Virtual 2020 - Disaster Justice

From May through October 2020, the Praxis Project, along with Living Hope Wheelchair Association and Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, convened 44 basebuilding organizers to participate in a virtual, long-term Learning Circle over zoom, with a specific focus on discussing the principles of, tools for, needs, and opportunities within disaster justice.

Originally designed as an in-person Learning Circle scheduled to take place in Houston, TX over several days in May of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic we shifted approaches and instead hosted five monthly three-hour zoom sessions to co-create knowledge, develop and apply disaster justice tools, and build community.

Disaster Justice

Participants discussed their definitions of and experience with disaster as community organizers. Together, the Learning Circle participants reflected upon, adapted and applied traditional disaster preparedness tools to their own organizations as a way to continue to operate under challenging conditions brought on by a chronic event. Throughout the process, community organizers shared lessons learned from on-the-ground disaster responses, and explored disasters as an opportunity for social transformation.

Related Materials

PRESS RELEASE

Learning Cohort of More than 40 Community-Based Organizations Introduces New, Innovative Framework for Defining, Addressing Disaster
May 6, 2021 - Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
A newly-released report expands the definition of disaster and provides concrete steps for public health officials, philanthropy, and government to adequately serve all communities. Read more…

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CENTERING COMMUNITY IN PUBLIC HEALTH BRIEF

Moving from Disaster Preparedness to Disaster Justice: Centering Community & Racial Justice for a Transformed Future

From the inequitable impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to fires ravaging the West Coast, from migrant children being forcibly separated from their parents at the border to continued police violence against the Black community, we have witnessed an array of disasters in the last year and beyond. This brief investigates the concept of “disaster justice” within the context of disaster preparedness and response, and how grassroots organizers have integrated disaster justice into their work.