Racial Equity and Civic Engagement
Equity is not equality or treating each person in exactly the same way. Equity is the effort to bring society into balance. Equity requires investment in our entire human and community resources to maximize our potential as ALL individuals, families, communities and a nation.
MOSES understands the importance of talking about racial and economic equity. Disparities in access to opportunity, including the ability to participate in civic life, result in disparities in outcomes - Racial Inequity. We see the evidence in – poor health outcomes, poverty, unemployment, unsafe communities and lack of access to transportation. All people should have access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, healthy food, public transportation, living wage jobs, quality health care and clean air. People of color, as a whole, often lack access to these basic quality of life opportunities and are marginalized or excluded from community decision making as well as networks of power and influence.
Civic power is the ability to influence policy decisions as to who has access to good schools, economic opportunity, quality healthcare and safe neighborhoods. If traditionally marginalized groups have few opportunities to impact local policy making, further marginalization can occur, leading to a downward spiral of further marginalization and disinvestment in these communities. MOSES builds civic power through developing leadership skills among community members and uniting congregations and allies in a shared vision and agenda. We insist on being at the table when decisions are made that affect the quality of our lives and access to opportunities. |
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