By Nyla Moujaes, HAC Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Impact Director
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance allied with power is the most ferocious enemy justice can have” – James Baldwin
At HAC, one of our central Core Competencies and Values is JUSTICE. As we state in every HAC job posting:
“Justice is the systematic fair treatment of all people, resulting in equitable opportunities and outcomes for all. It is not just the absence of discrimination and inequities, but also the presence of deliberate systems and supports to achieve and sustain equity through proactive and preventative measures. To embody justice at HAC, everyone:
- Is committed to advancing racial equity
- Has been directly impacted by inequity or has lived experience of solidarity with oppressed groups
- Has a deep understanding of the intersectional impact of race, class, gender, disability, and other kinds of injustice.”
Every action has a reaction. Many of us continue to strive and fight for justice of all kinds in spite of the notorious and lethal Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. While we may hope for and dream of a more just and peaceful nation and planet, we are also familiar with the timely chant and on-the-ground reality of “No Justice, No Peace.”
Our most democratic institutions are unfortunately being dismantled from within the power structure via a reshaping by the current executive regime and the passage of draconian legislation that targets the unhoused, disabled, womxn’s bodies, LGBTQIA+ people, Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities, and the judiciary (Grants Pass, overturning Roe v. Wade, attacks on gender-affirming health care, etc.). Our system of checks and balances is deteriorating and our seemingly failed democracy is bleeding out. It seems that there may not be enough gauze from Gaza to create the kind of tourniquet pressure needed to stop this wound from being fatal on a collective level.
Our system of checks and balances is deteriorating and our seemingly failed democracy is bleeding out.
Our clients at HAC identify as 56% Black/African American, 20% white/European American, 11% Latinx/Hispanic, 6% Asian American/Pacific Islander, 1% Native American/Alaskan Native, and 7% other ethnicities. Contrast our client data with California lawyer demographics: 3% Black/African American, 65% white/European American, 6% Latinx/Hispanic, 14% Asian, 3% Middle Eastern/North African, and 8% Multiracial. The stark reality that 56% of our clients are Black while only 3% of attorneys in California are Black alone demonstrates why recruiting, hiring, retaining, and evaluating a diverse staff equipped to respond appropriately is so crucial.
As lawyers and advocates for and with our low-income, differently abled, and unhoused neighbors, we at HAC and other legal aid and public interest-oriented organizations are flabbergasted by the latest developments under the current regime. And yet, these attacks have been slowly mounting into the present culmination. We, on the ground and in the trenches with our clients, have felt the pressure building over the last 10 years. That’s why we continue to do what we do the way we’ve done it since 1990: provide low-barrier access to direct services, center our clients’ experiences, and engage with cultural humility within a trauma-informed practice combined with a harm reduction framework.
When faced with collective punishment and injustice, we must rise to the occasion and unite as justice workers and people of conscience! When our very foundation and principles as a “democratic” nation are under attack, we must preserve what is good and release the rot from within. We must shed old skin and allow a new (re)birthing process to take place – a transformative alchemy, a (r)evolution, a (re)alignment of spirit reflected in our society, law, and culture.
We must rise to the occasion and unite as justice workers and people of conscience.
The only lasting truth is Change, as Octavia Butler reminds us. This is an urgent call, as CHANGE is always in the HERE and NOW. It is always happening, whether we choose to see and engage with it or prefer the ignorant bliss of denial or the numbing self-severance of dissociation.
So instead of turning away from the onslaught of global fascism, I challenge each of us (and especially those of us with more privilege and access to resources) to face it with courage and bravery. We are in a pivotal moment of U.S. history; what we choose to do or not do now will reverberate into the next seven generations (as we’ve learned from precious Native American wisdom). Why not make choices that will have a positive effect on our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren on down? Why not boldly change course and prioritize our collective well-being and leave behind the socially destructive individuality of Western pioneerism and European settler colonialism?
These days, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging (DEIAB) and Racial Justice (RJ) are falsely equated with “wokeness” or “illegal discrimination” against the overwhelmingly dominant culture of the white European American. In reality, DEIAB and RJ are necessary byproducts of the discrimination the dominant culture has perpetrated on low-income, disabled, BIPOC, womxn, LGBTQIA+, and other marginalized communities ad nauseum since Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. On a large scale, we are being continuously gaslit by our oppressors.
Across the world, Palestinians are displaced, homeless refugees in their own land and stateless, perpetually unhoused by a “Jewish supremacist” (thank you for naming it Norman Finkelstein) apartheid state. It was wrong in South Africa; why isn’t it deemed wrong by the powers that be in Israel? Hundreds of journalists have been murdered in cold blood for simply covering the genocide in Palestine. Palestinians are human beings with human rights who have been forcibly displaced and (un)housed in open air prisons, civilian families with children shot at and murdered simply for existing by colonial settlers from places like Berkeley, CA and Brooklyn, NY.
Back at home, norms and laws relating to equity, equality, and justice for all are embattled in households, court rooms, and media headlines alike. In effect, our entire civil and human rights frameworks are severely in question and hanging in the limbo of a “post-democratic,” seemingly fascist future for U.S. residents, whether they be citizens or not.
Our resolve for freedom remains steadfast; our commitment and love for our people stays solid and unwavering.
If we want to speak truth to power, we must decolonize our minds. Pro-Palestine college students are being detained and deported for exercising their free speech rights. Black American journalists have been censored, threatened, and bullied. Black Lives Matter activists have been criminally prosecuted for shedding light on police brutality, mass incarceration, and other insidious forms of white supremacy. Yet through all of this, our resolve for freedom remains steadfast; our commitment and love for our people stays solid and unwavering. We know who stands on the right side of history and we proudly claim our right to speak candidly and vulnerably about what we have survived. Courageously telling our stories is the first step to healing.
When we feel fractured and disconnected, the most radical act in which we can engage is to come together across the lines that divide us. This is a call to our collective healing and liberation! I implore each of you to recognize that Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, Belonging, Critical Race Theory, and Ethnic Studies are not separate and distinct from legal protections against racial discrimination found in federal laws under Title VII, Title IX, Section 1983. They are not separate from the Geneva and Hague Conventions or the International Laws of Armed Conflict. They are not separate from the prohibition of Cruel and Unusual Punishment under the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. They are interconnected and their effect is to recognize and validate EVERYONE’s humanity.
We are all human, so when you show up to work at your legal aid non-profit or wherever it is you choose to make a living, please don’t leave any human behind in your efforts. No human being is illegal and we all inherently have a divine right to life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. This isn’t about performative buzz words; these are our hard-fought and -won civil and human rights at stake.
“The lesson of history that all human rights are indivisible and that the failure to adhere to this principle jeopardizes the rights of all is particularly applicable here. A built-in hazard of an aggressive ethnocentric movement which disregards the interests of other disadvantaged groups is that it will become parochial and ultimately self-defeating in the face of hostile reactions, dwindling allies, and mounting frustrations … Only a broad movement for human rights can prevent the Black Revolution from becoming isolated and can insure ultimate success.” – Pauli Murray