These pieces are a love letter to two places I’ve been privileged to call home.

When I imagine a future with anti-racist community development, I think of this country’s responsibility to radically course correct historic and contemporary injustices, beginning with reparations to Black and Indigenous peoples. Reparations, as in the return of stolen land, labor, wealth, and power to oppressed communities – plus interest.

In the Hawaiian language, waiwai, the word for wealth (not just economic, but also in the strength of community and relationships), has roots in the abundance of wai (water). What would community development look like if this definition of wealth was centered, recognizing water as not just a life giving force but one that carries memory? What would it look like if the expertise prioritized was how well you know your neighbors and the knowledge of how the neighborhood has changed over the years? With investment in locals’ well being prioritized over cutting costs or profits?

A future of anti-racist community development centers communities’ agency, unique cultures, and multiple ways of knowing. It is a future not absent of conflict nor afraid of hard truths, but one with invitations to learn together and move through challenges with care and trust. It is a return of power to community decision-making and self-determination, a prioritization of consent and collective healing, ultimately leading to a future of generational thriving and joy.

Anti-Racist Community Development – Hilo (left)

A mixed-race Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) graduate, adorned with celebratory lei and kīhei (a Hawaiian wrap) smiling next to their elder father. Behind them is the night sky with constellations of different homes and silhouettes of community members – an elder resting and children playing above Mauna Kea. Below the graduate and their dad, rain is falling onto variations of kūpuna (elder, ancestral) varieties of kalo (taro). In the foreground is a child pounding pa’i’ai (undiluted poi) . Framing the image are the written values of aloha ʻāina (love of the land), reconnection, kuleana (responsibility and rights in relation to genealogy and place), education, consent, kūpuna & keiki (child) care, housing, and health.

Anti-Racist Community Development – Cleveland (right)

A person wearing a shirt that says, “The opposite of poverty is not wealth. The opposite of poverty is justice. – Bryan Stevenson,” holds a megaphone tagged with the Palestinian and trans flag stickers. To their right, there’s an Ohio historical marker that says “Land Back, Reparations, Abolition, and Liberation.” Behind them, a pregnant Black femme with flowers and stars in her hair holding her belly with their child hugging her from behind. In the sky are constellations and silhouettes of community members, empowered, active, and connected by shared power in front of different homes. Framing the image are flowers native to Ohio with the written values of generational wealth, safety, ease, healing, balance, connection, interdependence, and joy.