Glorious Triumph is Our Future
From the President’s Blog
Eddie Torres
We’re writing to share some resources with you considering the Supreme Court ruling barring affirmative action in college admissions.
The ruling is narrow and does not affect you unless you run a university. With that said, many are using this ruling to intimidate supporters of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists into freezing – a hallmark of terrorism.
As we’ve mentioned before, our friends at identity-based affinity organizations (ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities, Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, Native Americans in Philanthropy, Hispanics in Philanthropy, and others) are working toward an approach to which we can all contribute and refer our colleagues.
With the backing of several foundations, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law has initiated the Protecting and Advancing DEI Pro Bono Initiative. The Protecting and Advancing DEI Pro Bono Initiative was created to provide legal advice to entities concerned about their ongoing or future efforts to support equity, inclusion, and diversity.
Identity-based affinity organizations continue to engage foundations in ongoing conversations about setting up a fund to support legal representation for small foundations and grantees.
Native Americans in Philanthropy are working with other identity-based affinity groups toward a strategic communication strategy and advocacy plan. Their goal is to flood the sector with information on what we CAN do to support equity and the importance of continuing to do so. They plan to launch this effort in Spring 2024.
ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities continues to compile resources on their website. Please share materials that you believe would be helpful to foundations and nonprofits with Bomani Johnson, Sr., ABFE’s Director of Special Initiatives, at bjohnson@abfe.org.
These are all funding opportunities for those who want to contribute. While we often express that we don’t want to “get political,” it is conservative philanthropy’s willingness to “get political” that has fueled this political moment.
These efforts to end social progress did not emerge from communities. Affirmative action grew from the civil rights movement in the 1960s. For decades, starting in the late 1960s, conservative politicians – presidents even – have tried and failed to end affirmative action. Why did these efforts fail? The public wasn’t opposed to it. How did the radical right respond to public support of affirmative action? They began reframing the narrative, replacing affirmative action with terms like “quotas” and “reverse racism,” stoking emotional responses even when they flew in the face of facts. They began cultivating conservative students, lawyers, and candidates.
“This work – narrative change, education, job placement, professional development – isn’t free. Conservative donors and foundations began giving multi-year general operating support to these efforts, using a generational time horizon for success. ”
Only by doing the same – using generous and patient capital and a generational time horizon for success – will we achieve the only goal worthy of our communities and of us, which is a glorious triumph. We must embrace our power and support power-building. At this moment of heightened awareness of the need to support workers, it is no accident that one of the most iconic acts of workers demanding their rights includes writers. If writers were not influential, the right would not be trying to ban books. They know the power of art to change minds and change the world. We must embrace our power as changers of worlds and support power-building for changers of worlds.
The most important thing to hold in your hearts is this – our goal is not mere survival. Our goal is a glorious triumph. The present may feel like it belongs to the right, but the future is ours. Black people will triumph. Indigenous people will triumph. All racialized people will triumph. The LGBTQIA+ community will triumph. The disabled community will triumph. We will ALL be better off because of it, but it will only happen if we keep glorious triumph as our goal.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eddie Torres is President & CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts.
