An Interview with Angelique Power, The Field Foundation of Illinois

Racial equity seems to be a bumper sticker for many organizations. What do you mean by racial equity?

People use racial equity as a substitute for diversity. Yes, it’s important to look at representation, but representation isn’t action. In the spectrum, diversity means systems stay the same and the representation of people changes; the behavioral science of the actors in the system might change but that is all. This kind of tinkering work is labor intensive and when the people leading the work leave, then the work leaves with them. This has been the same conversation for decades.

I am hoping that racial equity work can lead us to a new place. And to be blunt we can’t just hope folks of color do this work. For one, racial equity isn’t always understood by all people of color. Let’s face it – we have gotten the same messages that everyone else has gotten. Many of us are in spaces and charged with trying to actualize racial equity, yet we have our own privilege and internalized racism that we need to sort out.

Racial Equity is about shifting power and resources. It involves dismantling AND rebuilding systems. This is an important point since for many of us it stops with dismantling; rebuilding involves shifting resources and power, acknowledging history, and in some ways rethinking history that you have been told and from that lens building something new. It’s a constant journey. Our muscle memory is that of inequity. That’s the exciting and daunting part of it: once you get started, the universe shifts and opens, expands and almost becomes a spiritual journey like achieving one’s life’s work. System structures change and from that comes a new way of being. DNA shifts instead of getting a makeover.

To read Angelique's interview in its entirety, click here.