Aaron Johnson, Monthly Sustainer

(He/Him)

Rogers Park, Chicago

“ I think that the community care component is very important. That care is not only about having a bubble bath and getting facials, which are important and it is also those things, but how are we caring for one another. Because this work (advocacy, organizing, activism) is prone to burnout and it is very easy to get there and we’re not going to get there collectively if we’re all burnt out. So how do we keep fighting and also take care of one another?”

Transcript:

Hi, my name is Aaron Johnson. I use He/Him pronouns. I am originally from Saint Louis, Missouri, and I currently live in Rogers Park in Chicago. I am the Project Manager for Community Engagement and Racial Equity for the Department of Housing for the City of Chicago.

How did you get introduced to Crossroads Fund?

I got introduced to Crossroads Fund by a colleague who I worked with [at the time]. This is a couple jobs ago now at this point, but they shared about the Giving Project with our work instant message group. This person was like, “I haven’t done this [Giving Project], but I know the organizations that Crossroads Fund gives money to and I support a lot of those organizations. So I know this would probably be a good opportunity.
So I went to the Grantseeker Orientation which was at Access Living and I really enjoyed meeting people from across the city. I believe the orientation night had multiple grantees from the Crossroads Fund that were present. I remember talking to someone who did organizing around disability rights and housing justice and being really amazed by them and the people in the room. And then I was like, cool, I’ll apply. And since doing the Giving Project where we get to learn a lot about what Crossroads does, but then interrogating race, class, and other isms inside of philanthropy, I recently encountered something related to fundraising that was problematic. I was able to say, “Hey, you should look at how Crossroads Fund approaches this work.”

Reflecting on your time in the Giving project, is there a moment that sticks out to you that you always remember?

Something that sticks out to me from the Giving project is the affinity space that you all cultivated for people of color (caucusing) during that time. I lived in Chicago for two years but still felt relatively new. Being in a space with people of color and sharing challenges of working in nonprofit and social change work was great to have that connection, but I also heard that a lot of the same things challenged people.

That space helped me think about resource development in a different way: not coming at it with a scarcity mindset but from an abundance mindset. And it really shifted the way that I see the need for a affinitizing, I would say, obviously I think it happens, but like the actual intention of being affinitizing in these spaces is fundamental. And then from there, after I did the Giving Project, I started an affinity space where I work for queer employees and then helped create one for black employees and stuff like that. And now I’m in conversations about creating a queer employee research group here at the city. So, yeah, I think that’s something that really stuck out for me from the Giving Project.

What are your social justice or community building goals for 2024?

For 2024 I want to explore more about Community Care in relation to social justice and equity in general. So what I get to do in my 9 to 5 job is to be engaged in racial equity work for the Department of Housing. And through that work I get to talk to people across the city, which is amazing, and hear about their challenges and needs. And I think care is something that – not saying this from the government perspective, but individually as something that I want to explore more about. How to be supportive of people in addition to activism.and advocacy, that care is important. A lot of these topics are focused on individual self care, but I think that community care component is very important. That care is not only just about having a bubble bath and getting facials, which are important and it is also those things, but how are we caring for one another.Because this work (advocacy, organizing, activism) is prone to burnout and it is very easy to get there and we’re not going to get there collectively if we’re all burnt out. So how do we keep fighting and also take care of one another? And I also do see that as a mark of resistance because our culture is one of just keep grinding, keep pushing, keep fighting, keep working until we can’t.

Transcript has been edited for clarity to make it readable.