Racial Equity Resources
OUR RACIAL EQUITY WORK BEGAN OUT OF A NEED TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE AND POWER AT DREAMYARD, BASED ON THE EXPERIENCES OF RACISM BOTH INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY.
Below you will find outcomes from these conversations along with a list of some of the individuals and organizations that have helped shape our approach.
LEARNING COMMUNITY
The DreamYard Learning Community is a year-long peer-led social justice discussion that allows full-time staff to learn together by building community and exploring how past injustices can inform our current work in order to imagine a better future for our communities.
This space places a special focus on learning and developing strategies to address race and racism both within the organization and in the work we do externally. Through regular monthly staff meetings we use Learning Community sessions to establish consistency in the way we talk about our work at DreamYard. The sessions also allow us to practice and develop skills in facilitating conversations about race and other intersectional social justice issues.
At DreamYard we value diverse backgrounds and experiences. We commit to honoring and meeting people where they are and understand we all have different entry points. We also have a commitment to working towards becoming an Anti-Racist Institution.
Learning Community Story (PDF) Example Agenda #1 Example Agenda #2
RACIAL EQUITY PRIME
The DreamYard Organizational Prime For Racial Equity was cocreated by Yesenia Macedo and Rajeeyah Finnie-Myers through the support provided in the 2017-18 Race Forward Racial Equity in the Arts Innovation Lab. It is a set of questions intended to ensure accountability for decision making that includes but is not limited to taking on new partnerships, programming opportunities, hiring, firing, and/or promoting. It serves as a reminder that we are committed to centering People of Color and explicitly addressing racial inequity.
Assessment questions:
- Who is benefiting from this decision?
- How are we being explicit about our commitment to racial justice?
- How does this decision affect the POC we serve (participants) and POC staff members?
- What is the desired outcome of this decision? And how does this outcome connect to our commitment to racial justice?
- Who are we excluding? How can we be more inclusive with this decision?
Visual of Racial Equity Prime Questions
ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS WE LEARN FROM
Rachael Ibrahim, Heidi Maria Lopez, and Monica Dennis
Anti-racist Alliance monthly undoing meetings
Teaching Tools Racial Equity Resources Ta Profile
