Before you start to provide programming in a community it is crucial that you understand the community first. If you are not part of the community or haven't worked with them before, you may need to serve as a supporter initially. Gaining the trust of the community as an outsider takes time and it might be better to support ongoing programming efforts.
Looking from the outside in
If you find a community that you want to help, take a step back and reflect on, WHY.
“Good intentions” are too often missed. Without looking in you may end up doing more damage than before you decided to intervene.
Like The Lauryn Hill quote in my last post,
"how you gon' win if you ain’t right within."
You cannot lead a people or provide programming in hopes of healing others if you do not recognize what a healed person/community looks like or even understand the process.
Now in me saying that, it doesn’t mean that everyone who leads or creates programs are fully healed individuals. You can be very far in the process of healing and becoming aware of self accountability and still lead effective programming as you grow.
Admitting that you might not be the right person to be leading programming is hard to do. It includes having to check your ego. You do not have to be THE ONE who changes a community and that is ok. Being a part of that change is just as powerful. The resources you had to offer could be put to better use aiding and supporting another pre-existing project.
Building Trust
As an outsider wanting to offer programming, it is not easy to gain the trust of the people. Most often you are dealing with marginalized people in one shape or another. Marginalized communities are less trusting.
Without going too deep into it, one of the main reasons marginalized communities are created and harbor distrust is due to the long history of exploitation and discrimination they faced.
They’ve been historically excluded from a seat at the table and not been able to see themselves reflected in decision-making processes that have impacts on their lives. They are often victims of broken promises. I've personally worked with kids who have been victims of broken promises, such as mayors pledging to support their final projects but failing to show up. That affects the morale of the people and a community can only take so much. I had to be the one to tell the kids that their value isn’t measured in whether the mayor shows up or not which in turn made me do more work on my end.
This message is for those who are overzealous in their attempts to bring something new to a community without understanding its needs. Whether you are dealing with the marginalized community of the homeless, black and brown neighborhoods etc., the last major point I will leave this part with is, cultural insensitivity.
Cultural understanding
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to ME
(RIP to the Queen herself)
Too often I have seen leaders go into a community without taking the time to understand its language, customs, and way of life, imposing their “help” in a way that feels foreign and intrusive. Too often I have seen these people abuse the trust of the people who vouched for them. This abuse of trust harms both the community and the person who vouched for you, leaving them to face accountability while you retreat to your comfort zone.
When institutions and well intended individuals fail to acknowledge and respect these cultural differences, it leads to programming that doesn’t include the people that it aims to serve. This is how you essentially start to subjugate a culture. A cultural clash WILL happen when you fail to acknowledge the differences in cultures and not taking the time to learn and understand. If you have worked in the non profit sector that aims to work with marginalized people, chances are you've experienced this yourself.
This is where hiring a consultant (i.e. ME) comes in handy or somebody who can guide you from the very same community.
The 5 W’s and How: My Framework in Effective Programming
Now that we have that out the way, let’s say you are ready and have done the work and you still want to provide programming.
You cannot go wrong with the 5 W’s and How.
What: What does the community need?
Why: Why do you feel you are the right person to provide this?
When: When can you deliver outcomes?
Who: Who are the key stakeholders and people you want to serve?
Where: Where will you provide your programming?
How: How will you make it all happen?
Once you can answer that you are off to a good start. These are people’s lives you are dealing with, whether it is something as joyful as dance where you can possibly take away an outlet for a group of people or something as high stakes as mammograms and turning people away from the importance of them.
Research and Engagement
In this blog I will focus on the, WHAT. How do you figure out what the people want!?...
Research
Research the key people in the community and meet with them. If they rock with it, ensure that they are involved in the process. That first person may NOT be the person for a multitude of reasons. We are human, but first you must make sure that the reason isn’t you and that is where your communication skills will come in handy. I would lean on my personal community to hold me accountable for this one by being transparent and open and then possibly holding me accountable if I was the one in the wrong. You cannot hope to bring about change in a community if you do not belong to one of your own. Recipe for disaster. If you and that first stakeholder don’t work out for reasons outside of both your control, you will have to be ok with moving on to another person if that happens to be the case. It is not easy work. After you have established your first key stakeholders you will want them to be able to introduce you to the culture and the people. This is where you take your time! You don’t show up on day one saying,
HEY! I got this for y’all!
I have seen that too, but it doesn't end well. This is your moment to study the culture of the community. What makes them different from you and others, what makes them wake up and choose to show up day by day and so forth. While doing that you should be sure to support any other pre-existing programs in the community. Support any other initiatives that the people trust. Take part in what they do and over time you will start to assimilate into the community you want to enact change in.
Evaluating and Ensuring Transparency
At this point you will reach a nexus where you either realize that the people truly need what you have to offer or you see that they already have some of those infrastructures in place and all they need is support. That part is crucial because if done improperly and your ego is still a part of your decision making and you plan on offering something they don’t need, you will undo all of the work that you did gaining the trust of the people.
If you are sure that you want to start something new then make sure that the people are involved at the seat of the table. This is what we call transparency. Where the community you want to serve is able to have representatives who are at the table when decisions are being made in real time and can offer their support or push-back.
Responsibility
This is a lot to take in, I know, and I will end it here for now. The point of this post was to simply get you to the, “WHAT”-understanding what the community needs. I will include more posts in the future that cover the rest. I wanted this one to scare some people away and at the same time inspire those who see this as the first step to their goal. Bringing programming to a marginalized community is a big responsibility and it should not be taken lightly. We want to end the cycle of abused power in this country, not propagate it. We don’t want to create more hurt people that will go and hurt others.
If this post inspired you to do more and take action because you believe you are already part of a community where you can make a positive impact, please feel free to send me an email or text. I would love to hear more and possibly offer some insight. If you are someone where this feels overwhelming, it's okay and I find it beautiful when we recognize your limits. We still need supporters for our existing programs, advocates to champion our causes, and individuals with resources to contribute. If we are to change the world and country, we need ALL HANDS on deck.
With Love and Respect,
-McKersin
Time for my weekly question for the comments,
What resources or tools have you found helpful in understanding and respecting cultural differences?
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