2022 Black Well-being Final w links for Web 11.29.22 - Flipbook - Page 20
BLACK WELL-BEING REPORT 2022
BLACK FUTURE CO-OP FUND
The price of admission
Today we’re clear — representation is necessary, but alone will not get us to change. The 2015 report talked about how wealth inequality
shapes who gets voted in and what they are “allowed” to vote for. The barriers for working class people to enter politics are not new and are not
unintentional.36 Originally designed for the agricultural worker who had the resources to travel, the way our legislature works needs to shift to
include participation from today’s working class people. The typical salary for a legislator is $57,876.37 The average campaign in Washington
state costs $87,634.38 For Black candidates, in 2020, it looked like this:
Campaign Spending by Black Legislator
in 2020 Washington State Election 39
Debra Entenman
Melanie Morgan
David Hackney
Jesse Johnson
John Lovick
Jamila Taylor
Kirsten Harris-Talley
April Berg
T’wina Nobles
$0
$250K
$500K
$750K
$1M
Once elected, we are pressured to make “necessary” compromises for the promise of change a later day. When we don’t compromise, there
are consequences. Systems of oppression have always required complicity. Leaders who step outside of party lines are silenced, and as history
goes, often by our own — a practice that is as old as slavery and colonization itself. The transactional nature of politics is dehumanizing. The
hours are grueling. During the legislative session, it is not uncommon to work 20 hours a day. And the working norms are rooted in
whiteness — urgency, perfectionism, not showing emotion, written word over everything, paternalism, and fear of conflict.40 Holding a role
within politics or government is not a job that can be done in isolation. We must work side-by-side to make change with our communities, or
we risk our legislators becoming unaccountable gatekeepers who unintentionally cause harm.41
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