Writing with Juliet Iwelunmor

A friend once said, eyes are how we begin conversations, begin to deeply speak, a friend whose deepest wish was to connect, whose highest dream was community, their voices vividly clear, yet many ignore the thing passing in the sky, thick clouds gathering in sky, eyes blind see nothing, people who claim to fight for community, those that demand they participate, they all see the clouds, see the skies, but begin to speak to my friend, blind.

If you asked me whether voice and participation were the same thing, I would argue until it clear they are not. Hart’s ladder of participation exists for a reason. That people participate in anything doesn’t mean they have voice. Take for example, a meeting of like minded people, we are all sitting in the room so we expect everyone is participating. But still there will be many in the room who never speak, who never say a word. They may all agree and maybe even nod their head. The fact that they participated doesn’t mean their voices were heard until you hear their voices. It’d for this reason why working in communities is never as easy as it seems. That they participate and fill out your surveys doesn’t mean you got to their from them, their voices, experiences. It’s like this Mende proverb that inspired the above note “there is a thing passing in the sky, thick clouds gather, the uninitiated or those blind, see nothing.” When we gather in the name of community, ensure their voices are heard.