Self-Work: Proactive Intentions for Social Justice

Self-Work: Proactive Intentions for Social Justice

By Tanaisha Coleman

Before diving into self-work as a concept, it is important to frame social justice. In this context of progressive growth, social justice is an individual and collective journey where we must actively seek developing self-awareness of personal biases, understanding dynamic complexities of social movements, applying intersectionality to our efforts, proactively working with different communities, and resting to cultivate intentionally holistic social change for various and communities. Let’s take a moment to dissect the social justice definition. The individual journey is about learning what you are bringing to social justice movements such as one’s flex of privilege and oppression, lived experiences, areas of learning, purpose, etc. The collective journey is about oppressive norms and social change that is fostered and sustained in communities depending on how we recognize multiple truths, center complexities of interconnectedness realities of privilege and oppression, proactively ponder beliefs and actions, and intentionally work to reinforce or shift harmful norms. Social justice encompasses multifaceted parts, so applying intersectionality and proactively working with different communities are essential to inform how we approach social justice with a groundedness that names the interconnectedness of systems of privilege and oppression within society, and between communities. Last but not least, rest is included in the definition to center that rest is needed to do social justice purposefully and expand our capacity as well. Also, with rest we can take time to reflect on what is happening on various fronts, how our why shifts as we adapt to change or grow, what we are feeling, what community care and self-care are needed, and more.  

At a baseline self-work “is any action you take towards self-improvement” (Paulus, 2020, para. 2). What action could this entail? Self-work action entails reframing our mind and ways of being that transcend to what we live out in different settings such as by ourselves, with family and friends, at work or social gatherings, etc. A quote by Sylvester McNutt III goes into more detail about this component of self-work. The quote reads, “Everything in life starts with your mindset first and your actions second. Your actions follow your thoughts, your beliefs and ideas. To make a shift, to free your energy; start with getting your mind right, and then, take action” (McNutt, 2019, para. 1). With our minds, it is about dissecting how we are conditioned in oppressive systems (i.e. white supremacy culture in America) regarding different contexts such as family, friends, education, workplaces, media, society, etc. Additionally, we have negative experiences that influence doubt and sustain a fixed mindset. Likewise, for shifting energy we must ponder root causes of conditions, negative experiences, and fixed mindsets to determine who we are and how we want to live in expansive ways that liberate us and others. Another core component of self-work is intentions. With intentions, one states the foundation for how they want to think, act, or be with growth or goals. With self-work we should be grounded in a purposeful why, what, how, and when. Intentions set the foundation for our self-work. 

Here is the intention formula one can use when developing self-work intentions regarding social justice: 

• In 2021, surrounding social justice, I will blank by x.

  • Example: In 2021 surrounding social justice, I will be proactive with unlearning white supremacy culture by learning about the characteristics and pondering how to counteract them in different settings. 

To meaningfully do self-work one has to acknowledge their fear zone, learning zone, and growth zone. The fear zone includes areas where we lack confidence surrounding social justice that stops us from going deeper. The learning zone involves skills and problem-solving measures we can develop for social justice challenges. The growth zone entails what we are striving to accomplish, how we could do it, and ways we center space for pivoting. To acknowledge these zones one engages in awareness, action, and reflection. For the fear zone, one cultivates awareness, which is building an understanding of privilege and oppression, marginalized communities, social movements, and more (Buildingallies.org, 2019, para. 2). Next, for the learning zone, one fosters action on how to apply their awareness in real life, which involves actualizing "an understanding of how to use an intersectional lens [acknowledgment of how the interconnectedness of systems of privilege & oppression create complex & interdependent experiences of discrimination & advantage]" (Buildingallies.org, 2019, para. 3). Then, for the growth zone, one centers reflection to rest and rethink what they are doing as needs shift, which enfolds intentionally pondering biases, flex of privilege & oppression, assessing social justice efforts & capacity-building for intersectional needs with social movements.

In closing, self-work surrounding social justice is a life-long journey. People, culture, and social movements are not stagnant. Therefore, how we do this work should shift and expand overtime as well. Even though self-work enfolds a ton of individual aspects that does not exempt us from doing this journey intentionally with others. So, with self-work, we should find ways to collectively work on awareness, action, and reflection. Lastly, self-work could be described as a life-long marathon where we learn intersectional and inclusive methods, train on individual and collective levels to actualize those methods, and rest to be and recenter our efforts. 

References

• Buildingallies.org. (2019, n.d.). Welcome. Bulindingallies.org. https://www.buildingallies.org/
• McNutt, S. (2019). Free Your Energy: The path to freedom, mental clarity and a life of enjoyment. Success Is A Choice LLC.
• Paulus, N. (2020, January 24). What is self-work? Nicolepaulus.com. https://nicolepaulus.com/blog/2019/1/22/what-is-self-work