What We're Reading: Major Funders Call for Increased Support of Black Feminists
From The Chronicle of Philanthropy, "The need to increase funding for Black feminist organizations is urgent, according to an open letter released Thursday from some of philanthropy’s most influential organizations, including Melinda Gates’a Pivotal Ventures, Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation, as well as the Ford Foundation and MacArthur Foundation."
“'It’s time to fund Black feminist movements like we want them to win,' supporters of the nonprofit Black Feminist Fund write in the letter to other philanthropists. 'Because across our most urgent global challenges — from Colombia to Sudan, Brazil and Nigeria, to the U.S. and France — Black feminists are dreaming and delivering the solutions we need.'"
"The Black Feminist Fund is looking to raise $100 million to support nonprofits led by Black women, who have been historically underfunded in philanthropy. The fund, which launched in 2021, has raised $35 million of its goal so far."
"According to a report from the Ms. Foundation for Women and the consulting group Strength in Numbers, less than 1 percent of the $67 billion that foundations contributed in 2017 went to organizations that specifically support minority women and girls. The Black Feminist Fund’s research says that dropped to less than 0.5 percent in 2018. Black women and girls made up nearly 7 percent of the U.S. population, according to 2022 U.S. Census figures."
"McHarris says the Black Feminist Fund is eager to achieve this initial $100 million funding goal quickly so it can pass on the funding in eight-year grants to nonprofits working on some of the most pressing global issues like climate change, systemic violence, and hunger, as well as working to end racial and gender inequity."
“'Black feminist leaders on the front lines of movements today are splitting their time between figuring out how to end violence and figuring out how to write reports,' she said. 'Imagine a world where they get to spend 100 percent of their time to figure out how to build the world we deserve and need. That’s what we’re trying to do.'"