We are witnessing a catalytic moment in the long arc of history toward justice and liberation. Individuals with class privilege and positional power, in particular, are beginning to come to terms with how they have both contributed to and benefited from systems of oppression such as white supremacy and anti-Blackness, and are expressing a desire to be part of the solution to combat these systems instead.

Among the many sectors of our society that are beginning to take greater action than ever before is the philanthropic community, with a wave of new funding commitments being made in support of racial justice. But for a field that has been known to perpetuate the very social and economic injustices it seeks to address, the specifics of any action matter immensely.

We will never dismantle anti-Blackness and white supremacy until we have a process of reparations that includes redistributing both the wealth and power that has been generated from stolen Indigenous lands, enslaved Black labor and the extraction of wealth from BIPOC communities.

For philanthropy, this means that the work of investing in BIPOC communities must be done in ways that transfer decision-making power over how resources are allocated. This requires deep and authentic relationships of trust with communities from whom wealth and power have been stolen, who understand best how those resources can be utilized to transform our economy from one rooted in extraction, exploitation and domination to one based in cooperation, caring and interdependence. When funding decisions are made through processes that maintain power and control in the hands of private foundation staff and trustees, rather than by communities most impacted by our extractive economic system, philanthropic institutions are perpetuating injustice against the very communities they seek to support.

Read the full article about transferring decision-making power to BIPOC communities by Jennifer Near at Medium.