We can’t hope to build a more just and equal ward if we are unable to meet the needs and concerns of women. Women are already holding our families and our communities together so we don’t need women’s groups. To transform our wards, we must organise ourselves with women participating in everything we do, women in the majority wherever we organise and women in charge of the decisions.
We can’t hope to build a more just and equal ward if we are unable to meet the needs and concerns of women. Women are already holding our families and our communities together so we don’t need women’s groups. To transform our wards, we must organise ourselves with women participating in everything we do, women in the majority wherever we organise and women in charge of the decisions.
Where women are in charge, many others feel more comfortable getting involved. Our wards are diverse and include people from different races, ethnicities and nationalities, people with varying education and income, people who speak different languages and practice different religious faiths, people with different gender orientations and sexualities, and people who have different strengths and physical abilities.
This calls on us to think carefully about how we organise and seek to change the ways that the power that comes with decision making, kinds of knowledge, and access to resources is distributed between people. That means investing in a set of principles and using creative and practical tools to ensure that everybody is able to contribute in a meaningful way and be included in the deliberations and decision making.
We will never be able to reconcile with aggression, domination, bigotry and discrimination and this behaviour is never acceptable. However, when we bring diverse groups of people together, we can expect there to be uncomfortable moments and behaviour that doesn’t sit right. A man who talks too much. A woman who tells everyone what to do. In these situations we can choose to be both practical and generous.
We can be practical and put in place tools and ways of working that help to ensure everybody is included. This can include: sharing and rotating roles; providing for ways to contribute in smaller groups and pairs; limiting talking time; and finding creative ways using technology to get involved. The more we practice the better we get.
We can be firm but generous and deal with situations by opening up conversations that seek to bring people together and understand each other rather than calling people out. Choosing to be generous with others in the face of historical power relations is a political act and something we can all practice. The burden should not rest on one person alone – we can all support and stand with each other in this endeavour.
When people leave actions and discussions they should feel empowered, nourished, heard and excited about possibilities.
