May saw the advent of a new kind of roundtable for Driftime, bringing together three guest speakers and a local Brightonian audience to talk all things equity.
Elsa Monteith
Communications
Following on from PLATF9RM’s Kickass Women event early this year, we worked with the team over at P9 to welcome three activists and advocates to the table, each with their own set of experiences, opinions, and areas of expertise in the expansive field of equity.
Equity is more than a leveller, it’s an opportunity to address difference and disparity in a way that invites conversation, bringing to light the barriers people face in accessing spaces, and suggesting ways we can tackle these challenges head on. By recognising, supporting, and uplifting intersectional identities we can begin to tackle the societal roadblocks - something we go on to explore through the lens of mentoring, charity engagement, and anti-racist work.
🤸 Isabel, Sussex Network Manager for The Girls’ Network (opens a new window), a mentoring programme connecting volunteer women mentors with girls and non-binary students. Isabel holds a Master’s in Gender, Violence, and Conflict from the Univeristy of Sussex, and is passionate about amplifying the voices of young people, supporting them with mentoring as a means of unleashing potential, and shaping unlimited futures.
🌟 Kaia, a Racial Justice and Anti-Racism Advocate, creative, and TedX 2022 Speaker committed to creating brave spaces, interrogating anti-racist practices, and embracing humility, all whilst striving for an equitable future. Kaia works with inclusion consultancy Watch This Sp_ce (opens a new window) to deliver anti-racism and allyship workshops.
🗣 Toni, Founder of The Social Society (opens a new window), an organisation matching people with charities in need of support across the UK through their vibrant volunteer community. Toni has a background in advocacy and community engagement, working with the Ministry of Justice, the NHS, and other community provisions to help support, represent, and uplift the voices of young people and prisoners across the south.
🙌 How can we best articulate, advocate, and take action?
When it comes to the language of equity, there’s often a knee-jerk reaction to the inevitable buzzwords that follow – they’re known as empty promises, at best a gesture towards change, but rarely without any kind of meaningful action. Our roundtable invited a few different perspectives speaking to this notion, with the importance of “walking-the-walk” being at the bedrock of the conversation, closely followed by our personal relationship with words that, intuitively, should simply indicate positive change.
🗣 How can we include people who identify as socially anxious and highly sensitive in these spaces?
In responding to this audience question, Isabel dug into how The Girls’ Network is a safe space for open conversation from the beginning – so many girls express their post-COVID anxiety as a barrier to meeting a mentor, so it’s important to prioritise listening to them to see what adaptations and reasonable adjustments can be made. Voice is important, whether or not they’re ready to share. Toni explored how creating space for all frameworks through The Social Society calls for active listening – holding 1-2-1 sessions as well as group events gives people an opportunity to explain what isn’t their bag and why that is. What can we do as an organisation and facilitator to make the space more accessible?
Kaia spoke to the need to acknowledge boundaries and posed some questions…
- What is or isn’t working for that person now?
- What might work better in the future?
- Can we meet that person where they are and listen to what might help?
- How can we practically support them with resources or adjustments?
💬 Often, our immediate response to “diversity” buzzwords is negative. Why is that?
This audience question sparked a conversation about our connections, interpretations, and understandings of the words we choose to voice. Isabel explained how useful buzzwords are in her practice, used for their clarity in education and inspiration for young girls exploring ideas of justice. Kaia suggested that our personal responses to words is something that comes from somewhere internal; if hearing the word “diversity” sparks something negative – we need to work out why that is. Toni spoke to her background in advocacy and current work in charity spaces – taking responsibility for the language we use and holding ourselves accountable for the words we choose is part and parcel of a sustainable and meaningful practice.
🏋 ‘Power’ is a buzzword that is often overlooked…
Amidst the buzz of “inclusion”, “representation”, “equality” and “diversity”, we are often actually speaking about “power” and the dynamics it creates, supports, and opposes. Equity asks us to acknowledge our different levels of power and privilege, and begin to generate ideas on how to rebalance the inequalities. From an anti-racism perspective, Kaia spoke to the work Watch This Sp_ce engages with, advocating for authentic inclusion through in-house frameworks as well as institutional structures – how can we use these to shape a society we can be proud of? The same notion applies to other types of justice work – making spaces accessible, representative, and equitable depends on an upheaval of power, perhaps something akin to a revolution.
⚖️ Do we need a revolution to achieve equity?
Kaia gave a fantastic TedX talk last year titled “Does Revolution Need Decolonising? (opens a new window)”, a question she brought to the table, this time posing another to the audience, asking what a revolution looks like to them. In the answers we heard, we explored radical action, revolutionary vulnerability, demanding answers from the system, and taking back ownership, amongst others. From around the table, Isabel spoke to the need to shift power, create community, and foster connection between young girls and those that can support them, and in much the same way, Toni explained how The Social Society disrupts traditional models of exchange, instead crafting spaces for “giving back” authentically. We learned from Kaia how radical action can also look like softness, setting barriers and respecting your space, or connecting with networks that provide community-led support.
Throughout our conversation we recognised how asking for equity also calls into question the structures and systems that uphold our society – be it a workshop or a revolution, we each have an opportunity to be both critical and curious, and hope to extend that discussion to fellow readers and radicals alike. This reflection is just a snapshot of our conversation – if you would like to add to the dialogue, say hello! hello@driftime.com (opens a new window)
If you’re curious about what’s next, begin by tapping into existing networks and exploring what your community has to offer. Could you offer your time, knowledge, and expertise to a charity with The Social Society (opens a new window)? Are you interested in mentoring a young person with The Girls’ Network (opens a new window)? Is there a need for anti-racism and allyship training in your organisation that could be facilitated by Watch This Sp_ce (opens a new window)? Get in touch!
