{"id":6402,"date":"2021-07-14T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=6402"},"modified":"2021-06-23T11:42:04","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T15:42:04","slug":"equity-and-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/07\/equity-and-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"Equity and Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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As I mentioned in What Was Said<\/a>, the report on the Community Engagement Network<\/a>\u2019s May and June Conversations on Benchmarking Equity, participants frequently commented on the relationships between community engagement and work in pursuit of equity. I\u2019ve long held that without a commitment to community engagement an arts organization\u2019s DEI efforts are not likely to succeed (Doomed to Fail<\/a>). But the Conversations went way beyond that. In particular, they kept citing the essence of effective engagement\u2013building trusting relationships with new communities\u2013as the only path to equity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, in preparing to work toward equity, arts organizations could profit from considering basic principles of effective community engagement. The fundamental requirements<\/strong> (and to be clear, these are the same requisites for any kind of relationship building) are humility and respect.<\/strong> Knowing that there is much to be learned and that those with whom you are hoping to work deserve respect is essential. My mantra \u201cYou don\u2019t know that you don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know\u201d applies: and the need for respect should be self-evident. No relationship succeeds without it. For arts organizations, humility and  respect are especially important in working toward equity because of the history of our industry, the hidden (or sometimes not so hidden) pattern of arrogance about \u201chigh art,\u201d and our association in the minds of many with wealth and power. In addition, every<\/em> community has cultural assets about which we need to be aware and from which we can gain much. If we\u2019re not prepared to see cultural expressions outside of the European aristocratic cultural tradition as assets we have no business even thinking about DEI work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first step toward actually working together is listening, really listening, to learn. <\/strong>One of the most persistent complaints BIPOC communities have about the white establishment is the unwillingness to listen to, and really hear, hard truths that it doesn\u2019t want to hear. Until they are heard, there can\u2019t be any change made, and change is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When actually working together, the focus must be on mutual benefit. <\/strong>Certainly the arts organization must benefit; but in the pursuit of equity, the arts organization needs the social legitimacy that equitable behavior can bring. It is the community with which the arts organization is working that must see benefit from its own perspective in the work being done. (This cannot<\/em> be simply that the presence of the arts is \u201cgood for people.\u201d Remember the point about humility?)  In addition, project design and implementation must be collaborative. <\/strong>Communities know their interests and what works and doesn\u2019t work for them. Listen and plan together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, after a project is over, remember that everything is about the relationship, not the project. A plan for relationship maintenance must be in place. <\/strong>(See Relationship Maintenance<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good practice in community engagement has much to offer in supporting steps toward equity; and equity is necessary for successful engagement with many if not most new communities. Let\u2019s view them both as essential rather than separate, unrelated areas of work. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engage!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doug<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some rights reserved<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Got Credit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good practices in community engagement and DEI work are closely related. Let’s work together on them simultaneously.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Equity and Engagement: Good practices in community engagement and DEI work are closely related. Let's work together on them simultaneously.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,13,47],"class_list":{"0":"post-6402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-principles","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-community-engagement","10":"tag-equity","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Equity2.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1Fg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6388,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/06\/what-was-said\/","url_meta":{"origin":6402,"position":0},"title":"What Was Said","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"June 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Observations on the Community Engagement Network's Conversations on the topic Benchmarking Equity.","rel":"","context":"In "Community Engagement Network"","block_context":{"text":"Community Engagement Network","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/community-engagement-network\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Report.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5729,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/10\/doomed-to-fail\/","url_meta":{"origin":6402,"position":1},"title":"Doomed to Fail","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Diversity, equity, and inclusion are vital to the future of the arts. 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Join a conversation about setting quantifiable benchmarks for making progress.","rel":"","context":"In "Community Engagement Network"","block_context":{"text":"Community Engagement Network","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/community-engagement-network\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/GroupDiscussion.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6411,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/07\/ready-or-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":6402,"position":3},"title":"Ready . . . or Not","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Just because an organization would like to be seen as equitable does not mean it was ready to begin working toward equity.","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/NotReady.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5784,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/12\/dei-statements\/","url_meta":{"origin":6402,"position":4},"title":"DEI Statements","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"December 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion statements with a couple of recent examples.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Equity-e1435255742641.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5285,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/05\/from-the-q-a\/","url_meta":{"origin":6402,"position":5},"title":"From the Q & A","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Re: equity and justice, are we all really \"on the same page\"? 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