Q&A with Milan Balinton, Executive Director, African American Community Service Agency (AACSA)
Project
Policy Advocacy Project
Organization
The African American Community Service Agency (AACSA), founded in 1978, is one of the only African American cultural centers in the Silicon Valley. Its mission: providing quality educational, cultural, social and recreational programs, services and activities in order to perpetuate and strengthen African American identity, culture, values, traditions, knowledge and family life, is at the heart of all programs. AACSA’s membership is open to everyone, regardless of race, religion, age or disability. The Agency’s diverse activities and services offer a natural gateway to African American life.
Project Funded by the Health Trust
In an effort to address racial and social justice inequities within Santa Clara County’s Black, African American, African, and African/African Ancestry communities, AACSA will build, implement, and institutionalize a policy advocacy department at the agency. This project is funded under the Health Trust’s Emerging Opportunity Fund criteria – to build health equity by supporting a pressing or important community need.
Q1. Historically, AACSA has been regarded as a trusted service provider in the community. Why did you decide now was the right time to expand the agency’s scope of work to establish a policy advocacy department?
Helen Kassa, AACSA’s first Policy & Advocacy Coordinator
AACSA has always sought to listen to its community to better understand its needs. What we learned this past year was that the community wanted and needed Black representation at policy-making tables to ensure our interests are represented. So, AACSA swiftly worked to create a full-time Policy & Advocacy Department to keep up to date on issues that affect our community. We wanted to support and maintain the momentum of 2020’s Black Lives Matter movement by serving as a hub for information, resources, advocacy, and opportunity. Since we are already integrated in the community as a service provider, this uniquely positioned us to bring the narratives and voices of the people to the representatives; it was a clear next step for AACSA that we are now beginning to actualize.
Q2. As you reflect on this past year, how have the health and economic disparities exposed by the pandemic, and the uprising for racial justice across the country, influenced your advocacy work?
COVID-19 has exacerbated the health and economic disparities of our community both in this county as well as across the nation. We have dedicated ourselves to keeping up with all things COVID-19 to both advocate as well as inform our community. We held a Black COVID-19 Townhall, inviting various medical experts and county representatives to answer and address questions and concerns of the community. We are also doing our part to raise our voice on discussions around vaccine distribution to ensure the most marginalized are not last in line, despite many of them serving as essential frontline labor.
With regard to racial justice work, we have hosted programs and events around advocacy in the various identity groups under the Black and Brown umbrella. We believe that advocacy should be exhibited in two ways: 1) External public policy made possible through representation and active engagement by AACSA’s Policy & Advocacy Coordinator; and 2) Inspiration and empowerment of our community so they take advocacy into their own hands made possible by offering leadership development opportunities as well as making resources and information easily available.
Q3. How does this project help address racial health disparities in the community?
The Policy & Advocacy team is working to address racial health disparities on a number of levels. The project is in the process of training internally to ensure that staff, board members, and select volunteers have shared language and understanding when talking about racial health disparities. Our Policy & Advocacy Coordinator is working to build relationships with local stakeholders and seeks to be included on various boards and coalitions focusing on health disparities starting with but not limited to the COVID-19 virus. She will also seek out trainings and other educational opportunities to help foster continued and advanced understanding of issues raised when discussing and learning about racial health disparities.
Q4. Since starting this work in October 2020, what are some of the accomplishments you are most proud of?
Some of our most exciting accomplishments so far have been the actual establishment of policy & advocacy within the AACSA. We have engaged and partnered with universities, student groups, civil rights and advocacy organizations, and others. We have organized several successful programs to educate the community on elections, voter engagement, advocacy, policy priorities, Black immigrant advocacy needs, and health disparities. We have seen so much positive feedback from the community and an uptick in civic engagement as a result of our efforts. We have also made strides in securing seats at policy making tables such as the Santa Clara County Community Corrections and Law Enforcement Monitoring Committee and the San Jose Equity Task Force, of which the focus is transportation equity and accessibility which we believe to be a very intersectional issue.
Q5. How can we learn more or get involved with AACSA’s advocacy efforts?
You can learn more by following us on social media and subscribing to our newsletter. Instagram: @sj_aacsa Facebook: Silicon Valley AACSA Twitter: @SJAACSA