A Spirit of Unity: How Black Foundation CEOs are Advancing the Call to Action on Anti-Black Racism for Philanthropy
In 2020, ABFE | A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities challenged philanthropy to generate bold and effective ways to uplift the Black community inspired by the passion of the racial uprisings and protests representative of that turbulent year. Over the following two years, ABFE regularly convened Black foundation CEOs in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, to craft a set of imperatives that address anti-Black racism. The report, A Spirit of Unity: How Black Foundation CEOs are Advancing the Call to Action on Anti-Black Racism for Philanthropy (34 pages, PDF), centers on the work of Black foundation CEOs and is a self-reported indication of the forward movement these leaders are making toward building a healthier, more robust, and better resourced Black community. The long-term goal is to free Black people from disparate treatment that results in racial disparities on almost every indicator of well-being through dismantling the structures, institutional policies, and practices that disadvantage and marginalize Black people, as well as the false narratives about Black communities that allow for continued inhumane treatment. The imperatives include building agency, pushing for structural change, encouraging shared responsibility, using endowments, centering the Black experience, building trustee accountability, engaging in Black businesses, lifting up gender, reaching to the diaspora, and addressing disparities in prisons.
