Racial Unity Dialogues Create Opportunities For Understanding
Racial Unity Dialogues Create Opportunities For Understanding
By Tia Carol Jones
An organization that works with Black Chicagoans who engage in informal work and an organization that works to advance the rights of low-wage workers partnered to create opportunities for open dialogue among Black and brown people. Equity and Transformation Chicago and Working Family Solidarity recently partnered on a series of Racial Unity Dialogues with the hope the discussions would build power and unity of the two groups.
Equity and Transformation Chicago was established in 2018 with the aim to uplift the voices and power of Black people in Chicago who engage in the informal economy -- economic activities, enterprises, jobs, and workers that are not regulated or protected by the state.
In 2023, Equity and Transformation Chicago launched the Chicago Future Fund, a pilot guaranteed income program for people who are impacted by the system and/or formerly incarcerated, primarily in West Garfield Park, Austin and Englewood that distributed $500 a month to those who were eligible.
Working Family Solidarity was founded with the mission to create economic stability for working families through outreach and labor rights education. The organization’s work includes building racial alliances among workers from different backgrounds.
Nicole Laport, Director of Communications for Equity and Transformation Chicago, said the organization noticed there was a narrative that migrant workers were coming and taking the jobs of the informal workers and wanted a way to have dialogues to bring unity to the groups and dispel the rumors that divide them. Migrant workers from Working Family Solidarity and informal workers from Equity and Transformation Chicago were invited to attend a series of six discussions, beginning in March and ending in October.
The topics discussed during the Racial Unity Dialogues ranged from housing, discrimination and how people with certain backgrounds are treated while looking for employment.
“The more people sat down and talked with each other and traded experiences, they actually found there was a lot in common with both sides,” Laport said.
One of the things they discovered through the discussions was that migrant workers were being taken advantage of and being paid wages below a living wage. The conversations provided opportunities for people to get a different perspective and to see each other’s humanity. Laport said the goal was for people participating in the conversations to see the truth about the situation instead of the narratives that are meant to divide the communities.
It is Laport’s hope the Racial Unity Dialogues continue and are expanded to make them even bigger. She said she wants see the two communities – Black informal workers and migrant workers – build power and unity so they can work together and eliminate any preconceived notions they have about each other.
“They’re both faced with the same barriers, and they should build together because it’s a lot easier to deny people certain rights and privileges, employment and housing, if they’re divided. But, if we are together demanding the same things and we build momentum, we can change a lot of things in this city,” she said.
At the last session in October, there were about 100 people in attendance. Laport was encouraged to hear that people wanted to connect with each other and that they had a change in their point of view.
For more information about Equity and Transformation Chicago, visit eatchicago.org. For more information about Working Family Solidarity, visit www.workingfamilysolidarity.org.
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