Foreword
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What does it take to help an entire
population to achieve? What does it take to make that possible while also
counteracting systemic obstacles, built over generations, that seek to hold
back that same population? Building a Beloved Community is more than your
typical philanthropic research analysis. It is more than a call to action, it
represents more than analysis and encouragement, theories of change and
multidisciplinary approaches. It
represents the full potential and hope of philanthropy and civil society. It
represents what Martin Luther King, Jr. called The Beloved Community – a global
vision in which injustice will not be tolerated because we as a people will not
allow it.
The report inspires us to think about the
positive opportunities created by reframing norms and shaping new
conversations. It calls for understanding success and spreading it, for
leveraging powerful voices (such as that of the President of the United
States), for informing our work with data and looking for intersections across
sectors. All of that is right and exciting.
But this report does more. It presents philanthropy with a radical challenge
simply by putting black male achievement at the center of the discussion.
Though there have been generations of efforts focused on African American men
and boys, and generations of those efforts have been asset-based, the general
philanthropic community does not usually approach this work in this way. When
the center of the frame is success it sheds new light on the relationships,
dynamics and edges of the work that surrounds this goal.
For those in philanthropy and
communities who dedicate their talents and resources to black male achievement,
this report offers a networked energy and new choices. By highlighting
strategic options that extend beyond asset-based approaches to shifting whole
narratives, the report encourages a big vision. By recognizing the committed
nature of thousands of community groups and the episodic interventions from institutional
funders, the report reveals one way this work is similar to many other social
change efforts. By noting that black male achievement is an agenda item for
mayors, governors, presidents, corporate CEOs and major living donors the
report hints at the extraordinary opportunity of this moment – to go beyond
episodic attention to sustained effort, beyond lip service to real change,
beyond punctuated action to sustained focus.
The report also holds forth a real
opportunity for the majority of philanthropists and civic actors for whom black
male achievement is not at the center of their frame. My hope is that we will
all take the time to consider our actions in light of this centrality. How does
this frame influence your work? How do you fit into a picture that draws on
high achieving black men as an expectation in our society, as the norm in our
communities, as an assumption informing your own professional strategies?
On a matrix of race and gender, I, as a
white woman, would be placed in a box other then black men. At each stage in
this research when the authors and funders reached out to me I asked myself,
and them, why me? I am an ally in this work, so what are my responsibilities in
that role? What do I contribute to this report is a question I have given a
great deal of consideration. I know that I can help more black men achieve,
that I can help change and defeat some of the barriers we’ve created to that
success, and that I have thoughts to add and insights to consider when
developing philanthropic strategies. Being an ally is more than just supporting
the work of others. It involves extending my self and my networks so that they
take on a new shape.
Let’s be honest – that’s a big task. Why
might you do this? What if your success depended on it? The words of the
ancient sage Hillel come to mind, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?” These words were not
informed by modern day data analysis, policy reflection or financial systems
mapping. But they still hold true – our success as a society is relational.
This report requires us to reconsider all
of our work. Reading it is not just an exercise in learning about the
strategies of building sustained networks of funders and organizations
committed to black men. It requires me to consider the direct relationship
between my own work and the success of these strategies. How do I contribute to
or stand in the way of these strategies? How do my pursuits of social change –
be they environmental action, health access, thriving families, or community
development – accelerate the goals for black men or throw up obstacles to them?
And how do my visions of a fair and just society depend on the widespread
achievement and participation of black men?
These are not small questions. They
have no one-off answers; they require constant attention. And they are by no
means limited to a small group of identified funders or community groups. For
more black men to achieve and for those achievements to be recognized as the
norm that they should be, we need adjacent allies as well as movement leaders. We need positive opportunities and narratives
from all sectors, all domains, and all walks of life. We need to make sure we
are not omitting opportunities or making accomplishments invisible.
Doing so requires both a steady focus
on the goal, the people and the institutions dedicated specifically to black
men. We must also be willing to find and to be allies. Over time, if we are
successful, we will find those allies among an ever-expanding network of
unexpected, untraditional and emergent partners.
This report offers a challenge that
many have already accepted. For those readers to whom the challenge is new, or
seemingly ancillary, I would encourage you to look for ways these goals and
strategies intersect with your own. What I can offer, through the words of
others, is a reminder of the “why” for making connections between our own
frames and the one offered by this report. It comes from the vision of Martin
Luther King’s Beloved Community and it comes from a medieval sage, Hillel, who noted
for posterity the simple and powerful connections that bind us – and our
pursuits – to the other.
Lucy Bernholz
April 2014
Visiting Scholar, Stanford Center on
Philanthropy and Civil Society
Visiting Scholar, The David and Lucile
Packard Foundation
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