Background

In 2010, the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) launched an ambitious, statewide initiative to partner with and support community members at the local, grassroots level to use person-centered supports, community-centered connections and persistent and reflective learning that purposefully involves people with and without developmental disabilities in collaborative action. In 2020, the initiative celebrated 10 years of progress, recognizing that the Real Communities Partnership (RCP) is an award-winning, signature concept that has received national attention for its innovation and diversity. To best address the many urgent issues we are now facing in society, the RCP became the Welcoming Community Movement Fund (WCMF), where GCDD provided financial and technical support through Global Ubuntu to grassroots organizations across Georgia. The WCMF was the natural evolution of the RCP. The WCMF was funded by GCDD and managed by Global Ubuntu

Purpose

The purpose of the Welcoming Community Movement (WCM) was to pave the way toward an equitable and just society - foundational of welcoming communities - where people across race, ability, ethnicity, culture, class, socioeconomic background, educational status, gender, and religion are treated with dignity and respect. Dialogues and advocacy shift culture and attitudes so that everyone is able to regard others with empathy and compassion, and people feel welcomed and develop a sense of belonging. The WCM was a journey through disabilities and racial justice.

About the Welcoming Community Movement

Authentic social justice movements are those in which marginalized groups, including people with DD, black folks, people of color, and other minorities lead the movement. Such movements encourage people who hold power to empower and stand beside the leading agents and provide the necessary support to make the dream possible. Through the lens of the Welcoming Community Movement, we will build and sustain a movement where the culture shifts from one of hate, unfairness, and dehumanization to one of love and belonging where the principle of morality is practiced as the norm. In creating such a community, we must answer the following questions on a personal and systemic level.

• How do we change the dominant narrative of exclusion and violence to a narrative of inclusion and love toward people with DD, blacks and other marginalized people groups?
• How do we practice Radical Hospitality to value human life even if they are not the same race, class, and ability as ours?
• How do we ensure the Human Rights of all people including blacks and people with disabilities and marginalized people groups? (Click here to read the full version of the Declaration of Human Rights.)
• How do we listen, connect, and build relationships with all people including blacks and people with disabilities and other marginalized people groups?
• How do we practice respect and empathy?
• How do we practice courage in standing against racism and ableism?
• How do we ensure that black people and people with disabilities and marginalized people groups are seen as active contributors to society?
• How do we advocate for economic development and wealth development, health and well being with marginalized groups?
• How do we ensure that marginalized groups are part of local, state, and federal government decision-making processes and how do we include them in the power process?

Again, through the lens of the Welcoming Community Movement, Global Ubuntu helped to build and support a movement where the culture shifts from one of hate, unfairness, and dehumanization to one of love and belonging -- where the principle of morality is practiced as the norm. In creating such a community, we reflected, planned, acted, and advocated for the personal, interpersonal, structural, and systemic change of racism and ableism.