Common Choice Civic Center

Transforming the world for the better requires an intentional, explicit, and sustained focus on advancing racial equity & justice. But for too long, inordinate & oppressive racial structures that fuel racial segregation/injustices &  inequity permeated social/work spaces meant to achieve social progress and change systems;consequently triggering a global wave of racial tensions, protests, violence and worse of all – deaths resulting from extreme racial injustices as we’ve all   witnessed.   We at the Common Choice Civic Centre (The 4C)- wish to use the Elevate prize funding to further advance & design our work in social justice advocacy structures that tackles the very root causes of racial injustices and inequities meted by lots of foreign Investors ( specifically, Chinese Investors in Africa) on the indigenous Africans/Blacks who compose up to 95% of their workforce in Multibillion dollar investments. How? Through a curriculum that on-boards Chinese investors & drives them to fully conform to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)- To “undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of worker, without distinction as to race, color, national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law.”

       In 2017, my younger brother was badly assaulted using an electric copper wire by his 2 Chinese bosses for serving a fellow black Kenyan seated on an unmarked seat ‘reserved’ for Fellow Chinese. As a Human Rights attorney & Former Trade Unionist, I took up the matter and pursued all appropriate redress, including an exposé  https://qz.com/africa/1423930/kenya-must-deal-with-chinese-racial-discrimination/ shortly afterwards was picked by the New York Times  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/world/africa/kenya-china-racism.html ; fast forward, the 2 perpetrators were deported; losing a $2million investment while rendering all the 36 employees jobless.      But in so doing, I discovered how deep this social problem was; a systemic & entrenched racial nightmare for Africans/blacks engaged by many Chinese & that this wasn’t an appropriate solution; so I sought the 3rd Chinese partner for a talk. He disclosed to me that his 2 colleagues arrived in Kenya with a hierarchical & Neo-colonial mindset that placed Blacks at the bottom & had no idea about the existence of the ICERD statute. This was my Tipping point: I initiated the 4Cs to enroll the Chinese investors to a curriculum that realigns their neo-colonial mindsets onto the better anti-racism statutes, commit to them as we help them establish structures that dismantles oppressive systems.

     After the US & EU, the Chinese ventures employ 75,000 in Kenya alone and +10 million across Africa- thus large migration of Chinese workers and business persons to Africa. However, the developments came with increased reports of racism and neo-colonialism that undermines the dignity of indigenous citizens; with cases including Chinese referring to their Kenyan colleagues inappropriately as ‘monkey’, deadly assaults, long uncompensated work hours in hot furnace enclosures/poorly aerated work stations, racially segregated workplace washrooms rooms/restaurants/staff vans and reports of remuneration discrimination based on skin.

2 root causes feed this social ill: 1st, the perpetrators arrive with misguided neo-colonial & hierarchical views of race mindsets that place Blacks/Africans at the ‘bottom’. 2nd, Non conformity to or ignorance about or mere theoretical understanding of the ICERD statute.  

  The 4Cs build & advocate for systemic shifts that upend structural oppressions, racial justice challenges & promote racial equity for workers regardless of skin color through a new Tripartite(Employer/workers/4C) engagement perspective- We redesign & create a new proactive system that dismantles all oppressive systems, shifting/realigning the social justice advocacy structures, upholding indigenous sovereignty to build new, safe, racially blinded work places without violent protests, litigation,  strikes, deportations, business shut downs or deaths.

1st , Our unique approach is founded on the fact that simply arresting, arraigning the perpetrators in court or deporting them back to their countries merely address the symptoms BUT don’t tackle/solve the root causes hence have NOT shifted power dynamics to close the gaps in racial disparities .WHY?  Because the very systems of oppression were/are by design- enabling some of them to simply mutate then relocate to other African countries to perpetuate their social ills thereon; hence the 4C model, a human centered redesign & approach that offers far better systemic solutions rather than impulse or responsive solutions which have cured symptoms but left the underlying systemic structures that fed racism intact.    2nd , unlike the action or inaction of Government/Representative Trade Unions/Human rights Groups  who often appear late when damages are already done or victims long suffered irreparable damages including loosing lives, our impact comes in early enough to replace the previously oppressive structures with a new redesigned structure that guarantees racially blinded working environments, skin color-blinded mindsets, racial justice-equality-zero segregation, a more flexible, quicker, safer and a long term solution to slay/dismantle all existing racial oppression structures.

There is no pleasure in impulse or Reactive actions/remedies where grievous racial Injustices or even deaths are addressed long after the victim suffered irreversible damages or died in unacceptable inhuman circumstances. This is why we are building a world that has yet to exist—one free from racism and its nasty consequences where all people can thrive/prosper.

    The 4Cs preventive mechanism not only safeguard member workers in prone work places, but provides a collaborative implementation platform & pathway for their employers too. At the center of our approach-are the concerns/ideas/participation/feedback of Tens of Thousands at-risk employees in these prone environments.

     All activities designed and executed value the dignity of humans, are preventive, target root causes, and are human centered curriculum without tensions, strikes & protests, destruction of investments, arrests and/or deportations or job /economic losses.      A pro-humanity center where the constituents feel absolutely free/confident to report and share issues that they won’t share or put across to Government officials or Trade Union mechanisms - and do so knowing well that our team will tackle the emanating issue to its logical end while ensuring it won’t occur to the next victim whatsoever & as appropriate redress/justice mechanism are accorded where necessary.