Our BIPOC Framework
Intro:
As our Mission Statement says, East Bay PREC is committed to centering Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) in our work. This is my attempt to answer the questions of Why and How.
I share this with humility and openness, recognizing I am neither Black or Indigenous, and that this may be flawed and incomplete. I am learning from my community as we shape this vision together for collective liberation.
The Problem:
Economic and social marginalization and oppression are concentrated within communities of color. This is true historically, and in the present day. Because of this history, social justice work often focuses on POC communities (People of Color). Yet, even this framework can continue to perpetuate systems of oppression. It allows the services in question to check the POC box, while only serving select groups within the POC community, ignoring others. Serving POC without nuance can lead to the erasure of the most marginalized groups within the POC communities.
We find that Black and Indigenous communities are the ones most marginalized and oppressed in relation to our work with land and housing here in the East Bay. The Black population of Oakland has decreased by more than 40% over the past 40 years, while most other demographics have increased; the Indigenous population has been subjected to genocide and displacement since the arrival of Europeans.
Incentives: Social and economic realities make it easier for us to serve more privileged communities in lieu of the Black and Indigenous communities which bear the brunt of this historic oppression and it’s outcomes. We could serve POC without serving the Black and Indigenous community. This would create the illusion of equity, fulfilling the mandate to serve POC, while continuing to ignore and disenfranchise Black and Indigenous folks. That is a problem.
The Solution: The BIPOC Framework (Black and Indigenous People of Color)
We are committed to serving the whole community, yet as described above, such a broad mandate, when combined with with market forces, could easily distract from the need to serve those most marginalized: Black and Indigenous communities in particular. While housing has become a real challenge for people of all races, EBPREC refuses to ignore or forget the disproportionately greater challenges that Black and Indigenous communities face.
We believe that the liberation of Black and Indigenous communities is fundamental to the liberation of all peoples, and this can not be deprioritized. By “Centering BIPOC” we do not want to exclude others from being a part of the movement, on the contrary we invite this regular reminder: Black and Indigenous people could easily be left out of our solution, and if we do not actively and intentionally focus on elevating and organizing with these communities, they will continue to be disproportionately disempowered, and displaced from Oakland and the East Bay, while all other demographics continue to grow. This would increase inequality, and run counter to the collective liberation of all people. Therefore, we will actively and intentionally focus on elevating BIPOC through our work, within our organization, and in the community, not only because of their historic marginalization, but also in recognition of the gifts and wisdom they bring to the collective table.
This BIPOC Framework is not a simple rule or a yardstick that can be simply and quickly applied to our work, and it is not meant to exclude White or other communities from EBPREC. Rather it is a guiding principle that EBPREC’s members can use to collectively deconstruct our internal and external systems of oppression, and a compass to remind us that Black and Indigenous community empowerment and wisdom are fundamentally central to the liberation of all peoples in the Permanent Real Estate Revolution.
