As the Trump administration threatens to adopt policies that could worsen the persistent inequities in health, wealth, and social welfare that blacks face, major foundations must sharply increase their giving to social-change and advocacy nonprofits led by blacks.
Certainly, the White House is poised to put at risk a huge segment of society — not just black Americans but also immigrants, LGBT people, women, Muslims, and everybody who is poor or working class. The moral fiber of our country is at stake. Given all that is under attack, why should America’s wealthiest foundations focus on building black-led power for social change?
To be sure, all people of color have experienced some form of structural racism. Immigrants and people of different faiths also experience hate. Throughout America’s history, we have seen policies and practices that give whites an advantage and concentrate power among affluent white men.
But it is the centuries-long practice of slavery in America that makes the black experience different than any other. Blacks were forced to work in horrific circumstances to build the wealth of many white families, and the aftereffects are still with us. Americans sought to control and marginalize blacks long after the Civil War, through Jim Crow laws, gross economic and social deprivation, and the police violence and mass incarceration we continue to witness today.
To combat this long legacy of oppression and racism against black people, the NAACP, black fraternities and sororities, and a large number of black-run grass-roots institutions organized to fight discrimination and provide educational and social support. These institutions are built on a culture of collective responsibility and self-preservation, founded on practices that are known and valued among people of African descent around the world.
Many of these black-led organizations have been and continue to be key parts of broad social-justice coalitions that work to help a broad range of people. Still, philanthropy has done little to help them. That is what needs to change if we expect to truly erase the scourge of inequity.
Whether it is skepticism by grant makers about the effectiveness of black-led groups, lack of knowledge about who they are and what they do, or plain racial bias, organizations that have successfully fought back against attacks on human and civil rights are not in the grant-making equation. We must reverse this trend now, both to invigorate black-led nonprofits to respond to the challenges facing black Americans and to seek ways to solve America’s most pressing issues for the benefit of all.
To reach these goals, ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities — the organization of foundation leaders and others that I head — and the Hill-Snowdon Foundation established the Black Social Change Funders Network. The goal of this network is to revitalize and strengthen blacks’ institutional and political power by connecting organizations in philanthropy.
We’ve set a starting benchmark for major foundations to increase their giving by at least 25 percent to black-run groups working in these essential areas:
Civic engagement. Building the political power of black Americans is essential to ensuring that blacks thrive. We must bolster and build black-led social-change and advocacy organizations locally and nationally. It is also important to fund groups that can pursue lawsuits to defend black Americans against legal threats and attacks.
Community organizing. It’s essential to significantly increase dollars dedicated to organizing groups and networks — both old-guard organizations like the NAACP and vanguard movements like Black Lives Matter.
Policy advocacy. Black-led groups need more resources to better mobilize their policy clout — to influence, develop, and call attention to legislation and regulatory changes and to assess the impact of new policy ideas on black Americans.
Economic development. Building wealth is essential to achieving better opportunities for black communities. It’s vital to strengthen and connect leaders and organizations to expand black-owned businesses and increase their access to credit and capital.
Research and intellectual power. Stronger connections must be forged between black scholars and research organizations to carry out work relevant to the experiences and needs of black Americans. Foundations could channel support to historically black colleges and universities, endow professorships, and finance existing or newly created black think tanks.
Communications. Change won’t happen unless black-led organizations have more opportunities to share their stories. It is important to strengthen media and strategic communications to advance accurate portrayals and images of the reality of black life in America. This includes support for black journalists, social-media activism, and arts and cultural projects that accurately tell the stories of black life.
Leadership development. Nothing will change unless we put money and effort into supporting black leaders. Philanthropy must invest in training, fellowships, and other programs to expand the leadership pipeline for social-change activists so more people are in positions to spread their knowledge to organizations dealing with every mission and cause. Also critical are regular opportunities for leaders to meet and strategize, build relationships, cultivate partnerships, and develop plans for collective action.
We hope that, beyond supporting those essential activities, foundations will finance work to identify groups already taking on many of these tasks, so we can connect them to resources and the larger ecosystem of black social change.
Philanthropy has recently shown more interest in and done more on promoting racial equity, notably post-election efforts to set up rapid-response funds to aid groups protesting policies on immigrants, health care, and other issues that are important to blacks and other people of color. This is heartening.
However, we are concerned with the growing calls since Election Day to give priority to the needs of white rural communities and, in effect, once again marginalize the needs of black people and others.
Foundations must help to curb persistent poverty in rural areas, period. This can be done without catering to the racialized anxieties of poor whites, which will only create more racial inequity, not less. If racial equity was important before the election, it is even more important after, and our commitment must not waver.
Philanthropy can’t hesitate to send more money to people whose lives are threatened every day by racism and hate. It must also strengthen the leadership and institutional power of people of color. The key to achieving a more just and equitable future lies in the hands of those who suffer the brunt of injustice and inequity. Foundations can no longer talk about racial equity without increasing investments in black-led institutions for social change.
Grant makers have a responsibility and a moral imperative to help ensure justice and equity in the midst of these dark days. Investing in black-led social change is a critical strategy that will light the way to a brighter day for us all.
Susan Taylor Batten is chief executive of ABFE. She is co-author, with Nat Chioke Williams of the Hill-Snowdon Foundation, of the report “The Case for Funding Black-Led Social Change.”
