Checking Ourselves for Oppressive Language

"Oppression? I would never use oppressive language!" If that's what you're thinking, please don't skip this post. The first time I was encouraged to attend "anti-oppression training" as part of an organization-wide effort to be more inclusive, I laughed uncomfortably because Oppression was such a strong word that I associated with slave-owning and wife-beating. Surely, I wasn't doing that! Because I'm a "good" person!...right?

Right off the bat, I'll make an admission. I've been the person oppressed by others AND I've been the oppressor. Because I'm a woman, I know what it's like to be "man-splained" and talked over in meetings. As someone of mixed-race heritage, people inevitably say offensive things to me. I can relate to what micro-aggressions feel like. But I'm rather white as well, so I don't go through nearly half of what many friends do on a daily basis. Because I have a level of economic privilege, I also must admit that I have been insensitive to the situation of others at times without even thinking about it.

But I'm working on it. And this post is part of that. 

In everyday life, there are many slights about race, gender identity, and economic status that can drive people crazy. So many that for the purposes of this post, I'm just going to focus in on a few common things that happen in the context of advocacy organizing...particularly, in anti-poverty advocacy. It's such a counter-productive thing to be expending so much energy to help people in poverty while unintentionally belittling your partners and/or the very people you are trying to help. Which brings me to the first thing to think about when talking about oppression:

Intent is NOT the same as impact
Just because we don't mean to hurt someone, doesn't mean that we're not being incredibly hurtful. Whether it's a bad joke, a slip about gender, an assumption about someone's income or anything else we didn't mean to do, it really doesn't let us off the hook if we weren't intentionally trying to hurt someone. If they hurt because of our insensitivity, it's our fault. We should apologize and try to do better. 

How are we hurting each other?

Here are a few of the most common insensitivities that I personally see happening in meetings throughout the many organizations I volunteer with.

• People of greater economic means talking over people of lower economic status
• Men talking over women in meetings
• Advocates telling members of Congress that they are "a voice for the voiceless"
• Global advocates using "savior" language demeaning those we try to help

What can we do instead?
When we hear Aaron Burr's character in Hamilton say, "Talk less, smile more," it's advice to Alexander Hamilton to avoid taking a moral stand publicly. But maybe we can use that phrasing differently in this context. When I am lobbying with a mom who lives in poverty herself or lives in a developing nation, my job is EXACTLY to "talk less, smile more." I need to allow her room to say whatever she is willing to say and give her a supportive smile to let her know that I'm her partner and I've got her back if she needs me. Men can follow the same advice when it seems like women are not getting equal space in the conversation. 

As for that savior mentality I mentioned, that can get pretty embarrassing, especially if you're a global advocate lobbying with a partner from a nation with high poverty level. I have had the immense honor of advocating with some awesome partners from Kenya, Mozambique, and other African countries. Some of them are survivors of HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis, and they have overcome hardships I can only imagine because they tell me about them...with their VOICES! I absolutely cringe inside when I hear another activist use the "voice for the voiceless" phrase. Our partners have beautiful, strong voices. They have definite opinions and ideas. It's just that my colleagues live on the other side of the planet and can't hang out here with my U.S. representative in her little Ballwin, Missouri office. So, I have to do the talking on their behalf with full permission of the stories they asked me to share. 

Examples of stories I do NOT share are stories my local friends have told me in confidence about times of their lives when they lived in poverty themselves. Those were not happy times, and they sometimes made hard choices they are not proud about today. If they want me to tell them, I do. Better yet, if they can come with me and tell it themselves. But I don't share those tales-even with anonymity-unless I have clear permission to do so. 

But back to savior language...If you, like me, started out advocating in organizations where it was deemed okay to use that kind of phrasing, try out some of this alternative language and see how it shifts the conversation in a more positive direction:

Instead of....

• I'm a voice for the voiceless. (Portrays people experiencing poverty as without agency)
• Poor people (Casts those living in poverty as other, less than, and different than us)
• We save poor people's lives. (Casts us as saviors and portrays others as incapable of saving themselves)

Try....

• I speak in partnership for those who aren't here to speak for themselves today.
• People living in poverty/living in the world's poorest places
• As advocates, we use our voices in partnership with others to influence decisions that can bring an end to poverty. 

Questions to ask ourselves
There are so many more situations, and I'd love to hear more examples and solutions in the comment section! Regardless of the circumstance, however, I've found these questions to be immensely helpful. 

• Am I portraying people experiencing poverty as empowered members of our movement?
• Am I portraying myself as a partner in the movement to end poverty or as a savior?
• Am I being cognizant of my own privilege in conversation and grounding conversations in the voices of those directly impacted by poverty?
• Am I listening to other voices? Am I creating space for new leaders?
• Am I using inclusive, empowering and welcoming language?

You are not a horrible person if you answered "no" to one or more of these...not if you think you can move forward with a commitment to improve. We are all on a spectrum of learning. I am a big believer in the phrase, "When you know better, do better." It works for parenting small children and it works for advocates! 

I'm far from perfect, but I'm trying and I hope you'll try along with me. I'm hoping that in this forum - reading this alone in privacy - my readers might take a moment to reflect carefully about these questions and work to make our movements more inclusive for all. Listen a bit more carefully when you're in a meeting with your fellow advocates. Maybe talk a little less. Let's see what we can learn from each other!

Call Your Representative Today to Support Global Immunizations

Greetings from the Shot@Life Summit in Washington D.C.! Today, I'll be on Capitol Hill with dedicated global vaccine advocates from all over the country. We spent all yesterday preparing with presentations on the current state of immunizations and child health from experts like Seth Berkely of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. We practiced our meeting strategies and some of us even held some post-dinner lobby preparation talk in a weird plastic igloo outside our restaurant. (That was a first for me!)

Seriously, this was the igloo we found with a view of the Kennedy Center. We sat in a circle in it and discussed
our legislative asks for our lobby meetings. Warning: Not every conference has an igloo nearby.

If you want to be a part of this movement to stop childhood diseases with smart, cost-effective immunization solutions, here's what you can do:

Pick up your phone tomorrow and call your U.S. representative. Urge them to "sign onto the brand new Gavi Replenishment Resolution, which has a resolution number H. Res. 861." You can use an easy patch-through service at 1-844-0368-0294.

H. Res. 861 celebrates and commemorates the work of Gavi and affirms U.S. continued support for the purchase and distribution of vaccines through the Gavi Alliance. MOST IMPORTANTLY, it recognizes the need for multi-year pledges from the U.S. and encourages continued funding commitment for "at least" the current levels.

All you need to do is read the quote in bold, but if you want to say more, you're welcome to use these talking points from Shot@Life to help guide your message. 

Why should we keep funding Gavi? Well, in the last 20 years since it was formed...

• over 760 million children have been immunized
• over 13 million deaths have been averted
• 86% of the world's children are reached each year by routine immunization
• 15 countries have now moved OFF of Gavi support...meaning they now have sustainable programs to provide vaccines to their kids by themselves!

Out of all the Sustainable Development Goals, the immunization portion of Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-Being) is the most likely to be attained by the target date of 2030. Let's work together to get there!!!

Advocacy Made Easy: Writing a Letter to the Editor

A letter to the editor is a very short letter written by readers and printed in the opinion section of a newspaper. I love this form of advocacy because these letters can inform others in your community about an issue and even attract the attention of your member of Congress! Maybe you don't read the newspaper regularly, but congressional offices have staff checking the media every day to see what constituents are saying about their bosses. It’s an easy way to gauge public opinion and see what potential voters are talking about.

Writing a letter to the editor doesn’t have to be very different from writing a personal letter to Congress. But you must follow rules determined by the newspaper, which can generally be found in the opinion pages of a print edition or in the opinion section of a newspaper’s website.
Some papers publish every letter that meets its standards; other papers publish only a small fraction of the letters they receive. Today, I'm going to offer you my strategies I learned from RESULTS to boost your chances of getting published and to make your letters more effective...

Grab Attention with a Current Event

People have pretty short attention spans these days, so your first line should be highly engaging. Can you think of an interesting angle that hooks the reader in to read more? Connecting to recent national or local event always helps. In a recent letter to the editor in the Joplin Globe, I connected fears about the COVID-19 coronavirus to the fears of parents in poverty with no access to vaccines for measles and other deadly childhood diseases.

One of the easiest hooks is to reference a piece the newspaper recently printed. If your letter is written in response to an article written within the last seven days, you will absolutely increase your odds of being published. If you can, use the name of the article and the date it was published in the first line of your letter. If you are submitting it via email, make it obvious in your subject line that your letter is in reaction to a major event or something in the newspaper. For example, in the subject line, write “Response to ‘Infections Climb in South Korea as World Fights Virus’ printed February 22, 2020”.

Use EPIC Format

Create your letter using the easy-to-remember "EPIC" format. "EPIC" is a handy mnemonic for remembering an order of statements to build your case for an action and engage your reader. Here it is:

Engage: Grab the reader's attention with a question or a startling statement. You could use a surprising statistic or a question. 

Problem: State the problem that you want the reader to address. 

Inform (or Illustrate): Inform the reader of the solution or illustrate how the solution can help. 

Call to Action: CLEARLY state what you want the reader to do. It's best if you can do it in the form of a question that should be answered with a "yes" or a "no."

All you really need is one line for each section!

Be Clear and Concise

Newspapers have clear limits on the length of letters they will accept. Most papers will not print letters longer than 200 words, while others cut off at 150 words. The shorter the letter, the more likely it will be published. Editor Tod Robberson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shared with our local group that sometimes shorter letters are chosen because of a limit of physical space on opinion page. Short, focused letters are often favored. Stick to one subject and stay on topic.

Back to school for your daughter? That's a chance to
talk about 130 million girls missing out on primary
school education globally.

Connect to Your Community

Help your readers see the connection between your community and your issue. What experiences do readers have in common with your issue? For example, you can use the angle of back to school season to talk about global education or mention the local food bank to talk about the need for nutrition assistance programs.

Challenge without Attack

It's healthy and engaging to question what others have said or done. Challenging the status quo is what an activist does! However, I recommend avoiding emotional personal attacks. They are not respectful and rarely persuasive. Also, if you are representing a nonpartisan organization, be careful not to damage its reputation by making remarks that overly criticize a particular political party, candidate, or civic leader.

Call Others to Action

End your letter by asking for action from your members of Congress or from your readers. Mentioning names of specific senators and representatives will increase the likelihood that they will see your letter because many congressional offices do daily internet searches by name. Make a clear request that leaves no room to doubt what action you want them to take. If you have a number for a bill or resolution, like "H. Res. 189," be sure and include it.

Pay Attention to the Details

Include your name, address, email, and a phone number with your submission to the paper. The newspaper won’t publish this information, but they may use it to contact you and confirm that you are the author. And be sure to check the Letters to the Editor page of your newspaper or its website for guidelines on submitting a letter. Some prefer emails; others require you to upload your words through an online form; others accept physical, mailed copies.

Write with Others

If you have an advocacy group, send in batches of letters to the editor from different volunteers to maximize your odds of getting published and to emphasize the importance of the issue. Whether the paper prints your letters or not, you are demonstrating that more than one person in the community cares about a particular issue. This might influence them to run more articles and opinion pieces about it!

Write Letters, Send Them In

Hands down, this is my favorite piece of advice. Willie Dickerson of Snohomish, WA gets more media published than any volunteer I've ever heard about...and he should! He writes at least one letter every single day. He estimates he's been published over 1000 times. When he says, "Write letters, send them in" he is rightfully pointing out that a letter sitting on your desk will never get printed. Don't agonize over it so long that your hook goes stale or you just lose courage. Send that sucker in! These days, as an experienced letter-writer, I usually have to write five or ten letters to get one published. So, just send 'em in and keep trying!

Do you write letters to the editor? 

What are your favorite tips or tricks for getting published?

Image: Book cover

Buy an autographed copy of "From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started" at my website www.changyit.com or order it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any independent bookstore!