The Weight of Community Work: When the Walk Doesn’t Match the Talk”
This one is for those working tirelessly in the community. I see you, I hear you, I feel you. It’s also for those who, like me, are equity-deserving and find themselves navigating the same systems we are working to change. This message is for you.
It’s a very specific kind of emotional and physical labour to work on behalf of communities that look like you, or have experiences so closely tied to your own. You’re not just advocating for change—you’re also living it.
If I had a dollar for every time I heard, “How do we convince leadership to prioritize equity?” or “How do we get our organizations to take anti-racism and safer spaces seriously?” Or even, “How do we navigate the tough conversations that come after these questions?”
You know that the change—whether it’s decolonization, equity, or whatever resonates with your community—is not just needed, it’s necessary. And yet, there are moments where you might feel like you’re compromising your values as you watch the detrimental impact of inaccessible, one-size-fits-all systems unfold.
Recently, I attended a workshop run by The Ally Co., facilitated by Jeff Couillard, and learned about the concept of “Power Differentials.” It finally helped me articulate what I’ve witnessed so often in community-based equity work: the more power someone holds, the more unaware and disconnected they become from its impact on others.
When you’re in it, you feel it. I often find myself saying it takes a special kind of labour to constantly convince others why my life, my child’s life, or my community’s lives matter. That’s the reality of this work—convincing, teaching, sometimes even pleading, for equitable practices and systems change to be seen as a priority.
So, what do we do with all this? Here’s my advice:
Consider your positionality: How do you show up in relation to power and impact? Sometimes this means stepping back to let others lead in an effort to light an already heavy load; other times it’s about leaning in with curiosity to better impact.
For example, at CDLI this is internal work that each of our staff members is encouraged to do, and it’s something we openly discuss as needed. We’re committed to examining CDLI’s positionality not only at an individual level but also at a systems level, which helps us make informed decisions on how we show up for our communities.
Align your organization’s mission, vision, and values with equity: Start by asking how your organizational goals reflect equity in action. Is your organization living those values or just writing them down? Does the walk match the talk? Whatever you discover will be the language you need for those hard questions or conversations.
I encourage you to take this further by revisiting the mission and vision of your organization. For example, CDLI recently re-envisioned its mission and values to better reflect equity as a core action, not just a statement. Check out this blog post to learn more about how we lead that revisioning process.
Contributed by Denyelle Fraser