|
To promote strategic,
long-term reforms that will dismantle structural racism and create
a foundation for new structural arrangements, we must make these
structures and how they operate visible.
Communities of color must better understand the mechanisms behind
them to create effective reform strategies. They must be better
able to support their experiences with data and communicate them
to national and regional entities and policy makers.
National, state and local governments, organizations, and advocates
must have access to this information to better craft policy responses
which understand the impact of their activities on structural opportunities within
communities and the need for alliance-building and cross-cutting multisectoral
work.
CSI supports these efforts through the following activities.
APPLIED RESEARCH
Applied research answers questions related to a specific set
of problems in context. It is research in the service of change.
It is collaborative, and requires that we work in partnership with
communities, policy makers and others to identify questions we
must answer to better understand what is happening on the ground.
With this research, we inform strategies for naming, responding
to and, ultimately, dismantling structural racism. Applied research
enables us to identify advocacy priorities, develop strategies
and create tools to implement the strategies.
Applied research activities include:
- Identifying issue priorities for communities and likely allies;
- Identifying questions that must be answered with quantitative
and qualitative data;
- Locating data and collecting it;
- Analyzing data and developing findings and recommendations
for reform.
back to top
TRAINING / PUBLIC EDUCATION
Applied research is a tool. CSI uses applied research to open
up discussions with communities, potential allies, policy makers
and the public. These activities include:
- Translating data and findings for communities;
- Conducting community trainings to better understand structural
racism, evaluate efforts to reform systems and institutions and
develop strategies to dismantle structural racism;
- Disseminating publications for policy makers and opinion leaders,
including reports and white papers;
back to top
BUILDING MODELS
CSI develops local policy education and policy reform models
to inform discussions about the nature, extent and impact of structural
racism. By engaging in targeted projects at the local and state
level, CSI applies theory about structural racism and reforms to
practice in actual communities. We feed what we learn back into
larger discussions between academics and national organizations
to create increased understanding of structural racism and to advance
collaborative efforts to formulate and expand on important policy
reforms which show promise in dismantling structural racism. We
do this through publications, convenings and strategic meetings.
back to top
CONTRIBUITING TO AND DEVELOPMENT OF NETWORKS
CSI contributes to existing networks, alliances and coalitions
and supports the development of new ones through the following
activities:
- Providing information to community-based groups and others
to identify possibly new allies and alliances;
- Hosting meetings and other convenings to help potential
allies make connections;
- Developing policy analysis and frameworks which assist potential
allies in identifying strategic ways to work together.
back to top
|