“I Know What I’m Doing and It Feels Good”: Black and Latine Women Transforming New Orleans Childcare Practice and Policy Through Participatory Research

Abstract

This piece is a collective reflection of three perspectives while designing and guiding a participatory action research (PAR) project as part of a larger grant. We draw on firsthand experiences of three women—a participant in the program, the PAR program director, and the grant project director—to highlight stories of the impact of PAR in the collaborative named New Orleans Louisiana Creating Access and Resources for Equity and Success (NOLA C.A.R.E.S.). This collaborative of organizations (funded by J.P. Morgan Chase) seeks to develop policies that build wealth for women who work in the early care and education industry in Bulbancha (Choctow for “Land of Many Tongues” colonized as New Orleans). One major aim of PAR in NOLA C.A.R.E.S. is to pinpoint methods of equitable access to programs and resources that build and sustain wealth in Black and Latine communities. Each participant identifies as Black and/or Latine and Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a primary feature. Although we are using the separate terms “Black” and “Latine” women when referring to our population of interest, we note that the various intersections of ethnicity and race within the African Diaspora allow for multiple and combined identities (for example, Black, African-Latina/Afro-Latina, Latinx, Afro-Latine, Caribbean Latine and many more). First, we introduce the landscape of NOLA CARES, a granted-funded, diverse, eleven-organization collaborative. Then, we zoom into the PAR component by defining PAR, the process, and key principles. Next, we highlight stories from three Black women who touched the PAR program: one who experienced, one who designed, and one who supported the grant collaborative work. Then, we describe guiding frameworks of participatory research with concrete examples of centering, sharing, and ceding power with Black and Latine women as a primary method of PAR and dismantling White Supremacist Culture (WSC). Finally, we conclude with learnings moving forward.