Writing and Voice as Liberation: My Vision for Policy Together

Writing is a part of a creative process that can liberate our voice, allowing us to tap deeper into our natural flow, the rhythm of our soul, and connection with all that is around us.

Working as a policy analyst for the past years has led me to a range of surprising realizations and learnings about myself. One of these realizations is how much I enjoy writing. Being in various policy environments during this time, I have observed that writing is a key part of the work that policy analysts and advisors do in terms of communicating information for decision-making, but it’s not usually positioned as an area of central focus. I now realize that not only is writing a joyful thing to do, it’s also profoundly important in sharing one’s voice and authentic self.

I was surprised about coming to this understanding because writing was not something that I previously focused on at any point in my life. I’ve interacted with it as something that I had to do, in order to do other things like submitting assignments, completing tasks at work, or as a form of communication when speaking in-person wasn’t an option.

Another part of this awakening has been understanding my relationship with my first language. My first language essentially was Jamaican Patois, and for me, speaking and writing in ‘proper English’ has at times felt disconnected from who I really am. This is related to my experience of Jamaican Patois being seen as inferior to English, especially when I attended school in the Jamaican education system – a reminder of the longstanding impact of British colonialism in the land of my birth. So over the course of my life, I have often thought in Jamaican Patois, but spoken and written in English, even with all of the social programming around the hierarchy of what is considered desirable, proper and professional.

Unfolding the Connections Between Writing and Self-Liberation

What I’ve now realized is that writing itself is a part of a creative process that can liberate one’s voice and allow someone to tap deeper into their natural flow, the rhythm of their soul, and connection with all that is around them. Closely connected is that writing in this way can bring new and unique voices to the policy process, a space that is often characterized as highly technical, hierarchical, and reserved only for people in socially-determined positions of power.

During my years of formal policy analysis training, I was confused about the place of equity and inclusion in policy discussions and policy learning spaces. This was especially true for me when it came to policy discussions that focused on Black Canadians. I felt that speaking about these issues, the priorities of Black communities, or the priorities of other communities that experience racial discrimination, would push me further outside the ingroups of my peers. While I deeply appreciated the incredible knowledge that was shared with me during that time, I felt like something was missing.

Still, I pursued a career in public policy because policy has remained something that I love. But as I’ve been doing this work over the past years, both inside organizations and independently, I realized that I would likely have to create unique spaces to share my authentic voice and some of my most important contributions. I’ve felt unsatisfied with the traditional ways that policy discussions take place, where people, groups, and communities that have been historically marginalized and excluded from policy-making processes continue to be left out.

This blog will reflect who I am – someone who is of mixed African and Indian descent, born in Jamaica, immigrated to Canada as a child with her family, grew up in neighbourhoods like Little Jamaica and Mount Dennis, loves music, especially reggae and other types of music from the Caribbean and broader African diaspora, is guided by her ancestors and community, and cares deeply both about human rights and our collective well-being. I’ll speak about being a Black woman, about being an entrepreneur, and about being someone who sometimes doesn’t fit into traditional policy circles.

My Vision for Policy Together

Policy Together is meant to symbolize an intention to create a space where policy, public policy in particular, can be discussed and explored in a way that is specifically focused on uplifting our collective well-being. It also symbolizes an intention to make space for sharing ideas about how we can work together to make policy more inclusive.

This platform will be a space for sharing engaging and accessible policy content. It will build on the work I’ve done in my policy advocacy project, Elevate Policy, by continuing to support an energy of elevation and raising up our collective policy consciousness. It will, in some ways, continue the writing I’ve been doing over the past few years, including my February 2020 piece on building a Canadian Black policy network, a December 2021 Policy Options article on anti-racism policy analysis, and a May 2022 Policy Options article on federal anti-racism policy accountability.

Policy Together is meant to support more of a community focus in policy discussions. It will centre the perspectives and priorities of communities that have been excluded from policy discussions due to systemic discrimination. This direction recognizes that some aspects of policy development happen through activities that take place all around us, often in informal settings, and that policy is supposed to reflect our collective interest. Expanding our policy discussions to include and amplify voices from a more inclusive understanding of community makes policy development stronger and elevates policy outcomes. On that note, I will intentionally bring my lived experience and unique perspective forward into this policy dialogue.

Another important part of this space will be exploring different ways of talking about policy. My hope is that Policy Together will grow to include different channels of engagement. I plan to use varying types of media to support policy engagement and really just to bring us together with policy as our focus. I will be sharing more about this in the future!

I’m genuinely excited to move forward with this project and I’m keeping an open mind on where it can go. I’m grateful for your interest in this work and promise to honour all of us through this platform.

One love!

Last updated: May 20, 2024