An Introduction to our collective justice language
Introduction
Language is a social justice issue. It has been used as a systemic tool for oppression and discrimination, splitting communties who would otherwise be working in solidarity with each other.
Baobab believes that reclaiming our language is key to centring our minds and bodies in a global environment that consistently ‘others us’. This is not about being politically correct; but rather about being aware of the power of language both to unite and to divide.
Our justice language principles
Baobab seeks to act collectively from a place of interconnectedness and solidarity, not uniformity to achieve unity, justice and freedom. To this end, we aim to:
Speak from a place that prioritises the safety of all sections of our community.
Use language that is nourishing, liberating and restorative.
Reject language that is militarised, hierarchical or aggressive.
What this means for our community
Baobab is committed to continually reflecting on how we tell our stories and the words and images we use to describe them. We always want to come from a place of hope, dignity and community. In particular:
We will always refer to our communities as Black African/Caribbean and/or Global Majority people of colour. We recognise that the reduction of Global Majority people to an ethnic minority in the West is part of a broader context of systemic oppression.
We do not use the term BAME because it generalises Global Majority people by failing to recognise individual groups.
We specifically name anti-blackness and racism.
We refer to disabled people as such. We recognise that disabled people are disabled by society’s failure to be accessible and inclusive, which means that disability can and should be challenged and eliminated but (disabled people deserve to be part of our future). Non-disabled person/people is also our preferred term.
We are developing an improved language around grantmaking. This work is at an early stage, however we aim to move to a space where the people we resource will be called partners and we will use the more holistic term resourcing, instead of funding as much as possible.
Baobab has begun an ongoing process of reflection and discovery to ensure that our language is truly liberating and reflects all parts of our community. We do not expect this process to end, and so our language will continually evolve to reflect our developing understanding.