After five years of the PAC, we get a lot of questions about how the PAC operates and what it
means for parents from communities of color to guide Early Learning Multnomah's work. One of those questions is, how does the PAC connect with white dominant culture organizations?
It is a question that has a lot of assumptions built into it and is worth unpacking.
The question inherently centers those organizations. The question that isn’t asked, but is in the
sub‐text is, how does the PAC have value if it doesn’t engage with dominant culture
organizations?
We did not create the PAC to interact with dominant culture organizations.
It may seem radical, but we don’t believe that most existing systems are best designed to serve
communities of color. It isn’t that preparing and supporting parents to engage with those
systems doesn’t have impact, but we are trying to disrupt the narrative that dominant culture
organizations hold all of the power to create change. We didn’t create the PAC to just hear
from parents or elevate their stories, we created it to share power. We believe that parents
from communities of color hold a knowledge and wisdom that does not need to be translated
and adjusted to fit into dominant culture systems. The PAC’s existence and work has inherent
value.
If you want to learn more about the PAC or attend our July celebration, contact Lai-LaniO@Unitedway-pdx.org
