Hi WildHub community,  My latest post on LinkedIn resonated with many people from different sectors. I tackled what entails language justice using experiences I had while working in conservation organizations.  I'd like to bring this conversation here and get your feedback, as well as learning if you experience the same.  This is the post: What could this quote by 'Gloria', the character on Modern Family TV show, suggest about 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲?Entertainment apart, it underpins 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 -even at the national level- on topics that matter to them: climate change, hashtag#decolonization, hashtag#equality, education, and more. We experience and understand reality in our languages. The wealth of wisdom from local leaders and rooted practitioners that can inform and debate our ongoing societal and environmental challenges is stored in our thinking, in the language we use. A few can express it in dominant languages, but those who do not have a good command or any at all tend to step out or be steeped out. “𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙙? 𝙄𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙?” said my friend in Central African Republic (Sango speaker)“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨,” said an Awajun woman in Peru (Awajun speaker)“𝙄𝙛 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝, 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚,” told me a former co-worker from the USA; 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 is about ensuring people can express their contributions and concerns with authenticity in intentionally created spaces where the power is not held and shared only by the dominant-language speakers and where our true message is not distorted by our limited vocabulary of the meeting’s language. In many communities, speaking in English or in the language that colonized our territory is not only a useful skill but also a sign of who could and could not access further education opportunities. What then? If you, like me, work in the development sector, especially implementing field projects, and experience first hand this hardship, bring this up and embrace language justice when: 🖊 Planning the projects and interacting with your partners-and-host communities. 🖊 Don’t fill the gap of what you don’t understand about the culture with assumptions or proxy meaning. 🖊 If you are based on a project site, you are the one called to learn their language, but if you don’t manage to learn it, ensure there are spaces to exchange ideas with high-quality translation and sincere respect. Communication is beyond words. 🖊 In global or national conversations, don’t bring their voices -advocate for inclusive and adapted conditions for them to speak for themselves.If you want to dive deeper into language justice, I recommend starting with this thoughtful article by Prachi Patankar and Phoebe D. available in Alliance Magazine. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/dE-PWtXM