGE Operationalizing Racial Justice in Non-Profit Organizations(workshop overview) By Maggie Potapchuk, MP Associates Structural racism requires institutional support and cultural nurturing. The core of anti-racist work is to seek to recognize institutional bias and to make structural changes that are supported by policies and procedures that are accountable with outcomes of equity. Executive leaders, boards, managers, and supervisors must be taught to recognize that contemporary forms of racism exist and become familiar with the various forms that it takes in the lives of all staff and clients. They must become vigilant in learning and identifying what those issues are and how they are perpetuated in the organization’s policies, practices, and procedures. The goal of anti-racist work is to widen the circle of power and opportunity.
PLAN
The tools and resources in this section can help organizations develop their own process for organizational change and develop an anti-racist action plan. To learn more about change processes, including strategy and inclusion of diverse stakeholders, visit the Racial Equity Tool's Plan pages.
The Racial Equity Toolkit lays out a process and a set of questions to guide the development, implementation and evaluation of policies, initiatives, programs, and budget issues to address the impacts on racial equity.
This paper shares the story of the HEA Cohort’s efforts to live into its commitment to put race at the center of its health equity advocacy field-building work. It describes the rationale for centering race in health equity, the vision for the Cohort’s efforts on this front, the multi-level strategies the Cohort employed, Cohort progress within these levels, and the challenges and emerging lessons learned.
ACT
The tools in this section include strategies and practices that can help organizations to deploy sustainable action and strategies within their racial equity work. To learn more about taking action toward racial equity and sustaining this work the long-term, visit the Racial Equity Tool's Act pages.
FRAMEWORK Race Equity and Inclusion Action Guide Embracing Racial Equity: 7 Steps to Advance and Embed Race Equity and Inclusion Within Your Organization From the Annie E. Casey Foundation
In This Racial Equity and Inclusion Framework you'll learn:
How to use an equity and inclusion framework for understanding different dimensions of racism.
How to identify and analyze the root causes of racial inequities.
Key terms, concepts and definitions relevant to race equity.
How to talk about race by establishing shared values and a common understanding.
How to advance racial equity and inclusion and embed it in your organization.
Questions that bring together stakeholders to achieve social change.
How to set goals for racial equity and track and measure progress.
How to assess the impact of policies and other actions on racial and ethnic groups
ACTION GUIDE 50 Actions Your Organization Can Take After Posting about BLM By Vanessa Douyon, 54 Promises This list is intended to serve as a starting point for leaders contemplating where to go from here and for staff members who are advocating and case-making within their own organizations. It also serves as a reminder that words and written statements, shared internally or publicly, must be accompanied by substantive action and change.
This list can help broaden the conversation as organizations think through what action to take. It is best used as a menu – pursuing the strategies that make sense for your people and context – rather than as a checklist to complete.
ARTICLE Three Ways to Decolonize your Nonprofit as Told by a Black Queer Feminist Organizer By Neesha Powell, Everyday Feminism
"Some of my most cherished moments have been at nonprofits, but unfortunately, I’ve also felt dehumanized and devalued by them. They can be hostile workplaces for People of Color (POC) due to the impacts of the nonprofit industrial complex (NPIC).
The NPIC is a system of relationships between the State, the owning classes, foundations, and nonprofit and social justice organizations that results in the surveillance, control, derailment, and everyday management of political movements, according to INCITE! Women, Gender Non-Conforming, and Trans people of Color* Against Violence."
Since its creation in 1876, the Indian Act has shaped, controlled, and constrained the lives and opportunities of Indigenous Peoples, and is at the root of many enduring stereotypes. Bob Joseph's book comes at a key time in the reconciliation process, when awareness from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities is at a crescendo. Joseph explains how Indigenous Peoples can step out from under the Indian Act and return to self-government, self-determination, and self-reliance - and why doing so would result in a better country for every Canadian. He dissects the complex issues around truth and reconciliation, and clearly demonstrates why learning about the Indian Act's cruel, enduring legacy is essential for the country to move toward true reconciliation.
Black Fatigues: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and the Spirit By Mary-Frances Winters
This book, designed to illuminate the myriad dire consequences of "living while Black," came at the urging of Winters's Black friends and colleagues. Winters describes how in every aspect of life--from economics to education, work, criminal justice, and, very importantly, health outcomes--for the most part, the trajectory for Black people is not improving. It is paradoxical that, with all the attention focused over the last fifty years on social justice and diversity and inclusion, little progress has been made in actualizing the vision of an equitable society.
Black people are quite literally sick and tired of being sick and tired. Winters writes that "my hope for this book is that it will provide a comprehensive summary of the consequences of Black fatigue, and awaken activism in those who care about equity and justice--those who care that intergenerational fatigue is tearing at the very core of a whole race of people who are simply asking for what they deserve."
Effective dialogue across different dimensions of diversity, such as race, gender, age, religion, or sexual orientation, fosters a sense of belonging and inclusion, which in turn leads to greater productivity, performance, and innovation.
This book offers specific dialogue strategies to foster greater understanding on the following topics:
Recognizing the importance of creating equity and sharing power
Dealing with the "fragility" of dominant groups--their discomfort in engaging with historically subordinated groups
Addressing the exhaustion historically marginalized groups feel from constantly explaining their different lived experience
Exploring how to build trust and create psychologically safe spaces for dialogue
A White Man’s Province examines how British Columbians changed their attitudes towards Asian immigrants from one of toleration in colonial times to vigorous hostility by the turn of the century and describes how politicians responded to popular cries to halt Asian immigration and restrict Asian activities in the province.
Drawing on almost every newspaper and magazine report published in the province before 1914, and on government records and private manuscripts, Roy has produced a revealing historical account of the complex basis of racism in British Columbia and of the contribution made to the province in these early years by its Chinese and Japanese residents.
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century Edited by Alice Wong
One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent—but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people.
From Harriet McBryde Johnson’s account of her debate with Peter Singer over her own personhood to original pieces by authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma; from blog posts, manifestos, and eulogies to Congressional testimonies, and beyond: this anthology gives a glimpse into the rich complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites readers to question their own understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and the past with hope and love.
WHAT'S NEXT?
In the summer of 2021, the OAN will launch a new podcast and newsletter series in collaboration with Indigenous creators, producers, and partners exploring anti-Indigenous racism in the HIV sector, and discussing how we can better embed Truth and Reconciliation in our work.
The Step Forward series is delivered in service to our 40+ member organizations and to Ontario’s African, Caribbean, Black Latinx, and Black people living with and affected by HIV. This series is created by the Ontario AIDS Network in collaboration with Breakfast Culture, 54Lights podcast and our featured guest speakers.
The OAN's Step Forward newsletter is released on the first Monday of each month. It is intended for Members, Affiliates and friends of the Ontario AIDS Network who are interested in learning about and addressing anti-Black racism in the HIV sector.
