Imagination Justice
This is a blog by Benedicta Asamoah-Russell, who recently joined the Moral Imaginations team, and here makes a call for imagination justice — imagination as a tool for unlocking injustice, and imagination practice that is inclusive and involves everybody.
This is my second blog post as part of my Be Rebel series, which seeks to be an honest reflection of my experiences as a freelancer who works in complex, strategic project environments. Through my lens as a Black, Millennial Woman.
This one is a little different from my last one as it is authored by me and co-signed by one of the wonderful people I have worked with since I started as a freelancer. Phoebe Tickell is a thought leader on imagination whom I’m working with on Building Imagination in Camden.
What do we mean by imagination?
When I think about imagination, I think back to the days when I would create whatever I could with the things that were available to me. As a child, I would gather all my toys in my little closet and turn it into a magical place where I could escape and create whatever reality I wanted. I still have a little bit of that imagination, where I am constantly coming up with new ideas to test with whoever will listen to me. Some people will remember my ambitions to start a local street food market that supported local people or the pop-up event I ran that focused solely on indulging in cakes and cocktails! I now try to apply it to my work in whatever way I can.
Using imagination in work is about giving yourself permission to dream and expand your sense of what is possible. By imagining, we can begin to unlock solutions to those big challenges we all face, envisioning a future that ignites our deepest qualities and values. Phoebe and Jo Brown (director for people in Camden) discuss why imagination is vital in the public sector here.
Why do we need to imagine justice?
I have been having open and honest conversations about imagination with Phoebe Tickell. I have been sharing that imagination should not just be a practice for the elite and that it doesn’t become the new design. A practice that just a few dominate. Imagination must not alienate the people who need to be involved and know what futures they imagine for themselves and the people around them. We’d be doing a great injustice (again) to marginalised folks everywhere.
Let’s see imagination as a tool for unlocking injustices such as inequality, infringement of human rights and the climate crisis. And let’s involve the people most impacted by these injustices and give them the tools to create or build on their own imagination movements.
I write this because I have felt excluded. I have felt disconnected and out of touch at times. Where it’s just me in a room full of white people and their prestigious degrees. I’ve read articles on imagination and felt clueless about what’s going on. But like everything, it’s a journey. I know something special could happen if imagination is applied correctly. I’m not going to shy away from imagination, and I will continue showing up in those rooms and reading those articles so that we can all imagine radical futures.
What I am asking of leaders in the imagination space
So I ask everyone who is leading the way in imagination practices and everyone excited about imagination to always be an ally and champion of imagination justice. I’m asking you to open up the practice to as many people as possible, in the most accessible way possible, and to avoid simply going where the energy is. Because there are many reasons why the energy isn’t in some places. Some of us feel excluded and powerless. But also recognise that so many people are turning what they imagine into reality already- and using their own tools and practices to do this.
And to everyone reading this, please don’t shy away from imagination. This is for you, as it is for me. Let’s keep showing up in these spaces. And imagine better futures for people like you and me.
As part of our commitment to imagination justice, Phoebe and I will be taking some time to deeply think about what this looks like and we are opening this up to whoever wants to get involved in the conversation. We’d love to hear about how Get in touch with me at hello@benedictaar.co.uk if you want to get involved in this discussion.
Be Rebel,
Bene
