The Gift of Community with the Help of Liberatory Design
After October 31st it feels as though the stores have transformed from black and orange to red and green. Lights strung everywhere. Maybe a dancing Santa, Mrs. Claus, or Menorah. With “HOLIDAY DEALS” everywhere to be seen. Amongst all the lights and songs I think it is important to remember the true gift: the Gift of Community, even though I do enjoy seeing a dancing Santa.
A framework that helped ground me in the Gift of Community was the Liberatory Mindsets(1). The objective of Liberatory Design is as follows:
“Generate self-awareness to liberate designers from habits that perpetuate inequity.
Shift the relationship between the people who hold power to design and those impacted.
Foster learning and agency for those involved.
Create conditions for collective liberation.”
What a beautiful gift to give this holiday season!
To ground yourself in this Liberatory Mindset, Tania Anaissie, Victor Cary, David Clifford, Tom Malarkey and Susie Wise with input from countless friends and colleagues created a beautiful deck to connect with one another. I wanted to share a few of my favorite cards to really get into the Gift of Community spirit! But you can find the entire deck on the Liberatory Design websiteLiberatory Design website.
One of my favorite mindsets is to, “Build Relational Trust: Invest in relationships with intention, especially across difference. Honor stories. Practice empathetic listening.” During this time of year it can be easy to focus on differences–whether it is a political opinion or whether cranberry sauce should be added on top of turkey (my vote is always yes). But to focus on the Gift of Community to invest in the difference. If this can be challenging, have no fear; as the Liberatory Mindset deck gives a few suggestions on how to build that relational trust–whether it is inviting people to share what they care about or to practice non-judgmental listening. This work does not happen overnight, but investing in these mindsets can allow for a more intentional community.
Another mindset to focus on in the spirit of gifting is to, “Focus on Human Values: Get to know the community we are are designing with in as many different ways as possible. Anchor all our decision-making in human values.” Whether you are in the classroom with students prototyping, or an administrator leading a department through challenges, or a sibling planning a holiday party, it is important to ground our decisions in our human values. It can by listening with a loving and humble ear and honoring people’s experiences. These suggestions might seem small, but these steps can lead to collective and intentional change within your community.
The last mindset I wanted to share was to, “Attend to Healing: The effects of our oppression are complex and often hinder our ability to take action. Integrate ongoing healing processes when designing for equity.” For many, this time of year can impact us in so many ways. There might be people within your own community that have scars and are suffering. What a gift it could be to establish protocols for pain, so people do not have to suffer in silence or to use healing practices like check-ins or somatic work, as the Liberatory Deck suggests.
It can be so easy to fall in the traps of this year–focusing on the “Holiday Hauls” or the corporate advent calendars. While opening those advent calendars can be enjoyable, I think working towards building a healthy and creative community is the ultimate gift. As 2025 comes to a close, it is important to remember the beauty in our communities. So thank you, IYEG community, you are the true gift and shine brighter than any tree I have seen.
1 “Liberatory Design is the result of a collaboration between Tania Anaissie, David Clifford, Susie Wise, and the National Equity Project [Victor Cary and Tom Malarkey].
