2020 CAPA Virtual Summit Recap: Social Distance, Social Justice, Social Change

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It’s one thing to say, “Advocacy starts at home.” It’s another thing to be forced to take that truism literally. Yet the California Alcohol Policy Alliance 5th Annual Summit—forced, like so many activities during COVID, to happen virtually via Zoom—raised the promise that concerned California activists could reach from their couch to the street to the statehouse.

For three Fridays at the end of 2020, CAPA members were joined virtually by allies and experts in an effort to push back against the ever-increasing levels of alcohol harm across the state. Inspired by that summer’s social movements and the critical need for inclusiveness in change, the Virtual Summit was organized around the theme of Social Justice in Public Health. Through a series of presentations, roundtables, and cultural performances, attendees focused on four key takeaways:

• Public health goals must be pursued through an equity lens. We know that behavioral health harms affect different economic groups, racial/ethnic groups, and gender/sexuality groups differently. To treat solutions as one-size-fits-all threatens to leave many behind—or even worsen the impact on vulnerable communities.
  
  
• “Nothing about us without us.” It is too easy for the architects of health solutions in government, medicine, or academia—who are often affluent, highly educated, and/or white—to work off the assumption that they know best. As part of CAPA’s effort to amplify the voices of California communities, however, it becomes clear that effective and sustainable policies need to come from the impacted communities. The alcohol harm community must embrace the integration of the most disproportionately impacted communities, including low-income, LGBTQ+, and black and indigenous communities of color.
  
  
• The social crises in the United States—alcohol harm among them—are overlapping. Community advocates and activists working on alcohol issues must be ready to collaborate with intersecting movements, including Black Lives Matter, domestic violence advocacy, Native American/American Indian rights, LGBTQ+ rights, city planning, and parks advocacy.
  
  
• We know that alcohol issues affect all parts of society, including artists, athletes, writers, and musicians. By making space for intersecting issues, integration of art, creativity, and critical analysis, we don’t just improve the impactfulness of our campaigns—we bring innovation, systemic change and joy into the fight for community health and lives.

As CAPA digs in for a difficult year of resisting Big Alcohol’s harmful, short-sighted, and corrupt legislation, we strive to carry these messages in our hearts and strategy charts. We thank our colleagues, comrades, allies, and supporters. Join us again for the 2021 Virtual Summit next fall—we need every voice to be heard in wisdom, in protest, and in song.

READ MORE about the programming at the 2020 CAPA Virtual Summit
READ MORE about the presenters at the 2020 CAPA Virtual Summit
WATCH highlights the 2020 CAPA Virtual Summit (coming soon)
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