RAP Summit Recap
On August 7th and 8th, fifteen “Rights! Action! Power!” (RAP) members came together for a summit in Seattle! On Friday, we welcomed Thaddaeus Elliott, a Housing Advocacy Organizer with the National Low Income Housing Coalition, for an update on federal policy and the ways that we can make an impact from here in Washington state. Click here to view the presentation slides and additional NLIHC resources including the Out of Reach report data for Washington, a summary of the recently enacted Road to Housing Act, a toolkit for communicating with your representatives, and much more.
On Saturday, we started a day with a beautiful land blessing from Duana, and a grounding from Ma.Caroline before starting our first training, Housing is a Basic Need. Thank you to Freedom BLOC for the work they put into this presentation!
Next, we talked about The Why? For many of us, The Why is unfair treatment, rent increases, evictions, junk fees and the many other barriers that prevent folks from getting or staying in their homes. For RAP members, The Why? went deeper than that. We discussed our lived experience and personal backgrounds that drive us to take action for housing equity. We also discussed The Problem: not having enough housing due to systemic practices and housing inequality, understanding that racism and oppression is profitable, housing as a commodity, the oppression economy, and the cycle of economic oppression. This was followed by a discussion about Where Our Communities Are Now and the importance of the housing justice fight. We developed awareness of the issues that we face, focusing on lack of affordable housing, racial inequity in eviction practices, homelessness, and discrimination in homeownership for Black and Brown communities. Next, we examined How We Got Here by learning about the historical context that shapes today’s housing market including colonization, redlining, covenants, and gentrification, bringing us back to The Why. We ended the presentation with Where We Want to Go and envisioned how we can shape the future of housing through storytelling, organizing, and civic engagement.
For the second half of the day, RAP members facilitated trainings on storytelling and political advocacy. One of our newest members, Aundre, led The Story of Self, The Story of Us, and The Story of Now. Aundre demonstrated how he shares his story, makes it relatable to audiences, and turns it into a call to action. Next up was a long time RAP member Duana, who did a training on How to Write and Share Your Testimony, also focusing on the importance of storytelling for political activism. She emphasized the importance of sharing testimony, relating your story to the bill, and being clear on your ask to lawmakers. She also shared tips for shortening a five-minute testimony down to one minute, which is often the amount of time you have to testify! We were also honored to hear her powerful testimony on rent gouging for HB 1217. We ended the summit with a presentation from Tina and Claudia on Writing a Letter to the Editor. They provided a 4-step formula for writing your letter and offered instructions for sending it. Letters to the editor are another way to use our voices to educate the community, influence public opinion, and encourage decision makers to act on important issues. All cohort members brought a passion for housing justice and powerful testimonies to the summit. We are excited to put what we learned into action as we work together to build and shape the communities we want to see.
