Sometimes we see a problem, clear as day, and others don’t. We want the problem solved, and others see a problem already solved or no problem at all. Social justice is ALWAYS a problem for people who have been denied social justice. Colin Seale, one of favorite equity workers, often says that the system was NEVER BROKEN; it was built this way on purpose by people that it works very well for (Seale, 2024). If we want to change it, then we have to work our problems, find our solutions, and build our teams to get the work done—and we have to face the dangers in the waters where those problems lie.
Like Art Johnston, who never meant to lead change, we need a clear goal for change (Dugan, 2017); once we have that goal, we can’t get distracted by other goals or programs that muddy the waters. When we keep our goals simple, we are able to share our goals and visions with others. When we CHANGE those goals, we lose sight of what we were trying to do; I’m not saying we don’t work with others on THEIR goals, but we should never change our goals to bring others on board—that’s how we lose. If we change our goals, we don’t achieve them. So while we listen to others, care about their causes, we don’t shift our vision—not if we want to solve a problem. Something else we have to do is let go of fairy tale solutions. If we REALLY want to solve problems, then we have to accept the practicalities of making change a reality. Change in social justice leadership and equity work can be ugly—because mutual self-interest is always lurking around the corner in theory and in practice to affect the work (Owens and Valesky, 2022). The REALITY of change is that mutual self-interest is a lie designed to ensure that historically subordinated subpopulations don’t form strong collations TOGETHER and solve their problems by working as one team on equity issues. When WE DO, we are unstoppable. Art Johnston shares a beautiful story of a time in Chicago when disabled citizens refused to accept legal protections in a proposed law until the law also protected those same rights for the LGBTQ+ community—because we all need protection together—or none of us get it on our own . . . if we have short memories for how marginalized groups are treated by groups who hold power and make decisions based upon mutual SELF-interest (Dugan, 2017). Solutions that come from this sort of work are fairy tales—so they don’t last. To really affect change, we need to meet people affected by the problem—everyone affected by the problem—and ensure they’re involved in the solution. We have more perspectives, more potential solutions, and more shared resources to use in achieving our goal. We also learn humility when we work with diverse teams. I heard a comedian once say that she was struggling with a fear that everyone hated her, so she went to her psychiatrist, and her psychiatrist said, “No one hates you; no one’s even thinking about you.” In equity work, we need a little humility so we remember that other groups have been oppressed—so we can walk with them. And we need to know who DOESN’T CARE. We can usually practice two strategies for people who don’t care about our problems. We can get around them or get over them. Some people who don’t care are easy—they also don’t care about change—they really don’t care. So they won’t get in the way of change. They won’t help, but they won’t hinder. We can ignore them and go around. But some people actively oppose equity work, and we need a team large enough to go over them. We need practical solutions, loud voices, the right solutions, and the creative strategies with the correct agencies to get the work moving forward—not always with legal change or policy change. If we really want to make a DIFFERENCE, we have to ask ourselves which solutions will make THAT CHANGE—and work for our solution in that direction. This type of effective change is often how we get over the opposition. Again . . . with creativity and a little humility, we don’t lose focus on our goal—to solve the problem. References: Dugan, J. P. (2017). Leadership theory. Jossey-Bass. Owens, R. G., & Valesky, T. C. (2022). Organizational behavior in education: Leadership and school reform (12th ed.). Prentice Hall. Seale, C. (2024, January 30). LinkedIn Post. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=Colin%20Seale&origin=GLOBAL_SEARCH_HEADER&sid=(F4
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