Charity and Service vs. Justice and Advocacy

I have been discerning doing a second year of JVC, staying at Bread for the City, and living the values for another year. In my recent JVC interview for a second year, I was asked an interesting question:

"In terms of Social Justice, what have you learned about structural inequality this year?"

Reflecting on social justice this year has not been something new for me – it is something I have thought about throughout my college experience. Both Sociology and Economics were disciplines aimed at addressing issues of social justice, while my leadership program helped give me insights into being a servant for others, with a special emphasis on those who are most vulnerable. I responded to the question posed to me explaining that the concept of structural inequality is not new for me, but something I have been reflecting on for quite some time. Instead, I think I have learned about the balance between charity and justice, service and advocacy.

At the end of college, some of the programs I participated in such as the East LA immersion to the Dolores Mission and Homeboy Industries helped facilitate discussion on these two aspects of making change. Charity and Service are needed at the first level – to provide for the immediate needs of individuals, needs such as food, clothing, shelter... Our system is set up with programs like Food Stamps, food pantries, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters to fill the immediate needs people face. It is important to respond to these urgent needs, so that people have adequate food and shelter. However, when society does ONLY this, there is no room to escape the current conditions and structural inequality remains rampant. In addition to filling these basic needs, it is also important to work for structural change, that is, to advocate for social justice changes.

I first returned to the charity and justice discussion this year at the Bread for the City Staff Retreat in the fall. During the retreat, we reflected on our mission trip, specifically, what it means to “alleviate the suffering caused by poverty [charity/service] and to rectify the conditions that perpetuate it [justice/advocacy].” This discussion continued into our community, and was especially present in our faith discussion at the winter JVC retreat. Present to me was a personal call to live “faith-justice,” to live in a way that always promotes social justice in what I do, in how I lead, and in the choices I make.

I continue to be inspired by my coworkers who are working for both charity and justice. In our Legal Clinic, our attorneys are working to provide the services our clients need, alleviating immediate suffering. They are also active in advocacy, whether that is through ensuring child support calculators are correctly adjusted, advocating for changes in landlord tenant court, work with other attorneys to prevent gentrification and tenant displacement in the poorest section of DC, testifying at the city council on behalf of TANF and food stamp clients, and collaborating with other advocates in organizations such as the Language Access Coalition, the Fair Budget Coalition, and the Access to Justice Commission.

From the example set by my coworkers, I have learned that it is possible to
make changes to structural inequality. It requires faith, dedication, and commitment – knowing that the work is great, that structures of injustice are pervasive throughout the minds and systems currently existing, and that to really make change is to accept that one might not see the change one is working for. It is to have faith and confidence that injustice can be changed, and to keep working for that change.

Perhaps the lesson I have learned so far returns me to East LA actually, to the words of Fr. Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries: “Measure not in success, but in faithfulness.” I believe my co-workers are living examples of what it means to be faithful to alleviating the suffering of their clients and to rectifying the conditions that perpetuate it.