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In a year of memorable moments, I keep coming back to a conversation I had with my cousin Harold that is shaping my entry into 2021. Harold lives in Chicago and is an ardent student of history, particularly in the pursuit of racial justice. His observations often help me refine my own thinking.
In 2021, NCG issued a call to the sector to confront existential challenges - convergent and increasing large-scale climate disasters, gaping racialized economic inequities, and drastically inadequate infrastructure and housing - by responding with coordinated, long-term, bold approaches
Our team recently returned from a Summer refresh, where we pumped the brakes on the remarkable array of activities we are cooking up and allowed the team to recharge in anticipation of the second half of the year. It’s part of our commitment to centering wellness in racial equity, and while time off alone can’t address all the challenges facing workers in these existential times, it’s a good start.
This month, President and CEO Dwayne S. Marsh has officially taken the reins from Steve Barton and Phuong Quach, senior staff who’ve served as NCG’s interim leaders for the past six months. The three took turns answering questions about the moment in which we find ourselves and the possibilities ahead. As the interview was drawing to a close, Dwayne paused to check if we were going to address race explicitly. And so, signaling the new future into which we are stepping, we did.
The neighborhoods we call home are steeped in meaning, culture, and history. Across Northern California, historically Black and other people of color neighborhoods are working to reverse and repair decades of community removals and neglect, while facing ongoing pressures that threaten resident and business displacement. These communities have initiated reparative and inclusive economic and community development efforts along commercial corridors that center the culture, values and history
of local residents.
Well, it didn’t take long for 2021 to remind us that the journey back from the edge of an abyss will not be a gentle one. Last Wednesday showed us we will need to advance racial equity to achieve a functioning democracy. And if democracy fails, we cannot sustain racial equity. The insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th undermines both.
This is a governance moment. We can master governing for all people by bringing a racial equity consciousness to every aspect of how government does business. We have an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen our democracy by fully activating our multiracial population and building a nation where everyone participates, prospers, and reaches their full potential.