At NPLI, we always seek, first, to listen.
As we work to support parent leadership across the country, we have an opportunity to learn and grow in the work every day. We’ve always brought together families across differences in race, age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, neighborhood, income, and language. Interpretation has always been part of our work. But through our continuing listening with parent leaders and partners, we’ve discovered the foundational importance of Language Justice.
What is Language Justice?
Our partners at BanchaLenguas describe Language Justice this way:
Language Justice is the right to express ourselves in the language we feel most powerful. Language is intimately connected to who we are — the way we see the world, our thoughts and emotions, our cultures, dreams, and politics. Language Justice honors our individual lived experience and positions us as being both learners and teachers, listeners and speakers. It addresses the inequities and privileges created by dominant cultures, globalization, imperialism, capitalism, racism, and the criminalization of migration. Language Justice is how we can build the collective wisdom and power that makes our movements stronger across cultures and borders.
Traditional Interpretation vs Language Justice
Traditional interpretation provides an interpreter for speakers of non-dominant languages, while Language Justice provides interpretation for all participants equally. Language Justice challenges English-language dominance and Western-centered knowledge and leadership by making space for non-English speakers to communicate in the language they are most powerful in. Traditional interpretation is a great first step toward language access, and Language Justice helps us to build equitable and inclusive spaces.
Traditional Interpretation
Interpretation is offered only for speakers of non-dominant language
Featured speakers are generally of the dominant language group
When each phrase must be translated for other speakers, it means we have to say more in less time
Speakers who require interpretation must be grouped with an interpreter
Language Justice
Every participant receives language access and can hear all discussions in their chosen language
Featured speakers can be speakers of any language
Everything is shared and heard in multiple languages simultaneously, so our conversations happen in real time
Speakers of different languages can work together in groups large and small with simultaneous interpretation
Our Key learnings in Implementing Language Justice
Strong partnerships are essential.
NPLI partners with Bancha Lenguas for our in-person Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) classes in New Orleans, our virtual classes, and our national webinars and conferences. This partnership is important because our interpreters understand the goals for our conversation, they get to know our communities, and our communities learn about their work and get to know them. We share our presentation materials ahead of time and troubleshoot technical issues together. All of our work is stronger when we collaborate in this way, and we get to learn from each other.
Non-Dominant languages and cultures should be honored.
We’ve learned to consider language in every part of our planning– we ask about it in our registration for events, produce our materials and slides in multiple languages, and we center speakers and presenters who use non-dominantnon dominant languages. Some PLTI communities incorporate greetings from members’ different languages and cultural traditions each week. Other sites translate curriculum materials and slides to include the native languages of the local land, such as Native Hawaiian and Ojibwe.
Budget for what you value.
As we’ve continued in this work, we’ve recognized the additional costs for interpretation and translation. We’ve made them part of our operating budget, we have included these costs in the budgets we share with our communities, and we seek and apply for relevant funding to support our Language Justice work.
Keep learning and improving!
Language Justice is transformational work, and every chance you have to gather community is an opportunity to learn more and help others learn. We seek out opportunities to share this work at every turn.
Curated Resources
We are honored to share these resources from the spaces and communities we learn from here:
BanchaLenguas Language Justice Collective
Antena Aire’s LJ resource list
Center for Participatory Change’s Language Justice Curriculum
BanchaLenguas’ “Preparing a virtual multilingual space or event”