Mitchell Kapor Foundation Weblog

On a panel at the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy pre-Council on Foundations Conference in April, I presented four suggestions for social justice funders to consider.  Previously, I wrote about the first three of these, Find a Political Home, Build the Vehicles to Move us Forward and Develop your Skills as an Organizer. Below, I share the fourth of four suggestions.

4) Choose to be a Member

To be clear, I would only share this last suggestion with those who already engage their jobs, philanthropy and the larger non-profit sector with a commitment to social justice values and practices.

For those who do, I encourage us to see ourselves as members of a social justice movement rather than as something more removed, rather than to see ourselves simply as supporters.

As I’ve been taught to understand it, membership implies mutuality – mutual investment in one another, mutual ownership of our shared work, mutual accountability to shared goals, and mutual discipline and care in our approach  - in ways that the role or term of supporter or even volunteer do not.  While maybe only a subtle distinction, I do believe that it matters and particularly so in regards to the limits of where we go as a social justice movement.

As an example, a volunteer committee I was a part of became a membership committee of the community based organization with whom we worked.  To get to that point, it took years of working together, many missteps and months of consciously organizing ourselves as volunteers. It was a recognition of the trust, relationships and accountability built between us volunteers and the organization’s existing members and staff, but more importantly for all of us, it was an ask of us … it was an ask to not abdicate our respective positions, privileges or power, but to instead respectively bring them to bear in the organization’s grassroots organizing efforts and to tie our development, our growth and levels of commitment and responsibility with those of the organization’s other members.  As a funder, it’s also been the ask that I’ve been trying to answer in the affirmative.

End note: I realized in drafting these four suggestions, that any one of us could be entirely successful in our foundation jobs without following any of these four suggestions.  But having been in philanthropy now for some time, I’ve increasingly come to believe that to be successful as social justice funders we must at least consider thoughtfully each of these four suggestions.  And, I guess my hope is that for an increasing number of us, success as social justice funders is what we’re working towards.

On a panel at the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy pre-Council on Foundations Conference in April, I presented four suggestions for social justice funders to consider.  Previously, I wrote about the first two of these, Find a Political Home and Build the Vehicles to Move us Forward.  Below, I share the third of four suggestions.

3) Develop your Skills as an Organizer

One of the most remarkable aspects of social movements is that there truly is a role for everyone to play.  Regardless of your background, your relative privilege or lack thereof, your profession or where you live, there are ways to contribute and benefit.  Foremost of these is to organize – to consciously attempt to expand and amplify social justice analysis and work by allowing others to similarly have access to and ownership of social justice analysis and work, and by supporting those people to themselves become organizers.

As social justice funders, we must accept the responsibilities that come with being an organizer.  In particular, we need to organize where we’re at, to organize within philanthropy. Thankfully, many of us do.

But choosing to be an organizer might be the easy part.  The challenge is to be great organizers within philanthropy, to be both disciplined and thoughtful.  And so, we must intentionally find the ways to develop our organizing skills.  My hope is that there already exists curriculum, workshops and / or organizations that train us how to do so. Or, if not, that we can create them. Because, if we believe that what the community organizing groups we fund do is strategic, are acts that come as much from ones head as it does ones heart, then we can’t assume that we can be great organizers without ourselves being trained.  Developing our skills as organizers is an opportunity to more effectively and efficiently play our respective role in a larger social justice movement, while, at the same time, further developing our shared understanding and empathy with the thousands and thousands of other organizers in the country.

On a related note: I’ve found the tendency to restrict who we consider to be an organizer, whether  just to paid organizers or those who work only in certain communities, to be a dangerous and limiting one.  The question shouldn’t be who can be considered an organizer, but rather, once we popularize the title of organizer, how do we support individuals to fulfill the responsibilities, the work and the appropriate level of accountability that comes with by being an organizer.

Next post in the series: 4) Choose to be a Member

Dream the impossible and organize your heart out. – Priscilla Gonzalez, Director, DWU

On June 4th, I wrote here about the organizing work of domestic workers in New York and their efforts to pass the first ever state-wide Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. Today, I’m elated to share with you the following:

I was an open skeptic of this year’s US Social Forum.  I crossed my arms and huffed when anyone mentioned it.  I imagined an event teetering between Woodstock and the WTO protests in Seattle and although I loved Seattle, I wanted to make sure I stayed good and far away from Woodstock 2010.   I’m working on respecting process and consensus and folks in my life will emphasize the work part of that sentence.  After meeting with Tammy Lu from the Labor Community Strategy Center and cajoling from our own Mario Lugay, I landed in Detroit last Tuesday at 2am.

Detroit reminded me of the landscape in dystopic science fiction movies. While walking though the city Sadiyah Seraaj from the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy said that it looked like a city that was once vibrant and in a moment of crisis everyone stopped what they were doing and ran through the streets and out of Detroit.  So imagine this background, with  30,000 people from across the country meeting to build a national movement for social justice.  It was just amazing.  I visited amazing farms and gardens, connected with restaurant and domestic workers, and saw the future of movement building in this country.  

On a panel at the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy pre-Council on Foundations Conference in April, I presented four suggestions for social justice funders to consider.  Last month, I wrote about the first of these, Find a Political Home.  Below, I share the second of four suggestions.

2.  Build the Vehicles to Move us Forward

The story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott is undoubtedly a powerful one.  But while the courageously repeated and mass act of refusing to cooperate with a racist bus system dominates the popular narrative about the boycott, it is that other side of the story that continues to captivate me.

For African Americans in Montgomery in the 1950s, the bus system allowed them to travel from one place to another, usually from their homes to their jobs (which often were at the homes of white residents).  It came, though, at a heavy price.  By segregating the ridership and requiring African Americans to give up their seats to white riders, bus drivers made African Americans pay their bus fare plus the added indignity that comes from suffering unjust acts.  They were, in short, not allowed to bring their full selves on their daily commute.

In response, the Montgomery African American community decided not to remain complicit, choosing instead to boycott.  In order to make possible and sustain a bus boycott, civil rights leaders had to create and organize a massive car pool system, up to 350 cars daily, that required immense financial and human resources from an already under-resourced black community.  It is this car pool system that seems particularly instructive.

Set-up by a newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association, the car pool system, like the bus system, also offered African Americans the ability to travel from one place to another. The difference, however, was that the car pool system did so in ways that did not cost African American passengers their dignity. It brought together the fractious classes of Montgomery’s African American community in what Taylor Branch described as a “radical act of togetherness.”  And, just as importantly, the car pool system advanced a social and racial justice agenda, offering all the residents of Montgomery a much needed level of redemption.

For those of us in philanthropy, foundations, like the bus system, offer opportunities to move individuals, communities, organizations, and/or ourselves from one place to another.  In our case, it has the ability to move us closer to the social justice ends that we might seek.  But for so many reasons, whether those be legal, financial, or political, what or how we move forward can be structurally and culturally constrained.  If this is the case, then it begs the question, what’s our car pool system?  What are the additional vehicles or ways of moving that we need to create, as funders, that will get us to where we need to be and that will sustain our organizing efforts to get there? Creating such vehicles seems to be the task at hand for social justice funders.  It is the task being undertaken by those organizing within the philanthropic sector, whether through affinity groups, study groups or spaces such as the Bay Area Justice Funders Network or Bay Area Blacks in Philanthropy. It is, perhaps, our own small and necessary acts of radical togetherness.

Next post in the series: 3) Develop Your Skills as an Organizer

Seven years ago, I was brought into the field of community organizing as a volunteer with Domestic Workers United (DWU).  At that time, DWU’s organizing efforts were among the most inspired and strategic in New York City, fresh off the passage of a city-wide domestic workers bill of rights.  Seven years later, the domestic workers movement – at the intersection of race, gender, immigration and labor – is among the most inspired and strategic movements in the country.  With the founding of the National Domestic Workers Alliance at the 2007 United States Social Forum, the influence and impact organized domestic workers are having grows larger each day, offering both a scathing critique of the status quo and a road map to get us somewhere more just and equitable.

On Tuesday, the domestic worker movement took a huge step forward.  In their own, words …

Dear friends,

On June 1, about 100 domestic workers and supporters got on buses headed for Albany to urge senators one last time to vote YES for the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights during today’s session. With truth on our side, we educated thousands of Albany residents and legislative workers about the conditions faced by domestic workers and the urgency of basic rights and protections. We hit senate offices to remind them about the vote, to address any last-minute concerns, and to urge them to vote in favor of the bill.

After two hours of deliberation, filled with impassioned and moving speeches by members of the Democratic conference recalling the struggles of their mothers and grandmothers who had been domestic workers, desiring to reclaim New York’s pioneering leadership in workers’ rights, and highlighting the moral significance of this bill, the New York State Senate finally came down on the right side of history. That night, the New York State Senate voted 33-28 to pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.

We have come so far, since we first set out on this journey. We have gotten everyone to learn about the domestic workers’ plight and the history of exclusion. We have built and deepened strong alliances with many different sectors of our society. Everyone has been touched and moved in some way. We could not have accomplished all that we have without your support and without you standing alongside us in this struggle.

We ask you to stay with us, as we enter the last phase of our campaign for justice. Now we must get the Assembly and Senate bills reconciled so that the governor can sign into law much-needed and long overdue basic rights and protections for the workers who make all other work possible.

Priscilla Gonzalez, Director, Domestic Workers United

“We have a dream that one day all work will be valued equally.”

Check out DWU featured on the front page of the NY Times!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/nyregion/03nanny.html?hp

Update:  Good summary of the legislation by the Progressive States Network here.

On a panel last month at the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy pre-Council on Foundations Conference, I presented  four suggestions for social justice funders to consider.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll write on each of these four and hope you’ll share your own thoughts with us.

Of the many approaches to social change, I turn most towards movement-building strategies.  As a funder, then, I’m constantly searching for the ways that my practice and work best align with the demands of such an approach.  Below is the first of four such ways that I’ve come to believe strongly in.

1.  Find a Political Home

Social justice movements require scale and scale, in turn, requires a level of consistent connectivity among people and organizations.  Political homes – community-based and led social justice institutions or organizations that individuals are members of and with whom there is mutual investment and accountability – provide exactly this. We should find and join such places not only to contribute to an organization’s work, but, more so, as a space in which to be grounded, to continuously learn, to develop organizing skills, and to be only a phone call away for when those unpredictable political moments that can define social justice movements occur.

CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities has been my political home for the past seven years.  Time and again, CAAAV has not only responded to events and political openings, but also intentionally expanded the opportunity for others like myself to participate in those responses, from the ’06 immigration marches to the first United States Social Forum in ‘07 to ’08 voter engagement efforts in Virginia.  Just as important, CAAAV allows me to participate in the often unrecognized day-to-day contributions that have been the backbone of every social movement. CAAAV, in short, facilitates my choosing to engage in action over indulging in apathy. And, it does so by offering strategic and coordinated ways to act with a community of people I’ve grown to trust.

As a funder, being a member of a community-based organization allows me to be in dialogue with those to whom I most want to be accountable.  It affords me the opportunity to understand at a deeper and more personal level the conditions faced by organizations that I support through grantmaking and to understand the realities of building such organizations.  Only through having a political home have I’ve been able to access the experience, political analysis and honest feedback with which to ensure that my work is relevant and complimentary to the many moving parts of our social justice ecosystem.

Like any home, political homes bring their own sets of challenges and demands on our time.  But, in the same spirit, they also position us to engage and engage better the world around us, allowing you and me to start from a place of love and support to which we can always return.

Next post in the series:  2) Build the Vehicles to Move us Forward

What makes someone a pioneer? Do they have to be the first in their field to do something — like being the first black man in space, the first black man to play in the Major Leagues, or even the first black president?  Are they trendsetters who are capable of revolutionizing an industry similar to what Micheal Jackson did for music and Micheal Jordan did for basketball?  I want to share a story of a pioneer whose name is not in the index of U.S. history books but what she was a part of definitely is.  Her name is Dorothy Jean (Fitzgerald) Brown.

As a young school girl in Topeka, Kansas, Fitzgerald, along with her cousin, Jean Williams, would make a daily trip across town to the all-black school because the school down the street from her home was all white.  Years later, they shared their experience with their uncle, Attorney Charles Bledsoe, and these girls became the catalyst for what would become the  legendary  Brown vs. Board of Education lawsuit.  Although these two women were college graduates by the time of the 1954 Supreme Court decision that struck down the concept of separate-but-equal segregated public schools, they were truly pioneers in their own right.  As a senior at Topeka High School, Fitzgerald was the first black to be a member of the Glee Club  and was also the first black soloist at the 1945 THS commencement.

Fitzgerald eventually moved to Vallejo, CA, were she taught elementary school.  As a teacher, Fitzgerald had the opportunity to educate children of all colors under one roof,  something that  was not even thought of when she was a young girl.  She even taught my mother and many of my mom’s siblings.  Ironically, none of them knew of Fitzgerald’s  journey and the influence she  had already had on their lives.  It was not until Mrs. Dorothy Jean Fitzgerald Brown passed away April 27th, 2010, that my family and many others in the Vallejo community became aware of this woman’s significance in U.S. history and education.  You always hear people who have accomplished great things acknowledge those before them who helped “paved the way,” and historically for blacks, this meant enduring discrimination, bigotry, and unimaginable levels of racism just so there could be equality and fairness across the board.  Mrs. Dorothy Jean Fitzgerald Brown definitely paved the way for all children, and her legacy in education and life shall not be forgotten.

Photo source: printed pamphlet

This past week at the University of California Los Angeles, UCLA’s  Black Male Institute hosted the 2010 Think Tank.  The two day conference consisted of thought provoking, sincere and unapologetic talk focused on African-American males and their educational development.  Having a platform to speak candidly about the educational and social disparities between black males and their racial counterparts provided me with an opportunity to hear from a select group of brilliant and inspiring speakers that are committed to a) identifying problems for why young black males are not succeeding and b) developing adequate and lasting solutions to increase the number of black males that are graduating high school and are college ready.

Speakers varied from principals and professors to community activist and PhD candidates. It is important to note that these accomplished, yet concerned and committed individuals were all African-American, and all were male, except for one.  Why is this relevant?  The fact that there were black males leading a discussion on the issues black males are facing demonstrates that black men are not only concerned about the future welfare of their younger brothers, but also want to find immediate solutions to help them knock down the educational and social barriers.  This is extremely important for the young black males in California,  in which  African-Americans perform far worst academically then any other racial group, and are consistently out-performed by their female counterparts.

The event’s keynote speaker was Dr. Shaun Harper.  Dr. Harper has done extensive research on black males in education and is currently on the faculty in the Graduate School of Education, African Studies, and Gender Studies at University of Pennsylvania.   Dr. Harper began with the question, “What do we need to do improve Black males access to college?” and then focused his talk around what actions need to be taken to answer that question.  Dr. Harper took serious issue with how research is being done to even  answer that question.   He believes that we need to re-frame and restructure the way in which research is being done and spend more time talking with individuals who have beaten the odds and are now doing successful things (i.e. Edward Smith Lewis – a West Oakland native that overcame tremendous obstacles in his pursuit towards academic and professional success ).  Dr. Harper also believes that more needs to be done to help prepare the black males who are moving on to higher education.  He illustrated that there is a college culture that black males often  struggle adjusting to and as a result often leave school.  Dr. Harper’s address ended with him emphasizing the importance of there needing to be just as much effort to get more African-Americans into graduate school as there is for undergraduate.  He insisted that for there to be real systematic changes there needs to be more African-American’s in powerful positions to address the concerns of African-American’s in education.

photo source: http://www.addmanagement.com/thinking%20man.jpg

I’m pleased to announce the launch of phase two of our College Bound Brotherhood!

Last year when we closed out the first phase of the Brotherhood, then called the Black Boys College Bound Initiative, we decided that we needed to be more inclusive of organizations that do not receive any of our limited grant money but would benefit from the greater community of people interested in and dedicated to young black men’s wellness. The renaming of the initiative to “Brotherhood” is meant to convey a larger movement of organizations, families, and individuals. I hope that everyone will join us – and vice versa – in creating this college bound culture in the Bay Area.  Sign up for our listserv (collegebound AT lists DOT mkf DOT org) to receive updates on workshops and events, both sponsored by us and by others we hear about.

We’re opening a call for grant requests between now and June 15, looking to provide $25,000 grants for up to 15 nonprofit organizations that work on college readiness with young black men in Bay Area public high schools. Click HERE for more information on how to apply!

I’m especially excited to spread the word about Collegeboundbros.org, an online searchable database of college readiness programs for young men. Over the next several months, we’re making a concentrated effort to encourage all appropriate Bay Area organizations to create profiles on the database, which we’ll then begin sharing directly with students and schools. Click HERE to add your organization to the database!

As we already know, creating positive opportunities for our youth – both young men and young women – is CRITICAL to the future well-being of black communities. In the spirit of Harambee, let’s all pull together to ensure that young black men, who are all too often in particularly perilous situations, know that we’re invested in their happiness and success! (And yes, our young brothas CAN and DESERVE TO be happy!)