The following reflection was written by our Brandeis University intern Monica Alfaro, who attended one of a series of workshops this month facilitated by our Director Jeannette Huezo for the group Action for Equity.

United for a Fair Economy's Executive Director Jeanette Huezo hosted a powerful workshop last Wednesday in collaboration with Action for Equity - a coalition of community-based and social justice organizations working for a more equitable society where all hold power. The event took place in Dorchester, MA. Members of Action for Equity attended to explore the meaning of wealth through conversation and interactive activities.

For the first activity, Jeanette used UFE's Boosts and Blocks of Building Wealth infographic, a detailed timeline from the Colonial period to the current year (2022), listing the government policies that have contributed to shaping the distribution of wealth. We identified key historical moments that affected us as individuals in our day-to-day lives. Using this timeline, we examined policies like the Freedmen's Bureau, the Civil Rights Act, and Affirmative Action.

We also took a moment to review the unjust distribution of wealth among white, Latinx, and Black communities with UFE's Color of Wealth Infographic.

The last activity was a group exercise to debate what we would do to change one policy from the ones we had discussed beforehand.

By the end of our time, we each shared a thing we learned and had a reflection. It was definitely a successful workshop!