By Leslie Thompson
Is Affirmations racist?
This seems to be the question on the tip of everyoneÕs tongue. As people who serve this organization on a daily basis, we are committed to this community center that has served so many. And when an important question like this comes up, it is much bigger than one person, one group, one organization. In the last two weeks, we have stepped back and asked ourselves more questions: Where has Affirmations come from? How is Affirmations addressing racism? What will Affirmations do in the future?
Where has Affirmations come from? It was born in 1989 out of the dissolution of the Michigan Organization for Human Rights (MOHR), a largely white LGBT rights organization that eventually became Affirmations, MAPP and Triangle Foundation. After the split, Affirmations found a home just north of 8 Mile Road, in the most segregated metropolitan area in the country, with a largely white staff and board, and with a primarily euro-centric culture base. There it grew, survived the ups and downs of early life and became the Affirmations we know today.
How is Affirmations addressing racism? More than five years ago, the board and staff met to create a strategic plan. The initial session clearly identified diversity as an area needing improvement. Soon after, we crafted a detailed five-year strategic plan which included specific goals aimed at increasing diversity in programs, staff, and volunteers. Since that time, Affirmations successfully sought and secured funding to create a community outreach program, established regular diversity trainings for both board and staff, stepped up our presence and participation at culture-specific LGBT gatherings, and implemented new hiring procedures which have resulted in a greater balance among staff (60% of those hired in 2006 were people of color).
What is Affirmations doing about the future? Recent circumstances have only deepened our commitment to this work. As of this moment, we are forming both internal and external plans to address concerns within the community. Internally, Affirmations is deepening its plan to further diversify the staff, the board, the participants — everyone that comes into contact with the center. This plan includes revising hiring practices, reviewing staff training and forming a multicultural advisory team to guide the organization forward. Externally, we have begun conversations with SGL African American community leaders and are setting up and participating in what we hope will become a community-wide dialogue on racism within the LGBT community and how we can effectively reduce and someday eliminate it.
None of us can escape the reality that racism has played a role in our lives and will continue to do so into the future. It is pervasive and long-standing in our community. What we can do, is identify how it is playing out and work to eliminate it. We openly ask for your help in this process and extend the invitation to all community members to walk with us on this journey.
Leslie Ann Thompson
Executive Director
Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center
