Upholding DEI: Our Ongoing Moral & Practical Imperative
“You cannot kill the truth. You cannot kill justice. You cannot kill what we are fighting for.”– Jean Dominique Donald Trump and his supporters have launched a full-scale assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, portraying them… Read More
Sacred Justice: An Exploration of Equity and Self-Actualization Through Poetry
Oppression is many things – including a form of collective trauma. Each type of oppression is anywhere from hundreds to thousands of years old, and permeates us individually and collectively through society’s dominant ideology, institutions/systems, interpersonal and intergroup… Read More
Distinguishing Between Equity-Related Frameworks
Diversity, equity, and inclusion may seem similar, but they are distinct concepts.
Anti-Oppression Work
Anti-oppression work both reveals and addresses the root causes of many cross-identity issues that organizations face. Anti-oppression theory maintains that certain social identity groups are valued above others, and have more social power. This imbalance of power is… Read More
Oppression’s Essential Guide to Nowhere: Poking Holes in the Roadmap to Success, Part 2
Models promoting the guarantee of middle class success (including the middle class’ guide to upper class status) typically work as follows: You are in a boat with 100 other people trying to reach the same island. They are… Read More
Oppression’s Essential Guide to Nowhere: Poking Holes in the Roadmap to Success, Part 1
I am lectured by my internalized oppression: “A writer? Fool. Do you honestly believe that what you have to say matters or carries any importance in the world? That anyone will want to hear it? You speck. You nothing. The… Read More
Demystifying Monsters: A Piece of the Journey
A few weeks back, the women attending the Women of Color Writing Circle graciously agreed to workshop my blog piece “Forgiving” Men and Other Oppressors before I published the second part. They were thoughtful and introspective, and one… Read More
“Forgiving” Men and Other Oppressors, Part II
For a few months now, I have been thinking about a conversation with Nicole Hurt – a gifted artist, community organizer, and Co-President of Transformative Alliances. In that conversation, Nicole described to me the consequences of dubbing another… Read More
“Forgiving” Men and Other Oppressors, Part I
Not long ago I shared tea with a friend of mine who is deeply concerned about what he believes to be his beloved’s painful and overly contentious relationship to white people. My friend (who we will dub “Jay”)… Read More
About Dara
For as long as I can remember, I have been deeply committed to the fair and equitable treatment of people. This guides my work. Being a queer, mixed race woman has provided me with a lifetime of observations… Read More