BFCF AnnualReport DONE - Flipbook - Page 11
COLLECTIVE WISDOM AND
THE BLACK WELL-BEING STUDY
Working cooperatively is central to our vision. It takes all of us to dismantle inequitable systems and create
community-based solutions so that future generations can be freer than we are today. We are committed
to rooting the Fund’s work in our collective community wisdom. Black people live dispersed throughout the
state and it is vital to 昀椀nd ways to connect and share our knowledge, concerns and priorities. Since starting
the Fund, we have steadily reached out to gather with and learn from Black Washingtonians, including
through an online survey in our 昀椀rst year, as well as in virtual meetings and focus groups.
In 2022, when we staffed up, we knew that our funding needed to be grounded in an accurate
understanding of the lived realities of Black Washingtonians across the state. Building on our earlier
outreach, we now undertook a Black Well-being study, gathering statewide data through surveys and
group interviews, along with researching existing quantitative data. Formulating a framework based on
Byrd Barr Place’s 2015 Creating an Equitable Future in Washington State: Black Well-being & Beyond report,
we grouped data under the topics of civic engagement, education, economic mobility, public safety,
and health. We wanted to see how Black Washingtonians were faring in these areas, and we needed
to hear from the broadest possible cross-section, not just be guided by our own lived and professional
experiences. We anchored our approach in a positive vision of the future — one that centers abundance
rather than scarcity — and invited community members to identify strategies and tactics that would help
us move toward realizing that vision.
After synthesizing data and perspectives from Black folks across the state, in 2022 we published our
in-depth report and audiobook, Black Well-being: Moving Toward Solutions Together.10 It presented
community-identi昀椀ed approaches intended to support organizing, inform policy change, and direct
resources toward Black prosperity, health, and well-being. We called the report “a love note to Black
Washingtonians, written for us and by us, to accelerate change.”
“
It takes all of us to dismantle
inequitable systems and create
community-based solutions so
that future generations can be
freer than we are today.
“
11
