‘We have to strengthen the muscle for equity’
Chicago’s chief equity officer, Candace Moore, talks about 2022, the city’s Year of Healing
It’s going on three years since civil rights attorney Candace Moore became the city of Chicago’s first chief equity officer. And initiatives that were planted years ago are sprouting.
Case in point: The year 2022 marks the Year of Healing, an extension of the city’s Together We Heal initiative launched in 2020 by the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice. Year of Healing, which centers on building racial healing and transformation in Chicago, was announced by Moore via a virtual panel a day after Jan. 18, which is the National Day of Racial Healing.
Moore held the hourlong event Jan. 19 with a number of notable Chicago faces, including Shermann “Dilla” Thomas, a Chicago urban historian; José Rico, director for Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Greater Chicago, housed at The Chicago Community Trust; Reyna Torres Mendivil, consul general of Mexico in Chicago; and Erin Harkey, commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
“There’s no finish line when it comes to advancing racial equity . ... We need to think about this as a workout and getting healthy,” Moore said. “We have to strengthen the muscle for equity and we want that muscle to be strong enough to help us build the city that we believe can happen — a more equitable Chicago.”
As part of the Together We Heal initiative, the city asked Chicagoans to have conversations with one another and make a public commitment to racial healing, host a racial healing event in communities and enhance their knowledge on racial healing.
Residents responded: Within three months, nearly 10,000 people participated in nearly 200 events — from conversations that build empathy with faith leaders, neighbors and healers to working on restorative justice activities.
The Together We Heal effort yielded two things to keep the momentum going: an equity statement of principles (a shared definition of equity to guide the work inside government) and an outline for a year of healing. During the conversations that took place among community members, people let it be known that they wanted to have more cross-neighborhood dialogue and connection; public events to celebrate culture; and the city’s commitment to making institutional change.
Moore said the goals for the Year of Healing include:
Designing a racial healing framework that will serve as a guide for the City of Chicago to repair harm done to Black and brown communities.
Modeling the framework through five initiatives that lead to measurable cultural and policy change. The initiatives focus on monuments and memorials; a plan for equitable transit-oriented development, which the city defines as “development that enables all people, regardless of income, race, ethnicity, age, gender, immigration status or ability, to experience the benefits of dense, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development near transit hubs”; community wealth building; a community safety coordination center, where a conversation is held about how we think about culture when it comes to community safety and its role; and climate change issues around extreme heat.
Building the framework for government staff and community members to engage on their own, which will entail resource lists, equity 101 training, and tools and training when it comes to racial equity and health assessments.
Releasing a report that will serve as a model for other governments, with information that chronicles how and where the equity work moved the needle so others can follow their lead.
“We wanted to have a real exploration of what tools we can use as a city to build healing in how we do business,” Moore said. “The framework that we are advancing is: reflect on our past, reclaim our history, re-imagine our future.
“I’ve seen folks say, ‘I do want to talk about past harms that have happened, but I want to make sure that isn’t just a conversation about the past, but there’s a relevance for today, lessons learned and principles that we want to make sure are true about how we do business right now. But I just don’t want to talk about it; I also want to do the work. I want to be able to think about the future and plan and get resources, etc.’ That’s really what that name (Year of Healing) is about, trying to help people think about how to approach issues.”
Thomas said during the virtual event that in looking at the framework and his participation in the healing process, what sticks out most to him is how resistant people are to listening to the rest of your conversation when race is at the top of it.
“We’re saying we want to promote racial healing but as soon as they (people) hear race — one half feels a bit like a victim, the other half may feel a bit like a bully — and if you push past that and get them to keep listening, all involved see that’s not the point,” Thomas said. “The point really is progression ... to use the things that unite us and drive us forward.”
Rico said during the event that we know our city and our country are in crisis.
“One of the lessons that I’ve learned doing this work is if we do not provide a way for people to really relate to each other based on shared humanity ... if power doesn’t shift and we do not dismantle the things that are causing harm right now, not only are we going to lose this opportunity for healing, but we need to make sure that healing requires consequences and accountability from people who make these decisions,” Rico said.
Adding to the Together We Heal goals and efforts, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events is partnering with the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice to offer $5 million in creative peacekeeping grants, that will be available in the spring. Moore said artists will be able to apply for funding for projects that use community engagement and arts in a transformative way to promote racial healing, cultural awareness and community building.
“We have this amazing opportunity to actually put some resources in the hands of the community to say, ‘How can you bring this framework to life?’ ” Moore said. “We’re going to do that in partnership with DCASE through peacekeeping grants that will be a partnership between artists and community — the idea of being able to go do the engagement work, but then produce something that is an asset to your community.”
“We’re not going to be healed in a year. That’s not the point of this,” she said. “The point is to spend a year being intentional and asking ourselves, ‘OK, what did we learn? What did we see? What do we want more of ? What are the lessons that can carry us forward past this year?’ I think that’s really important.
“The goal isn’t always to fix everything in that moment, but it is to try something and lead with more tools, different partnerships, more resources so that you can build something else for the road ahead. This is about really building a muscle behind the work.”