“Nothing about us without us” first became a mantra of activists in support of disability rights (Wilson et al, 2022). It has since become adopted by D-Justice advocates for education justice in Detroit (Wilson et al, 2022). This mantra succinctly sums up the goals of participatory research and societal change. Participatory research and societal change involves community members actively being involved in gathering information and making decisions about making positive changes in their community (Brydun-Miller, 1997).
D-Justice was started in response to the profit driven direction that Detroit has taken towards education (Wilson et al, 2022). As a result, the majority of schools in Detroit are charter schools which are granted more autonomy than public schools (). Although the reason cited for the closing of public schools is low test scores, the charter schools have not outperformed the public schools. The loss of funding and availability of public schools in Detroit has disproportionately affected people of color (Wilson et al, 2022).
D-Justice used interviews with members of the community regarding their experiences including their positive and negative perceptions regarding the state of their community and feelings of being ostracized throughout their schooling (Wilson et al, 2022). Sharing these thoughts and feelings helped to cement the feeling of connectedness and community. This participatory research approach has increased the participants sense of empowerment (Wilson et al, 2022).
D-Justice is an excellent example of how participatory research seeks to positively influence societal change. Community engagement, review, and revision are the cornerstones of participatory research (Brydun-Miller, 1997). D-Justice employed all of these in its pursuit of educational research.
References
Wilson, C. M., Nickson, D., Hetrick, C., & Wilson-Clark, D. (2023). “Nothing about us without us”: Tending to emancipatory ideologies and transformative goals in participatory action research partnerships. Qualitative Research, 23(5), 1319-1341. https://doi-org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1177/14687941221087869
Brydon-Miller, M. (1997). Participatory Action Research: Psychology and Social Change. Journal of Social Issues, 53(4), 657–666. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1997.tb02454.x