The Role of Philanthropy in Supporting the Safety and Security of Movement Organizations
Part of the 2024 GIA Conference Blog
Grantmakers in the Arts
“The Role of Philanthropy in Supporting the Safety and Security of Movement Organizations” was organized by Lorraine Ramirez (Funders for Justice) and co-presented by LaTosha Brown, Jaden Fields, Mary Hooks, Lorraine Ramirez, and Eric Ward.
BIPOC-led groups on the frontlines of social justice fights face sustained attacks from well-resourced, powerful opposition forces, putting their lives and organizations at risk and compromising their ability to secure victories. Movement groups report digital, physical, and psychological security threats, politically motivated attempts to strip them of their nonprofit status, and political prosecutions for their constitutionally protected activism. At the same time, the BIPOC, queer, trans, and migrant communities in which they organize are also under political attack, facing targeted surveillance and criminalization. Sadly, these threats are not new. Social justice movements have always been met with vigorous and often violent opposition. As social justice movements have gained increasing visibility in recent years, these threats have reinvigorated steam. We believe that philanthropy’s failure to provide BIPOC-led social justice groups with robust, long-term support has made it nearly impossible for movements to build durable safety and security infrastructures. We have come together with a sense of urgency to align our giving and mobilize a robust philanthropic response that matches the scale, duration, and sophistication of the attacks BIPOC-led social justice groups face. We encourage our philanthropic colleagues to join us in taking the pledge.
Graphic Recording capturing the conversation from the breakout session “The Role of Philanthropy in Supporting the Safety and Security of Movement Organizations.” Drawn by Urban Wild Studio for GIA.
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