Let's Discuss Why Juneteenth's Freedom Still Hasn't Reached Nonprofits/Philanthropy
For the Love...! — both our new event series and a new Section of this publication — has its first gathering July 30th
Guess what?! We’ve got another birth within the birthday month of For the Love of Humanity! We’re turning two years old this month. So this seems like an apt time to launch another new Section of this publication — one that keeps you in the loop with a new event series we’re planning, one dedicated to gatherings with meaningful discussions about problems we’re encountering in our collective lives together… and how we might solve them, together.
Read on to find out more….
For You: Today’s Main Course
There were people who said that we were living in a “post-racial” society, as soon as Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.
And yet…
➡️ Just this week, nearly twenty years later, a racist comment at a widely publicized event at the White House, denigrating his wife’s appearance (essentially questioning her feminine beauty), ricocheted around the world. And that is on the heels of the current President of the United States amplifying a social media post, a few weeks back, comparing both Obama and his wife to apes. And those two instances are just two of many instances of intense racism against them over the years.
There are people who say that “the police keep us safe.”
And yet…
➡️ Just this week, a one-year-old Black baby was shot dead by police, for no reason other than they thought they were responding to a theft of diapers (really?! really. this is your response for that?!) and cavalierly shot into the car his mother was driving away from a store. And I have completely lost count of the senseless police killings of Black folks right here in my own community — we just have so many, including the renowned George Floyd — and that is just one city in one state. And so few folks seem to know that our current-day policing is actually a hold-over from the model of slave patrols hunting down Black people in our country.
There are so many people who think that nonprofits and philanthropy are beyond reproach, “doing good,” and helping people.
And yet…
➡️ Though there is help happening through these efforts, there is quite a lot of harm too, not the least of which is a good deal of anti-Blackness. There is the persistent problem of the “pet to threat” continuum, experienced especially by Black women. Or there’s this report from Candid that shows 1) Black CEOs tend to lead smaller organizations with limited financial resources; 2) White-led nonprofits control 30 times more sector-wide revenue than Black-led nonprofits; and more. Or there’s the stories you will hear, when you’re in relationship with Black professionals, as I am: confounding leadership decisions that marginalize them; plausibly deniable racist comments from colleagues or donors or board members; way more struggle than should be necessary to secure adequate funding for Black-led efforts; etc.
Y’all, the anti-Blackness is deep here.
And we need to address it.
Or we have to admit that we’re just cosplaying the work we say we’re doing, of building a better world together.
Today is Juneteenth — now a national holiday in this country, thanks to the advocacy of many people, but especially of Opal Lee, who finally convinced President Joe Biden to sign the federal holiday into law five years ago.
This day doesn’t just celebrate freedom in general.
More to the point, it celebrates the overwhelming and uplifting relief and jubilation felt by a people who had been inescapably trapped in chattel slavery for generations…
… and who were suddenly free of those heavy, seemingly never-ending, violent, and oppressive chains.
Just feel into that for a moment.
And then, feel into how demoralizing and heavy it is… to realize that the freedom has only ever been partial… and that there are still many shades of oppression coloring the face of the country they write their life stories within, even (and especially) in the places that like to pretend they’re enlightened and “woke.”
So.
Thursday, July 30th
6:30-8:30PM
Black Garnet Books | St. Paul, Minnesota
Check the link out for the info and to get your ticket. 👆🏻And hurry, there aren’t many tickets available!
For the Love…! is both a new event series and a new Section of this publication — where you can stay in the loop with all of the happenings.
For the Love…! will both examine problems we’re currently experiencing, in our collective lives together... and also lean into the magic and wisdom of community, to start talking about solutions for these problems.
“For the love!” is a phrase many of us shout when we’re frustrated with something, yes? I know I sure do!
At the same time, “for the love” can be a phrase guiding us, as we live our lives — a value system that puts love at the center of everything we do.
We will use both meanings in these gatherings, as we come together and really collaborate to address the issues constructively.
I really can hardly imagine anything better than this.
Community.
Good food.
Meaningful discussion.
Working toward a better world.
Together.
I hope you’re excited about this too.
And I hope that, if you’re local, you’ll join us.
Go ahead and get your ticket today!
Community-Weaving for Fundraisers
Life’s been LIFING lately, yes?! Now is the time to reach out and connect with others. When you’re embedded in supportive community, even the most difficult things don’t seem so hard. Your community is waiting for you!
Advice when you need it. Been-there, done-thats. Commiseration. Support. A place to vent. Guidance and mentoring.
All of this, and more, is what I anticipate happening at Community-Weaving for Fundraisers. Just community-based fundraisers. Gathering for (virtual) lunch together. Twice a month. Year-round. Chatting and supporting each other via WhatsApp in between lunches. Being there for each other.
All you need to do is show up, and be present… while I guide, facilitate, organize, and create the container.
Conversation: Your Real Real
I really want to know your more detailed and nuanced thoughts, too. Let’s start a conversation on this topic. Visit the comments section!
Check out these previously published episodes of the For the Love of Humanity Podcast!
I’m not saying but I’m just saying that, despite how much of a folk hero he is, Vu Le’s episode on the For the Love of Humanity Podcast has not been the number-one-downloaded so far.
That honor has belonged to The Nonprofit Industrial Complex Must Be Composted, since it first aired. That one obviously hit a nerve with y’all!
But…
Slowly but surely, Vu’s episode — Vu Le Enters His Elder Era: Wisdom Incoming! — has been gaining downloads… and it is now TIED for first.
Will Vu pull ahead??
Only time will tell.
Other good episodes to check out right now, before the next episode airs:
Philanthropy’s Final Frontier: Time to Go Deeper Together
Why Does Fundraising Feel So Bad?
Practice: Make It Yours
If you want to get serious about healing anti-Blackness in nonprofits and philanthropy, it’s time to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Even more, it’s time to get comfortable with honesty.
We aren’t often honest, in our dominant culture. We blithely pretend things are true that are not. Or we ignore things that are true, hoping they’ll go away. Or we impose our own reality on what’s true, strong-arming it, willing it to be different than it is.
We can’t keep doing this, if we want to see change.
We must get comfortable with honesty — even when it hurts, even when it makes us uncomfortable, even if we’d rather do anything else in the moment.
So.
What’s something you’ve been dishonest about — with yourself, with others?
How can you change that?
Notice how you feel, when you try this.
Can you sit with the discomfort?
Can you simply be present to it?
If yes, how does that change you?
Closing Thought: Something to Sit With
You were born where you were born and faced the future that you faced because you were Black and for no other reason. The limits of your ambition were, thus, expected to be set forever.
You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being.
You were not expected to aspire to excellence: you were expected to make peace with mediocrity.
— James Baldwin
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