Advocacy in a Pandemic: It’s Time For a New Way of Working

“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” -Shirley Chisholm

The Coronavirus pandemic has exposed the inequities inherent in our nation’s systems. For people who were already experiencing the daily blunt force of inequality before Covid-19, the crisis has made meeting basic needs and maintaining well being even more difficult. Some advocates have found themselves in the challenging position of moving quickly to craft policy to help people find relief and support. The problem is these solutions are generally being developed without the meaningful involvement of the people experiencing the disparities. It’s time for advocacy to change.

Moving beyond tweaking systems to create long-term change requires advocates to collaborate with the people directly affected by the systemic inequities they seek to end. To borrow a phrase popularized by the disability rights movement, “nothing about us without us.” In some communities, advocates can have more influence on policy makers than the people who elect them. That power imbalance fosters transactional relationships in which those who experience inequality are called upon to tell their stories for an audience, not drive the discussion for potential solutions. Policies developed without the meaningful partnership of people who live closest to an issue are bound to reinforce existing inequities regardless of intent. No Child Left Behind and asset limits for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are prime examples.

That’s why equity and inclusion must become guiding principles for advocacy. An equity statement isn’t enough. Examining the gulf between values and practices, the “what we claim to do vs. what we actually do” internally and externally (board composition, hiring practices, workplace culture, community engagement, communications, etc.) is a critical first step. If advocates are listening even a little bit, they have probably already heard about the ways their organizations may fall short of centering directly affected people or reinforcing inequities. What organizations do with what they hear matters. COVID-19 has shown us in the most cruel and mundane ways that the status quo does not work. The urgency to craft policy and strategies to navigate this crisis is real and so are the consequences of not changing the fundamental mechanics of advocacy.

It’s not too late to commit to a path of learning, reflection, and action that will result in true collaboration with communities. There will be organizational anxiety in moving beyond the learning and reflection loop to action. The process will be uncomfortable, but the discomfort is relative. While there is real pain in confronting the ways advocacy in service of policymaking has caused and may continue to cause real harm, there is material, life-altering pain in experiencing inequality.

No organization is perfect, and perfection is a fallacy often used to derail the work of equity and inclusion. The willingness to recognize and acknowledge mistakes without equivocation is not weakness; it’s an act of integrity and strength. Equity and inclusion are both processes and outcomes. A future where race, class, gender, and disability don’t predict educational, health, and economic outcomes comes from the foundational practice of sharing power and co-designing solutions with the people directly affected and historically excluded from decision making. In the words of US Representative Ayanna Pressley, “those closest to the pain should be closest to the power.” When advocacy is rooted in equity and inclusion, it is just.

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