Summary
Communities of color have firsthand experiences with the dehumanization that social justice advocates are working to disrupt. Including them in conversations around the policies that affect them allows organizations to attack the root of the problem with additional qualitative facts that would have been missed in the disaggregated data.
“Where dehumanization pushes communities of color to the margins of society, authentic engagement brings them back to the center.”
“Policy analysis without community engagement is weaker, has less value, and is ultimately less impactful.”
Takeaways
- Community engagement is the heart of equity-focused policy because it meaningfully includes those that are affected by public policies. Without this engagement, the needs of subpopulations can be underestimated or become invisible.
- Communities of color should be involved in securing support for bills among legislators, building public awareness , conducting social media outreach, and attending coalition meetings to build consensus and discuss issues.