Seeing Oppression

Seeing oppression

Do you see it?

National Equity Project's Lens of Systemic Oppression framework is designed to help leaders and organizations identify and address deeply rooted inequities within systems. The Lens metaphor helps:

1. Understanding Systemic Oppression: The framework highlights how systemic oppression operates through policies, practices, and cultural norms that sustain inequities, often unintentionally.

2. Recognize Structural Barriers: It emphasizes the importance of recognizing structural barriers that prevent marginalized communities from accessing opportunities and resources equitably.

3. Understand Historical Context: Effective leadership requires an understanding of the historical foundations of systemic inequities to address their contemporary impacts.

4. Examine and Challenge Power Dynamics: Leaders are encouraged to examine and challenge existing power dynamics that perpetuate inequities.

5. Practice Intentionality in Leadership: Using this lens requires an intentional commitment to creating systemic change rather than focusing only on individual behaviors or isolated incidents.

Why This is Important for Leaders

Informed Decision-Making: Leaders equipped with this framework can make more informed and just decisions.

Equity-Centered Leadership: It shifts leadership practices from reactive problem-solving to proactive systemic change.

Sustainability of Change: Addressing root causes ensures longer-term and more sustainable improvements.

Why Are the Lenses Crucial in  the Current Cultural Context

Accountability: In times when frameworks like these are being banned or restricted, leaders play a crucial role in holding systems accountable.

Ethical Responsibility: Leaders have a moral and ethical duty to ensure fairness and justice within their organizations and communities.

Hidden Inequities: Without tools to analyze systemic oppression, inequities risk becoming further entrenched and normalized.

A Moral Imperative

We cannot liberate a system that we cannot see clearly. The Lens of Systemic Oppression framework is not just a tool for analysis but a moral imperative for leaders aiming to create equitable systems, especially in environments where discussions around equity and systemic oppression face resistance.

How do you see oppression and othering at each level: personal, interpersonal, organizational, and systemic? How have you worked solo and with others for equitable inputs, processes, and outcomes at one or more of the levels? I'd love to hear about and elevate the ways you've incorporated the lenses to see oppression more clearly. 

Fellow leaders and learners, I wish you courage, rest, and Beloved Community for the journey. Together we catalyze a brave, bold, and liberatory future.

Peace to you,