Glossary

The practice of partnering and sharing ideas and experiences to help navigate complex challenges towards a shared goal. When you partner with people who think like you do, you resonate–becoming a sounding board for each others’ best ideas. When you partner with people who think differently than you do, you complement–stretching each others’ views of a situation to find and sort useful new approaches to a problem.

Setting universal goals and using processes targeted to different groups to achieve those goals. Within a targeted universalism framework, universal goals are established for all groups concerned. The strategies developed to achieve those goals are targeted, based upon how different groups are situated within structures, culture, and across geographies to obtain the universal goal. Targeted universalism is goal oriented, and the processes are directed so that the universal goal is achieved.

The effort of social change agents to engage power holders and the broader society in addressing a systemic problem or injustice while promoting an alternative vision or solution. Movement building requires a range of intersecting approaches through a set of distinct stages over a long period of time.

“Humility,” is commonly defined as “freedom from pride or arrogance.” Cultural humility is defined as a lifelong process of self-reflection and self-critique whereby the individual not only learns about another’s culture but starts with an examination of her/his own beliefs and cultural identities with reflection. A person must also be aware of and sensitive to historic realities like legacies of violence and oppression against certain groups of people.

Taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone else’s culture without permission. This can include unauthorized use of another culture’s dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. It is most likely to be harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited in other ways or when the object of appropriation is particularly sensitive, e.g., sacred objects.

A person who makes the commitment and effort to recognize and eliminate their privilege (based on gender, class, race, sexual identity, etc.) and work in solidarity with oppressed groups in the struggle for justice. Allies understand that it is in their own interest to end all forms of oppression, even those from which they may benefit in concrete ways.

A space for people of the same racial group to meet to discuss and work explicitly and intentionally on understanding institutional racism, oppression and privilege, and to increase one’s critical analysis around these concepts. Affinity groups may also be intersectional (e.g., white women affinity groups) for greater common ground. Affinity groups function to promote anti-racist practice, advance organizational change, and support the personal and professional growth of the group members. In the case of White affinity groups, the onus is placed on White people to teach each other about these ideas, rather than relying on people of color to teach them (as often occurs in integrated spaces). For people of color, an affinity group is a place to work with their peers on their experiences of internalized racism, for healing and to work on liberation.