listen

Far too often, advocates and policymakers come into communities and are devoid of community expertise, value, and leadership. Deep listening to your fellow community members creates pathways to bottom-up solutions that go beyond what top-down policy consultants deem “technically” feasible.

Assess your readiness. Are you ready to listen? Community leaders, facilitators, and advocates play different roles; regardless of which you are, taking a moment to fully engage yourself is vital and essential to any deep listening process.

Try mindfulness. Participate and practice active reflective listening. Detach from any particular outcome.

Tools

Watch/Listen: Brené Brown on Empathy

Watch/Listen: Listening is Radical

Read: Deep Listening. Image description: young Black boy holding a megaphone with other Black protestors surrounding him with their fists in the air

Read: Deep Listening

Watch/Listen: What is Mediation?

Reflection

  
  • How does your current listening approach replicate the trauma of racism and white supremacy? What shifts do you need to make in your listening approach?
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  • When you feel most present, what comes up in your body? Where do you feel that presence?
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  • Who do you notice is not actively engaging in the group? In what ways can you engage them to listen to their voice, story, and experience?
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  • How can you practice listening with empathy and your whole self?

    • Next Steps!

    Do your homework. Understand the context of the community you are working in:

  • Who are/were the people Indigenous to the land?
  • What is the creation story of the Indigenous people and the land?
  • How has it influenced your community?
  • What is the history of the place you are working in?
  • What are the political challenges and opportunities?
  • What undergirds the social structures that operate in the community?
  • What are the conflicts, tensions, and divisions in the community that would get in the way of moving this work forward?
  • How does the economy shape community outcomes and in what ways can the economy be shifted to support the community?
  • What is the cultural story of the community? In particular, what food, music, arts, and other cultural assets tell the story?
  • Who are the cultural workers and leaders who help shape the narrative and vibrancy of the community?

    • Be transparent. Set clear expectations and define why you are doing this work, your goals, role in this work, and how you will be accountable to all members of the community as you build out the project or policy campaign.

    Identify what is currently being done. Learn who the key leaders in the community are (not just people with status, but the people who are heard and respected). Identify what gaps exist and what can be shifted to create just solutions. Listen to understand the collective work that can be done to bring people together in a transformative way.

    Build a Leadership Team. Who are your critical connections? If you are an organizer, advocate, or policymaker, be sure to sit and build relationships with community leaders. Listen and honor expertise and wisdom from youth and elders. If you are a community leader, identify your team of leaders with whom you want to build this work.

    Engage and work with 2 - 3 critical leaders who can be the Leadership Team to hold and shape this collective process.