A Community That shares in Disaster Must also Share in Recovery
We’re a few months into our post-Helene journey, and there’s a lot we’ve yet to learn. Some lessons, however, are already becoming abundantly clear. Very high on that list is this: One of the worst things we can possibly do is to exclude anyone from the enormous task we face in reimagining and rebuilding Asheville and Buncombe County.
That might seem to be stating the obvious, but it’s an admonition worth repeating because in circumstances like those any community faces in the wake of natural disaster, the people most likely to be overlooked when times are bad are the same ones who are so often overlooked when times are good. This is especially true with regard to the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) members of our community.
That point is central to the message we heard recently from Angela Blanchard, the Chief Resilience and Recovery Officer for the City of Houston. Angela backs up that message with decades of experience in helping communities rebuild after natural disasters, including some of the biggest in U.S. history – Hurricanes Ike, Katrina, and Harvey.
She knows what works. Just as important, she knows what doesn’t work. With that in mind, here are some things we must remember as we proceed:
Larger, traditional organizations (mainly white-led) must ensure that BIPOC-led organizations have access to the resources they need, and are recognized for the work they do.
Larger, traditional organizations must ensure that BIPOC-led organizations are convened throughout the recovery process, recognizing their needs and progress and their role in decision-making.
As Angela Blanchard would say, “Let there be no invisible people.”
The task before us is far too great to meet it with anything less than a fully united team effort.
We need every hand on deck – every ounce of available collective energy – in order to succeed. Failure to recognize that reality will all but guarantee failure on a broader scale. And the result will be a recovery that falls far short of what our community needs, and what it fully deserves.