21 Feb Uniting for Change: Solomon Belette Talks Collaboration, Advocacy and Black History Month

Solomon Belette, originally from Ethiopia, is the manager of the East Contra Costa Community Alliance. (Photo courtesy of Solomon Belette)

Interview, Malcolm Marshall

Longtime community advocate Solomon Belette is the coordinator of the East Contra Costa Community Alliance, which he says operates on a foundation of collaboration, advocacy and philanthropy.

Born in Ethiopia, Belette is also the founder and chief executive officer of U.S. Africa Initiatives, and former CEO of Catholic Charities of the East Bay.

“He’s always a grounding voice at the table,” says Roxanne Carrillo Garza, senior director of Healthy Contra Costa. “I think that comes from his soul but also his experience working at both global and local levels.”

“He’s the one who rises above it all when there’s tension and asks, ‘What are the values we all share? Who are we fighting for, and how do we build that into our strategy? And how do we treat each other?’”

Belette recently sat down with The Pulse to discuss his work with ECCCA and reflect on Black History Month and the importance of advocacy.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

CC Pulse: Can you tell me a little about East Contra Costa Community Alliance?

SB: Now, you might wonder, why East County? Why not just Contra Costa? The reason for establishing the East Contra Costa Community Alliance is because a number of nonprofits whose footprint primarily is in East Contra Costa County did not have a mechanism for working together to address common issues and challenges of concern.

ECCCA is a fiscally sponsored organization, funded by various East Bay funders. The ECCCA member organizations look for opportunities to strengthen their own collaboration with one another, avoiding the mistakes of the past of being siloed and or perhaps even being redundant in terms of the services provided. Collaboration could be a means to mitigate that, but it’s also a means to strengthen and deepen the relationship between these organizations. So collaboration is one important pillar of ECCCA.

More important these days is the advocacy piece. To collaborate in such a way that the residents they serve are being are represented and that we have a mechanism in place to be able to do that. As a result of this emphasis on advocacy, we have been able to put together initiatives such as the Food Security Collaborative to address food insecurity in East Contra Costa County, and to participate in guaranteed income projects or initiatives. Also to support the work of the Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice, the Budget Justice Coalition, Healthy Contra Costa and various other organizations.

The third important piece is philanthropy, to give more and to invest more in East Contra Costa County. Historically, East Contra Costa County has not received its fair share of investment, philanthropic investment, and other public sector investments. So by creating an alliance and leaning on funders, both private and public, we want to see more resources being available and being mobilized to help our communities in East County, all the way from Bay Point to Discovery Bay and everything in between.

Those are the three essential pillars of ECCCA: the collaboration, the advocacy and the philanthropy or resource mobilization.

CC Pulse: What’s the best part of being an advocate for you?

SB: Living and practicing what I believe in and what my faith calls me to do. I don’t think there’s anything more important than that. Advocacy and justice work is very much linked to my background, my faith, my journey. It’s an honor and it’s a privilege to be able to do that, to be with my brothers and my sisters in solidarity. To see to it that we don’t perpetuate systemic racism, we don’t perpetuate injustices in our society. And so I would attribute my motivation, the impetus for my being involved in advocacy work, to my faith and all the opportunities I’ve had with people over the years with whom I have been able to work together, but impacted by their own commitment and their own conviction and courage and to be able to do my share.

CC Pulse: What first inspired you to get involved as an advocate, particularly within the Black community?

SB: There’s a lot the Black community is doing that we need to build on. The faith community and other communities are doing what they can because it is their mission. They’re committed to justice for African Americans and Blacks who have been disproportionately impacted more than any other racial group and in any sector that you look at.

But to answer your question, we in the African American community, or in the Black community, must, must do our fair share. No one is going to do that work for us.

Yes, we need to do it in solidarity with others as well. So not to discount what other allies can do, but at the same time, we must do our work. 

The work I have done with Catholic Charities of the East Bay, whose mission was around social justice, helped me and shaped me. I serve on the Antioch Community Foundation board. I serve on other boards such as Man 2 Man Urban Youth Advocate that have taught me about the impact of incarceration but also the need to emphasize the role of fathers, and fatherhood, specific to the African American experience. Other boards I sit on, like Village Community Resource Center in Brentwood, they work with Latino communities. All of that continues to reinforce my commitment and my belief in justice and in human dignity. That’s, to me, what advocacy stands for. To make sure that everyone matters, everyone is counted. Everyone is valued equally.

CC Pulse: What have been some of the most significant challenges you faced as an advocate, and how did you overcome them?

SB: Institutionally, we have been bifurcated such a way that some people think they can do advocacy, they can do policy work, or all they can do is direct services. And there may be good reasons for that, but this sort of bifurcation of direct services and advocacy is an artificial divide. It was a challenge when I was at Catholic Charities, because the emphasis there was on direct services, safety net and so forth. The beauty of the alliance is that we have a mix of organizations, but we find a way to break the barriers and work together on direct services and advocacy. It’s still work in progress, but I feel confident that we could do even more.

You need to have institutional mechanisms that support advocacy work, that prioritize advocacy work, but advocacy also means community organizing and getting residents involved. It’s not just talking. You need to have that grassroots engagement, where resident engagement is in the process. That’s not always easy.

So we need to come up with viable solutions. But I think we’re making good progress. Healthy Contra Costa has done a lot of work, both in West County and now in East Contra Costa County, to promote resident engagement, so it’s a blessing to have them as part of ECCCA.

To empower residents to be in the front seat and provide ideas is so important because it’s the people on the ground that feel the day-to-day impact of changes.

I am encouraged by the progress we’ve made. The Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice could bring us together and help us develop a shared narrative around advocacy and policy shifts.

CC Pulse: How do you think Black History Month helps shine a light on the ongoing struggles and contributions of Black communities?

SB: Black History Month provides a sense of community, provides a sense of awareness of the Black experience. It’s an opportunity to appreciate and validate the good work that has been done but also to underscore the fact that we need to do more. We need to do more. We’re challenged to do more, and we must remain vigilant and determined to do that. It has a cultural dimension to it, an economic dimension, a social and political dimension to it.

Black History Month — an important part of the year, but it also needs to fuel the other activities that we need to be involved in, the advocacy and efforts, the policy work that needs to happen. Coming out of Black History Month, I think there is a catalytic sort of impact from it. 

CC Pulse: What are some grassroots efforts or local initiatives that you feel are making a real difference in uplifting Black communities today?

SB: I think of the work that is being done with farmworkers, the undocumented population, the work related to African American wellness as some examples addressing some of the persistent and systemic issues that these communities face. It’s not a one-size fits all approach. Each community has its own needs. It’s also about rallying others to join our efforts. It does require us to reach out to businesses, to reach out to educational institutions and others to join the fight. That’s the potential we have in East Contra Costa County: to not be so fixated on what we can do individually or organizationally, but finding ways to expand the network, with philanthropy, with businesses, with government and so forth.

There are some very positive developments in East County. We need to embrace all other organizations that are doing work in East Contra Costa County, because ECCCA is really about expanding our reach. It’s about working together to see positive and lasting changes across the county.

CC Pulse: What advice do you have for young people looking to make a difference in their communities?

SB: Young people are ready to be involved. We have to value them. We have to appreciate them, we have to respect them, and they have to help design the kind of programming that meets their needs. It can’t be done by a consultant. That can’t be done by an outsider. They themselves need to be involved in the process of creating and designing what would be in their best interests. [We need] to engage them and give them an opportunity to fulfill their potential and their aspirations. Antioch Community Foundation has done quite a bit of work to address the needs of youth.

CC Pulse: How do you maintain hope and motivation in the face of adversity, and what keeps you inspired?

SB: I remember someone saying, I aspire to inspire before I expire, or something like that.

There’s so much work that needs to be done. We can’t afford to sit on the sidelines and not get involved and not do our fair share. We can’t expect others to do things if we ourselves aren’t doing it in some in some form or fashion. I feel blessed that the good Lord has given me the time, the energy, the talent, and the resources to be involved. If I don’t put that to use, then I would feel like I have not fulfilled what I’ve been called to be as a human being.

So there’s a spiritual side but also an existential reason for why I do what I do. Also, the fact that our world is getting closer and closer, the economic divide is getting wider and wider, and climate-related issues are affecting us globally. So when I look at all those things, I feel like, well, I’ve got to continue to do what I’m doing, or even do more if I can, and ask others to join me and be part of that effort.

I think we’ve seen that just the last month or so, we’re going to be up against a lot of challenges, and so if we are concerned about our brothers and our sisters, our neighbors, our residents, we’ve got to do more.