From banana bread to abolition
In the past three months we’ve gone from baking banana bread to advocating for abolition. With mounting distrust in existing systems, and bizarre new circumstances, our world has fundamentally changed.
What may have previously seemed radical, is now entering the realm of popular common sense. The COVID crisis has brought inequality in our country to the forefront of public consciousness.
Structural inequalities faced by Black people, minorities and low income workers have brought the UK’s already startling divides into sharp focus. Accustomed to grim bar charts and morbid data visualisations of the largest loss of life since WW2, even the hardest cynic cannot deny the now obvious life or death gaps in our society. Even before the crisis, life expectancies were stalling in the UK for the first time in a century. Before another ‘chicken-and-egg’ game of recession, austerity and vulnerability makes us all the more prone to another crisis, how can we rip it up and start again?
By engaging
2020 has been simultaneously a year of pause, trauma and change. Everything from our working patterns, healthcare, and the function of our communities has been disrupted. There’s also been a seismic amount of political engagement. From the tearing down of the Colston statue to the outpouring of support for the Gender Recognition Act, it could be that our 40 hour weeks are being pushed aside to make room for more civic participation.
In landmark protests from the Black community, lockdown meant that we could no longer ignore the UK’s problematic history. Faced with an abundance of time, a plethora of sharable resources, and the secrets of a colonial past at our phone-tapping-fingertips, the past month has marked a significant reeducation for the British public. Black British Author Renni Eddo Lodge’s book on race topped the bestseller list, the long campaign to cancel eugenicist Cecil Rhodes became successful, and over the pond, The New York Times published, ‘Yes, We Literally Mean Abolish the Police.’ In the UK, we reckoned with our own sins, acknowledging that there have been more deaths in police custody than by serial killers, and near zero prosecutions.
Whether it was physical bodies marching in the streets, or the culture wars of Twitter fuelling our responses, we saw an acceleration in the debate for trans rights, too. When the government backtracked on its Gender Recognition Act findings, dozens of LGBTQ+ charities lept to offer template letters to MPs. From petitions to donations, and calls for long standing changes to laws and the curriculum, we discovered the power of collective engagement.
By going for systems change, not just for individuals
The pause in our daily lives may have seen a surge in online shopping, but paradoxically also lead to more sympathetic views on our climate. A recent citizens assembly of 108 people, representative of the UK, recently voted to back a green recovery. 8 in 10 say the curb of individual excesses over lockdown, such as buying non essential items, holidays abroad, and long commutes should go hand in hand with policy reform to ensure we meet net zero carbon emissions.
Record numbers of seed sales and a year’s shortage of bikes certainly show that the nation is getting into a more ecological mood. However, whilst there was a steep average of around 26% decline in global emissions, the remaining 74% showed us that it’s systemic change, rather than rinsing out our tins cans and cycling to work that must be the real panacea to climate change. The immediate rise in emissions once lockdown conditions were lifted globally also shows that without investing longer term in green infrastructure, these partial, carbon busting gains are short lived.
By seeing the effects of change, locally
Seemingly radical ideas posed six months ago that many deemed economically ruinous or unviable, have more common sense appeal in a crisis. School children were given free laptops to stay connected, the four day week has been floated as a means to recover the economy, and footballer Marcus Rashford successfully campaigned for free school meals. The success in these ideas may be in the immediate, local realities of change. Instead of seemingly empty, national policy promises, the effects of these packages are put into action quickly, and felt all the faster.
As our communities and home lives have become more localised, the solutions have too. Mutual aid networks across the nation exemplify this approach, whilst the London Renter’s Unions ‘Can’t pay, won’t pay campaign’ answered a crisis acute to the capital. Our own ventures and alumna have been using local knowledge to deploy help where it’s needed, for example Jo Liang’s Dare to Care which circulated £60,000 worth of PPE in a week.
By going beyond recovery
From fashion brands being slammed globally for not making good on their promises, to universal basic income trials and furlough schemes. When 1 in 6 workers are accessing financial aid through unprecedented economic and policy support, it begs the question, why only in this crisis? This pivotal moment is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to look beyond recovery.
In the last few years, Year Here have launched over 30 social ventures in fields as diverse as supporting ex-offenders, ethical fashion, homelessness and educational inequality. On 16th July, we’ll be hosting Building Back Better: a virtual gathering to raise funds for social startups emerging from Year Here’s Venture Lab, and to reimagine society in the wake of COVID-19.
Join us for insights from thinkers and doers working on the frontlines of inequality. We’ll be exploring the health of society at large, from our housing markets to our community care mechanisms and healthcare systems. If you’re past the banana bread era, join us to create what’s beyond.
