Holding our elected officials accountable
What we can do at work – and what we can’t
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Have you seen this set of images before?
I use these illustrations to teach my clients that the “equity” work we do in our workplaces is not only different from the work of “equality,” it’s also different from the work of fighting for liberatory justice.
Why isn’t my workplace doing MORE?
Well, there are a ton of unique reasons. But many of them come down to this:
Because our workplaces exist within capitalist structures that cause systemic oppression (sometimes explained as the uneven ground and/or uneven fence in the images above). So unless we work for explicitly political organizations (like lobbying organizations, campaigns, or other 501(c)(4)s), our workplaces usually aren’t going to be the sites of the dismantling of systemic oppression.
Instead, the project of making our workplaces more equitable is about naming that systemic oppression exists instead of ignoring it, and then building systems, policies, and structures in our workplaces* that stop us from perpetuating that oppression.
*Like the crates in the images above!
For some staff, that’s a relief. They don’t want to be involved in social justice/liberation/justice work, and they don’t have to be! But for other staff, it can feel frustrating.
So, what can we do about it?
Multiple staff at every single organization I’ve ever worked with – no matter how much DEI work they’re doing – wish their employer were doing MORE to address the systemic oppression they read about in the news every day. In some cases, I wish their employers were, too. And in other cases, I have to explain that, because of the constraints I just explained, there’s not much more their employer realistically can do.
Ultimately, for most of us, our workplaces can’t be our political homes – the organizers of our community activism. Instead of trying to force them to be (an uphill battle we won’t win), we’ll have a much bigger impact by finding our own political homes outside of the workplace.
There are community organizations already in existence that have strong systems in place for fighting rising fascism, keeping our neighbors safe, taking on the climate crisis, and more. They rely on volunteer leaders, and they need our help!
That’s why I developed Social Justice Action Coaching. Through this four-session series, I help individual clients build a political activism routine that feels sustainable and fun in ways that are unique to what’s fulfilling to them.
Who IS going to hold our elected officials accountable, though?
In recent weeks in New York City, I’ve been feeling especially excited about this coaching. While canvassing and phone banking for Zohran Mamdani through my own political home (Jews for Racial and Economic Justice), I heard several common questions. One of them often came from other volunteers: How will we hold Zohran accountable to his campaign promises?
How do we hold any elected official accountable to their campaign promises? By remaining engaged in community activism in between election cycles. By staying involved with organizations that meet regularly with elected officials and are involved in the mutual aid work that keeps them tapped into the needs of their communities.
We don’t engage in electoral politics to elect saviors. There are no saviors. We engage in electoral politics to elect the people we will be targeting with our activism. So it’s important to have political homes where we engage in that activism year-round! After all, we’re so much more powerful when we work together than when we go it alone.
So, will you join me - in your personal capacity, outside of work - in holding our elected officials accountable from your own political home?
If you don’t have a political home yet or haven’t found an activism routine that feels sustainable, fun, and fulfilling, I’d be honored to help. You can:
Learn more about Social Justice Action Coaching here,
Click here to chat and see if it’s right for you, or
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