PARC's Response to Anti-Blackness

On August 25, 2020, the PARC team sent this message to our listserv:

As an anti-violence organization, we see our work at PARC as intersectional and believe that racism is violence, not conflict. Although we strive in our work to address and confront oppression head on, we are embedded in a system and have been socialized to invalidate Black lives. 

In order to address our own anti-Blackness, we have looked at our practices and have identified specific ways to uplift our Black community through our work. 
 

Prevention

  • Actively address our positionality in all training and event planning.

  • Commit to challenging oppressive language in ourselves, our programs, and our community. 

  • Continue to learn and discuss how intersectional anti-violence work is our foundation by requiring ongoing reading and conversations as a team and a willingness to admit and learn from our mistakes. 

Advocacy

  • Affirm to our community that as a resource designed around sexual and domestic violence, we cannot do our work without also working to counteract all violence and oppression.

  • Strive to provide culturally humble support to our community, acknowledging that we don’t know what we don’t know and that making assumptions will not help us empower those who have experienced violence. 

  Resources
  • Decenter whiteness in our work and our resources by expanding our resource library and training materials to include more BIPOC and LGBTQ voices.

  • Aim to hire and retain a team of professional staff, peer advocates, and violence prevention educators that is representative of our Brandeis community by proactively connecting with student clubs and improving transparency around hiring processes by hosting open information sessions.

  Center(ing our Community)
  • Incorporate new perspectives in our work, especially events and programs, by collaborating with different clubs and offices. 

  • Build meaningful relationships with culture clubs through supporting their programming and having a strong presence at their events, centering them in our team bonding activities. 

  • Solicit feedback from community members such as the ODEI student advisory board and culture club leaders. 

  
We recognize that growth continues to happen and we will revisit this plan every semester at minimum, and continue to solicit feedback. If you have any questions, concerns, or ideas, please contact us at parc@brandeis.edu or anonymously through our feedback form
 

Sincerely,

the PARC team