Disrupting Racism™

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IMPACT ASSESSMENT RESULTS

The map below visualizes how you have assessed your organization in each impact area. It is meant to help you consider how your organization prioritizes and lives into these impact areas. This can help you identify assets, spot growth areas and consider where you may benefit from support. As you review your results, you can continue to review and adjust your responses.

HOW TO USE THIS MAP

Click on the circles on the map or in the list to review that card and the assessment questions.

The top and bottom quadrants show alignment between importance to your organization and your strength in it. Areas that show up in the right or left quadrant reveal a mismatch worth considering more deeply.

KEY

LESS STRENGTH AND IMPORTANCE TO YOUR MISSION
MORE STRENGTH AND IMPORTANCE TO YOUR MISSION
Important to our mission, a strength
Important to our mission; not yet a strength
Less important to our mission, not yet a strength
Less important to our mission, a strength

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPACT

Shared Narratives

  • Shared Narratives disrupting PERSONAL
  • Shared Narratives disrupting COMMUNITY
  • Shared Narratives disrupting INSTITUTIONAL
  • Shared Narratives disrupting POLICY

Transparency & Accountability

  • Transparency & Accountability disrupting PERSONAL
  • Transparency & Accountability disrupting COMMUNITY
  • Transparency & Accountability disrupting INSTITUTIONAL
  • Transparency & Accountability disrupting POLICY

Empowered Communities

  • Empowered Communities disrupting PERSONAL
  • Empowered Communities disrupting COMMUNITY
  • Empowered Communities disrupting INSTITUTIONAL
  • Empowered Communities disrupting POLICY

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Select or deselect the impact areas to control which questions you’re viewing.

© Meclina Gomes Priestley

Personal

Weaponized fatigue

At the personal level, racism takes the form of intense, deeply felt, continual dysregulation from living the impacts of policy, institutional and community racism. It is the existential drag on mental and emotional energy from being made to represent one's race. When this kind of racism is at its most effective, it can mean destruction of hope.

Weaponized fatigue can look like:

  • Cognitive overload and ingrained lies
  • Doubt in self
  • Exhaustion
  • Dehumanization

“This is where fatigue sets in, dreams die and the work doesn't move forward. Fatigue is a barrier to change.” —Design team member

© Meclina Gomes Priestley

Community

Weaponized stereotypes

At the community level, the impacts of racism are felt in how the lives of people of color are portrayed by mainstream media and other public narratives. The behaviors of individuals are used to paint broad-stroke pictures of whole communities. One story stands in for the whole. Negative generalizations speak louder than a community’s strengths and are a deterrent to the building of strong community networks. The positive, generative and transformative stories are either left for communities of color to tell themselves, quietly without a bullhorn or stage, or simply erased.

Weaponized stereotypes can look like:

  • Media creating a singular definition of a person/people
  • Negative perceptions and expectations distorting positive realities
  • Isolation and segregation
  • Obsession with retribution

“Stereotypes like 'superpredators' have been used to drive harmful policies for decades.” —Design team member

© Meclina Gomes Priestley

Institutional

Weaponized culture

At the institutional level, racism takes the form of dominant cultures and norms that perpetuate white supremacist ways of operating. These norms often reflect an emphasis on individualism, the belief that it’s up to each person to thrive—or fail. To gain power in institutions, we balance the need to assimilate to survive and the desire to disrupt the system we are working to navigate.

Weaponized culture can look like:

  • Oppressive cultural norms and unspoken expectations enforcing assimilation
  • Power-hoarding strengthening the status quo
  • The system reinforcing its idea that it is the responsibility of the individual to make it, not for the system to change

“Impact investment funds focus on Black and Brown founders, but with investments that reflect the same extractive venture capital structures that folks have historically been left out of.” – Design team member

© Meclina Gomes Priestley

Policy

Weaponized opacity

At the policy level, racism takes the form of deliberate hiding of information. Systems obscure information, operate behind closed doors and make decisions based on an echo chamber of voices—the voices who are in the rooms of power and decision-making. Because information is held tightly, there are few paths for true accountability or equitable and diverse participation.

Weaponized opacity can look like:

  • Lack of transparency
  • Lack of representation
  • Lack of accountability

“Policy materials are written in legalese, creating barriers to access for people and practitioners without fluency in policy language.” —Design team member

© Rob 'Problak' Gibbs

Shared Narratives

Shared narratives counter the harmful narratives about people and communities of color that underpin racist policies, structures and practices. Our shared narratives allow us to be more than a monolith. They shift who is telling the story and bring many voices to the table.

For example:

The Front Porch Collective uplifts culture. It is actively working to change dominant narratives. It does so by seeking out workers of the diaspora to make and inform all decisions—on stage, in the boardroom and in the office. It makes and executes decisions side-by-side, as small as what stapler is purchased and as large as how to use sound with intention in performance.

Examples:

Soul Fire Farm: Equity Guidelines and Reflection Questions for Foundations & Donors

This tool provides donors with the opportunity to better understand how to connect and interact with community.

Issa Rae + Insecure

This series provides insights about the experiences of Black people in L.A. From microaggressions at work to gentrification to a police stop, the series tackles several issues. It also highlights several BIPOC-owned and operated businesses.

Master of None

This series provides insights about the experiences of BIPOC + queer people, from representation on television to the homophobia in the Black community.

The Laundromat Project

A collaborative aimed at centering narratives of community members.

Sort Of

This series focuses on the lived experiences of non-binary, trans, and queer people. From family relationships to gender identity, the series is another example of amplifying voices and creating multiple narratives.

© Rob 'Problak' Gibbs

Shared Narratives disrupting PERSONAL

Reclaiming time and space to make narratives

Shared narratives impact the personal by taking back time for storytelling, connecting us to abundance through the creative. When we reclaim the time spent navigating systems built to oppress us for making our own narratives, we resist and hope at the same time. We tell stories in the languages and forms of many cultures; tales don’t always have a beginning, middle and end.

This can look like:

  • Recognizing how storytelling is woven into our DNA
  • Telling stories not bound by Western guardrails of narratives
  • Self-directed creativity
  • Embracing an abundant mindset

Consider:

  • How do I make time for telling my own story?
  • How do we explore alternative arcs to our stories?

Examples:

Graffiti Art: As told by Co-sign

Akwaeke Emezi

Akwaeke Emezi is a multidisciplinary artist and writer based in liminal spaces. Emezi's practice is deeply rooted in the metaphysics of Black spirit, using the lens of indigenous ontologies to focus on embodiment, ritual, and rememory.

Clever Girl Finance

A platform and set of resources aimed at providing women with tools to be financially independent.

© Rob 'Problak' Gibbs

Shared Narratives disrupting COMMUNITY

Deepening connectedness

Shared narratives impact communities by creating pathways for connection. Our stories bring people together and highlight that we are interconnected in our work and being. Our communities are the protagonists of our stories.

This can look like:

  • Sharing our stories with each other
  • Deepening interconnectedness
  • Building community-centered narratives

Consider:

  • How do we build connections?
  • How do we tell stories together?
  • How do we use stories to strengthen our ties?

Examples:

The Nap Ministry

A group focused on rest and the power of rest for BIPOC people.

Alexx Temeña

Alexx draws on the mediums of visual poetry, installation, movement arts, photography, and public practice. Her work asks, "How might we heal our disconnection from ourselves, our bodies, each other, our ancestors, the earth, and the Divine?"

Theaster Gates Stony Island Arts Bank

A space and place that honors community through the arts and purposeful convenings.

Somewhere Good (app + NYC)

An app and now actual space for intimate conversations.

© Rob 'Problak' Gibbs

Shared Narratives disrupting INSTITUTIONAL

Collectively building visions of liberation and success

Shared narratives impact institutions by shifting culture. These stories paint alternative pictures of what could be, should be and is. They are constructed collectively, not held by one person alone, and put people of color at the heart of liberated futures. Our shared narratives celebrate successes and share joy. 

This can look like:

  • Visions of alternative models
  • Narratives built collaboratively
  • Stories and examples of success
  • Recognizing that Black and Brown people hold the origins of innovation, arts and culture

Consider:

  • What is our liberated vision? 
  • Does our vision of liberation hold ourselves next to a white norm or does it dream freely?

Examples:

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Art: A painter and graffiti artist whose work continues to inspire.

Designing the We

Design group focused on community storytelling, including that of redlining across communities in the United States.

Shani Crowe’s Work

An interdisciplinary artist whose work centers Black innovation.

© Rob 'Problak' Gibbs

Shared Narratives disrupting POLICY

Amplifying hidden narratives of structural flaws

Shared narratives impact policy by bringing to life complex, deep stories about the structural flaws alive in policy. These are stories told by voices not usually heard by those in power. They highlight an undervalued type of expertise—lived experience. 

This can look like:

  • Layered, detailed stories that reveal the complexities of racism in policy
  • Shifting who is telling the story
  • Stories that don’t oversimplify
  • Getting to root causes, not only visible symptoms

Consider: 

  • How does your organization bring to life the complexities of policy problems?
  • Who does your organization elevate in its storytelling?
  • Do you sand off the edges to make this story more palatable to folks in power?

Examples:

Equal Justice Initiative

EJI is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons.

Local Projects

This design company helps to tell stories. They were the lead designer of EJI, Black Wall Street, and many others.

Bryan Stevenson

Founder of EJI and fierce advocate focused on ending mass incarceration and amplifying stories that would otherwise go untold.

Designing the We

Design group focused on community storytelling, including that of redlining across communities in the United States.

© Marquis Victor x Nicole Garcia | Elevated Thought

Transparency & Accountability

Transparency and accountability make visible the effects of systemic racism. Lack of system visibility is not a passive act, but an active form of oppression and protection of existing systems. By using transparency to drive accountability, we make evident how systems are built to harm people of color and protect privilege. 

For example:

Citizens for Juvenile Justice uses data accessibility as one of its tools for advocacy. CJJ drives transparency in the criminal legal system by uncovering and connecting data points to reveal inequities. Accurate data about the experience of young people in the system is not readily available. CJJ fights to access data, analyzes it and makes it available to all.

Examples:

Bryan Stevenson

Founder of EJI and fierce advocate focused on ending mass incarceration and amplifying stories that would otherwise go untold.

Until Freedom

An organization on the front lines fighting for justice and focusing on police accountability and criminal justice reform.

Mapping Police Violence

A tool that captures and reports data about police violence across the United States.

Designing the We

Design group focused on community storytelling, including that of redlining across communities in the United States.

© Marquis Victor x Nicole Garcia | Elevated Thought

Transparency & Accountability disrupting PERSONAL

Making clear how the system works 

Transparency and accountability allow for the clarity needed to navigate and resist opaque, oppressive systems. By making individual rights and system responsibilities explicit, individuals are empowered to hold systems accountable.

This can look like:

  • Driving transparency in how the system works so rights are understood
  • Creating clarity so we understand how to access and navigate systems

Consider:

  • How do we push against system jargon?
  • How do we empower people to access what they need from systems?

Examples:

TikTok Platform

A platform with many instructional videos that provide access to other ways of learning and move us away from a focus and overreliance on the written word, which can sometimes make things opaque and inaccessible.

Podcasts (e.g. Story Corps)

Another way to access knowledge and information while moving away from an overreliance on the written word.

Erika Kullberg

A social media account that makes legalese accessible.

Clever Girl Finance

A platform and set of resources aimed at providing women with tools to be financially independent.

© Marquis Victor x Nicole Garcia | Elevated Thought

Transparency & Accountability disrupting INSTITUTIONAL

Sharing data to drive accountability

Transparency and accountability impact institutions by holding up a mirror. Data sharing reveals how institutional practices and norms come to life on the ground. By making the invisible visible, institutions become accountable for the impact of these cultural elements.

This can look like:

  • Data sharing as reality check on conflicting institutional and industry practice
  • Making unspoken norms explicit (so they might also be dismantled)
  • Applying sunlight to toxic cultures

Consider:

  • How do we name the cultural forces at play in our work?
  • How do we use data to hold institutions accountable?

Examples:

Mike Africa Jr

Mike Africa Jr. tells the story of MOVE and of his father’s incarceration and ultimate release from prison as another way to share data about the experiences of his family and MOVE members in Philadelphia.

Time

The story of Kalief Browder, a young person wrongly accused of stealing a backpack who ultimately takes his own life after spending years in prison at Rikers Island.

13th

A documentary about the history and impact of mass incarceration.

The Innocence Project

The Innocence Project works to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and create fair, compassionate, and equitable systems of justice for everyone.

© Marquis Victor x Nicole Garcia | Elevated Thought

Transparency & Accountability disrupting POLICY

Making data accessible in holistic narratives

Transparency and accountability impact policy by revealing how current policies disproportionately affect people of color. We drive system accountability by making data available and clear. Weaving data into stories makes impacts more tangible. 

This can look like:

  • Synthesizing data to make it accessible
  • Using data as part of storytelling to drive narrative
  • Pushing for data-driven policy

Consider:

  • What does our work make visible?
  • What stories does our data tell?
  • What data is not available and how might we access it?

Examples:

Being Transgender in the Workplace

A report detailing the experience of trans people in the workplace.

Human Rights Campaign

This organization focuses on advocacy and visibility of LGBTQ communities.

The People’s Forum

An incubator for working class and marginalized communities to build unity across historic lines of division at home and abroad.

The Peace House (Chicago)

A community space for resources and programming.

© Ekua Holmes

Empowered Communities

Empowered communities dismantle and create alternatives to existing systems by centering their own power and self-determination. They place the community at the heart of reform by co-creating solutions. 

For example:

The Transformational Prison Project was built by a small group of men serving life sentences who began exploring what restorative justice means. Restorative justice offers a model of accountability focused on healing and held by the community impacted. By providing spaces where those who have been harmed and those who have done the harm can come together and engage in dialogue, TPP builds understanding of both the individual harms and the systemic harms that affect communities of color.

Examples:

Black Wall Street

An early 20th century center of economic and cultural strength, founded and developed by African Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Harlem Grown

A community garden founded by a community member focused on providing access to the community.

Stamped from the Beginning

A book detailing The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.

Vector 90

An incubator, co-working space, and cultural hub in South Central LA, supported by the late Nipsey Hussle.

© Ekua Holmes

Empowered Communities disrupting POLICY

Building capacity for advocacy

Empowered communities impact policy when community members are equipped to advocate. By rethinking what advocacy looks like to meet our community members where they’re at, we’re able to harness their skills and powers in change-making.

This can look like:

  • Making advocacy easier for communities
  • Meeting people where they’re at in time, capacity and other constraints
  • Elevating local voices to policymakers

Consider:

  • How do we shape our advocacy to the voices of our communities, rather than to the systems in power?
  • Do we appreciate limitations of time, place, money or other constraints when we ask our communities to advocate?

Examples:

Until Freedom

An organization on the front lines fighting for justice and focusing on police accountability and criminal justice reform.

GW Immigration Clinic

A legal resource center that provides legal support to immigrants.

Equal Justice Initiative

EJI is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons.