Community Power in Population Health Improvement Proceedings of a Workshop (2022) / Chapter Skim
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2 Daring to Lead
2 Daring to Lead
Pages 7-20
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From page 7... ...
The first session of the workshop focused on the practical applications of power theory as used by leaders of movements for the rights of the domestic workforce and voter engagement. Participants discussed the effects of power on domestic workers and disenfranchised voters, as well as efforts to shift the power structure toward power sharing in a way that is centered on the values of respect and dignity for all human life.
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From page 8... ...
These occupations include nannies who provide childcare, house cleaners who maintain order and sanitation in homes, and home care workers who care for the aging and support people with disabilities to live independently in their homes and remain connected in their communities. She described domestic labor as "the work that makes all other 1 More information about the National Domestic Workers Alliance is available at https:// www.domesticworkers.org (accessed February 8, 2021)
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Furthermore, professional domestic work has historically been associated with women of color, as enslaved Black women served as some of the first domestic workers in the United States. Since then, Black, Indigenous, immigrant, Brown, and Asian Pacific Islander women have composed the majority of the domestic labor workforce.
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These poverty wages signify "This workforce that we count on to care for us cannot take care of their own families," Poo stated. A THEORY OF POWER TO ACHIEVE CHANGE The theory underpinning NDWA's work is that centering the domestic worker community allows for power building along multiple dimensions, resulting in a transformation of the quality of domestic jobs and the future for this workforce, Poo explained.
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Seattle created the first-ever Domestic Workers Standards Board,4 which brings all industry stakeholders together to define the norms and standards that shape the future of domestic work in that city. In Philadelphia, NDWA won the right to portable paid time off for domestic workers in the United States,5 the first time such a right has been established in this country.
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, in which the protagonist is a domestic worker, and around which NDWA built a campaign for culture change in partnership with the film's producers.7 Poo said this type of storytelling can shape both popular narrative and culture, demonstrating that domestic workers are the "unsung heroes in our lives" and are the "protagonists not only in their own lives and in our homes, but in our future." The NDWA innovation lab has created a portable benefits platform called "Alia" that allows domestic workers to gain access to benefits, such as paid time off and various insurance products, for the first time.8 Poo explained that during the COVID-19 pandemic, NDWA has been able to leverage this platform to deliver emergency cash assistance to more than 50,000 domestic workers who were negatively affected by the pandemic but did not have access to any type of federal relief. Civic Engagement Poo asserted that all these efforts have shaped the public narrative, ultimately resulting in real-life improvements for domestic workers.
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She explained that this is not only for their benefit, but for "the sake of a healthy, multiracial democracy that can sustain and support us across generations." Poo concluded that if communities who have not had power within American democracy are given that power, it will benefit all people and lead to "the future we deserve." RADICAL REIMAGINING LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter (BVM) Fund, a power-building, Southern-based, civic education organization, spoke about the need for a vision of an equitable world that is centered on human value.
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"We've got to have an honest conversation of how racism destroys our belief around human value for all human life," Brown emphasized. She said: The moment that you open up your mind [to the idea]
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Not only will this involve changing external systems, but it will also require reordering people around a central notion of human value.
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In turn, this shared power can be used to change the conditions of people's lives. Brown added that real change centers the notion of human value.
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Rather, culture can be used to communicate, to affirm, and to help people access power in their communities. For many people, the reason they like to travel is to see other communities operating in their authentic voice of culture, Brown explained.
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Harnessing Opportunities for Disruption Iton noted the considerable opposition community organizers face, citing the legislature and government apparatus in Georgia that appears to be involved in voter suppression and the series of institutions that have treated the domestic workforce as expendable, disposable, and largely irrelevant in the policy space. Given the influence of these institutions and institutional norms, Iton asked how disruptive power can be leveraged in health institutions and in the concept of how health is created.
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From page 19... ...
Brown emphasized that institutions are created by people: just as people can change, so too can institutions, and "when people change and their values change, the institutional values will change." Outcomes have been prioritized over purpose, she asserted, resulting in an inappropriate focus on programs and processes over people themselves. Regarding the opportunity afforded by the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown recalled that her grandfather, who lived to the age of 104 years, used to say, "Until the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain to change, people will never change." In that sense, she said, the discomfort we feel can be seen as a gift that helps to reorder our thinking around how to move forward.
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