The Power of Words: the importance of defining + shifting shared language

// Hilary Sedovic (she/her) Previous Learning and Education Director

“Language setting is the first step in any community- and equity-centered work.” If you’ve participated in any Creative Reaction Lab learning engagements, you’ve likely seen this slide. It is usually in the beginning, right after we briefly share who we are, our mission, and our framework. We tell people that we’re going to go over at least four terms that they’ve likely heard before and probably often use, but that we want to make sure we’re all on the same page before moving forward.

I always have a slight hold in my breath as I cue the next slide and read aloud, “Diversity.” Sometimes with this slide, the energy in the room changes. I feel like I can hear people thinking and feeling, “…is this really how I’m going to be spending my time today? I’ve already attended Diversity 101.” We then ask, “Is diversity the same as inclusion?” Some rooms we get solid “nooo”s from and a lot of headshaking. Others are a bit more apprehensive. We cut the tension and share that they are not equivalent, and point to Verna Myers’ example that “Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.” Tatiana Mac has built on this, saying that justice would be planning and hosting the party yourself.

We then move onto the 201-level language setting. Equity vs. equality. This is where things can get a little more quiet and thoughtful in the room. I can see people processing how equity is about fairness whereas equality is sameness. We do a little game to reinforce these four concepts, and then move forward.

We introduce language throughout our engagements, stopping to define terms and check for understanding. Liberation. Power. Design. Race. Ethnicity. White Supremacy. When we have more space to process and co-create language in our long-form programming, participants collaborate to define the words they’ll be using during their work together.

Seems a little basic, right? The answer is yes — it’s basic. And I cannot begin to tell you how many times the consistent feedback we receive from participants is how their biggest takeaways came from the importance of language setting and actually having these terms defined. In her reflection of her experience at our Equity by Design Immersive in Seattle, Cassie Bingham (now a member of our inaugural cohort of REFRESH!) shared that language setting is a practice that she uses in every class she teaches and she’s seen it create broader understanding quicker among her students. Organizations who told me in our planning calls for their workshops that they’d “really done a lot of DEI work” and that they probably didn’t need the language setting module have had their employees name that our definition of equity (modified from Forward Through Ferguson’s definition of racial equity) was a revelation.

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Taking this a step further, the Creative Reaction Lab team not only defines terms that everyone has heard, but we have shifted and co-created our language in recognition of its power to shape narratives and experiences. In How to be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi writes:

… [T]he key act for both of us was defining our terms so that we could begin to describe the world and our place in it. Definitions anchor us in principles. This is not a light point: If we don’t do the basic work of defining the kind of people we want to be in language that is stable and consistent, we can’t work toward stable, consistent goals. Some of my most consequential steps toward being an antiracist have been the moments when I arrived at basic definitions.

You’ll often hear members of our team defining our own terms to others and/or saying, “we actually use the phrase _____ instead of _____, because _______.” We do this so much that we started joking we need to have a CRXLAB glossary for reference. Running this idea by participants, many responded with an emphatic “YES!” So here we are.

Below, you’ll find two sections — one naming the language that we often use and have specific definitions for, along with terms we have created; the other listing substitutive words/phrases that we’ve come to adopt over time to be more justice-centered and trauma-informed. We are always open to shifting our language if/when we learn that it is causing or could cause harm. That being said, let us know in the comments what language resonates with you, what confuses you, and/or what language you’ve shifted in your own life to center justice!

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We present to you
The Creative Reaction Lab Annotated Glossary of Terms
in their current iteration (as of July 2020):

>> SECTION ONE: Basic + New Terms, Modified Definitions

Design: The intent [and unintentional impact] behind an outcome.

• In the 1970s, IBM defined design as the intent behind an outcome. We have modified this definition to include and unintentional impact because intentions are not enough. If design is only about intentions, we do not have to own the outcomes, including those unintentional. CRXLAB’s modification demands accountability and appreciation for the responsibility we each hold as designers.

Designer: Every person, regardless of their education or professional title.

• We are all designers because we have the power to affect outcomes. Every decision that we make affects whatever comes after it. Minute to minute, we are each contributing to the collective design of the world we live in.

Design Ally: An individual who 1) puts people and equity first, 2) might be embedded within a community or is indirectly connected, 3) works through the lens of failure — always iterating, making, and improving interventions, 4) builds upon the existing resources available within their organization/communities to create change, and 5) leverages their power and access on behalf of Equity Designers.

• An individual who does not have lived experience with the issue of inequity being addressed would be a Design Ally. For example, a cisgender woman can be a Design Ally for issues affecting transgender and non-binary people.

Diversity: A variety of identifiers that, in the case of people, defines our individuality.

• In organizations and businesses, the word “diversity” is often used as coded language for racial or ethnic diversity (e.g. “We are committed to recruiting diverse individuals.”) We are diverse in so many ways beyond our racial and ethnic identities. Some examples of diverse identities/experiences we hold (brainstormed by past participants) include: gender, sexuality, nationality, education, household composition, marital status, military service, personality, literacy, language, trauma, employment, housing, healthcare experiences, sense of taste, processing differences, ability status, etc. We will forever be advocating for people to name what kind of diversity they mean rather than naming it as a blanket statement — and if you’re referring to the diversity of your organization as being strong because of “diversity of thought”, let’s unpack that.

Equality: Being the same, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.

• A word that has been used as the gold standard vision for the future for too long. We theorize that sometimes when people are talking about equality, they do actually mean equity, they’re just thinking about the end goal. Unfortunately, when we name equality as the method and goal, we get policies that distribute the same amount of funding across schools, despite the total amount of resources and opportunities each school has as a result. Because our communities are not blank slates and power dynamics have never set us up for equality, we will always need to strive for equity.

Equity: When outcomes are not predictable based on someone’s identities.* Equity revolves around systemic and network outcomes.

• *Modified from Forward Through Ferguson’s definition of racial equity.
• We have never had an equitable world, so we can only envision what this would be. Knowing the significant disparities (health, wealth, housing, employment, incarceration, education, etc.) that exist between people, we can understand that if we were to experience equity, we would not be able to predict life outcomes for a person just because they have certain racial/ethnic, gender, sexual, etc. identities.

Equity-Centered Community Design: A unique creative problem-solving process based on equity, humility-building, integrating history and healing practices, addressing power dynamics, and co-creating with the community.

• This design process focuses on a community’s culture and needs so that they can gain tools to dismantle systemic oppression and create a future with equity for all. Creative Reaction Lab’s goal is to share Equity-Centered Community Design to achieve sustained community health, economic opportunities, and social and cultural solidarity.

Equity Designer: An individual who 1) puts people and equity first, 2) is embedded within a community and strive toward the improvement of that community,

3) works through the lens of failure — always iterating, making and improving interventions, 4) builds upon the existing resources available within their organization/communities to create change, and 5) has lived experience with the inequity being addressed.

• For example, an individual who is a survivor of gun violence would be an Equity Designer for issues of inequity related to this experience.

Inclusion: Not only celebrating differences, but accepting and embedding them. Making each individual a part of the whole.

• Oftentimes we see campaigns and strategies around increasing diversity without any attention being paid toward creating an inclusive culture. You can certainly have diversity without inclusion — this is often why we see organizations struggle with retention of “diverse” (read: those from historically underinvested communities) employees.

Living Experts: Individuals with lived experience — and therefore, expertise — with an issue.

• Rather than relying solely on academics and others with traditional power as Experts to name and develop interventions from a fishbowl perspective, center Living Experts as the experts of their own experiences and pay them for their time as team members rather than peripheral research subjects.

Power: The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.

• Power is a neutral term, though is often associated with negative outcomes because of those who have held power over others. What matters is how you choose to either wield or yield your power. The sharing and shifting of power is necessary from the members with traditional access. Accepting and building power is beneficial for the historically undersupported and underinvested.
• We often refer to “traditional” power to name how many of us have experienced power being built and maintained through patriarchal, capitalist, white supremacist systems, while alternatively emphasizing the significant value of power built within ourselves and our communities that does not require a C-suite title, elected office, loud voice, privileged identity, academic degree, etc.

Redesigner for Justice: A new type of leader to address the exclusion and inequities in our communities. The competencies being developed in these leaders are based in a foundation of Equity-Centered Community Design with interwoven elements of social entrepreneurship, community organizing, and intrapreneurship.

• Redesigners for Justice approach issues with significant self-awareness, assessing context to understand where they fit in as either an Equity Designer or Design Ally.

>> SECTION TWO: Justice-Centered + Trauma-Informed Language

Approach/Intervention: A substitution for solution.

• The term solution is a darling of the traditional design industry and beyond. Problems need solutions to be fixed. We build problem-solving processes and skillsets. In fact, we do sometimes refer to Equity-Centered Community Design as a creative problem-solving framework, mainly because we recognize that the use of this language will more readily lead newcomers to conceptualizing our work.

Audience of focus: A substitution for target audience.

• Often, the target audience being focused on receiving/benefit from an intervention has already experienced trauma as a result of being targeted for violence and oppression. We’re not interested in continuing to target anybody, but we will ensure that we have refined our focus.

Historically underinvested: A substitution for marginalized, minority, oppressed, disadvantaged, etc.

• This phrase shifts the narrative to emphasize the power and accountability of systems (and the people manipulating them) in maintaining the status quo by investing resources (money, time, education, policies, etc.) and building power for those with historically privileged identities and withholding this access from others.

Person/People: A substitution for user(s).

• Because user evokes ideas and discrimination regarding those experiencing substance use disorders and addiction, we choose not to use this word even in its context as being a user of a product or program. Further, people are more than their experience of using a product or program. We choose to name “people who experience/use _____” instead.

Reminded of/provoked: A substitution for triggered.

• In reflection of and response to those who have trauma associated with gun violence, we have chosen to remove triggered from our language. There are many ways in the English language to describe a similar experience or feeling, so we choose to exercise those instead.

Unhoused: A substitution for homeless.

• We appreciate this shift in language similar to that of historically underinvested, to emphasize the power and accountability of systems (and the people who manipulate them) for the experiences of those who remain unhoused.

Unseen area: A substitution for blindspot.

• We made this shift in language in recognition of blindspot being ableist. Unseen area is the phrase we use instead, and find that it conveys the same meaning.

// If you’re interested in learning more about language setting: Why it is important and how to implement it into your own work to make spaces more inclusive, learn more about our webinars here and client engagements here.