Hi everyone, a couple of things before we get started. If you’re free on next Wednesday December 3rd at 1pm Pacific and are interested in learning about shared leadership, check out this free webinar by the National Center to Advance Peace for Children, Youth, and Families. There will be Spanish and ASL interpreters.
Also, I’m on BlueSky now at @nonprofitaf.bsky.social. It’s like Twitter, when Twitter was fun and not awful. I encourage everyone to migrate there. We could use more fun and community as we organize the resistance.
I know many of us are still down in the dumps about the election and the future. I’ve been trying to keep calm and rest for the coming battles, but I’ve also been giving myself permission to delight in pettiness. Thanks to colleague Esther Saehyun Lee, I learned about a subreddit called r/LeopardsAteMyFace, which documents those who voted for a certain political party now personally experiencing the negative consequences of their votes.
Schadenfreude aside, we have a long four years ahead of us. On some days, I am optimistic this period of turmoil will ultimately lead to a collective awakening, where the pendulum swings back towards kindness, science, community, and significant social progress. It has happened in the past, where some of humanity’s worst moments are followed by incredible shifts for the better. Maybe many of us won’t benefit from the turnaround, but our kids and grandkids will. That’s something to hope for.
But for that to happen, we must learn the right lessons, and I haven’t seen us doing that much. Specifically, the Democratic party; but also, nonprofit and philanthropy, especially funders and others who have resources and power to effect change.
I’m not a political analyst, but the wrong lesson the Democratic party seems to be learning is “the people have spoken, we should avoid being ‘extreme’ and instead be moderate and Republican-lite.” They tried this failed strategy during this election, when they attempted to court Republican voters by doing ridiculous things like parading out Dick Cheney, talking about having the “most lethal army in the world,” and continuing to support Israel’s ongoing g3nocide of PaIestinians despite millions of gen Z voters setting up encampments on college campuses protesting for a year. Few Republican voters were converted, and instead Democrats demotivated and lost a significant number of progressive voters.
Now, after this horrific loss, they’re doubling down on this terrible lesson, distancing themselves from “wokeness,” as we see in things like them mostly remaining silent as their own colleague Sarah McBride becomes a target of Republicans for being transgender. Instead of being bold and clear on their values, they’re retreating, cowering against injustice, which does not inspire or motivate the base of progressive leaders, and it will not gain them any voters who lean right.
There is a parallel happening in our sector. Over the past few years there has been a significant increase in the attack on DEI and those who believe in it, as seen in things such as the Fearless Fund being sued for trying to support Black women entrepreneurs and losing in court, thanks to right-wing Supreme Court Justices.
What has been philanthropy’s response? With the exception of a few funders such as the MacArthur Foundation, many funders, fearful of being sued themselves, have started pulling back on DEI work, decreasing funding for this area of work and telling grantees to be less explicit in their language around it. And nonprofit leaders, taking cue from funders, have started following suit. At a keynote address I gave, a leader asked me, “Should we start coming up with new terminology instead of DEI?”
Our colleagues Lori Villarosa, Ben Francisco Maulbeck, and Gihan Perera sounded the alarm in their pivotal article “Racial Justice Programs Under Fire: Foundations Are Running Scared When They Should Double Down,” which I hope funders, and the rest of us, re-read a few times. They provide this important warning for our sector:
“By preoccupying itself with fears about liability, philanthropy misses a far larger and more immediate danger: These concessions accelerate right-wing narratives, thwart effective community action, and jeopardize meaningful progress toward racial justice.”
Our sector, and philanthropy in general, has always leaned toward white moderation, which MLK warned was the biggest threat to justice. It is discouraging to see that when society needs us the most, when marginalized people face the greatest danger our well-being, that is also when those with the highest privileges and power—politicians, funders, leaders of large nonprofits—tend to double down on white moderation, as indicated by playing it safe, prioritizing civility, and abandoning their stated values. This devastating election loss risks spiraling us further down that path.
Now, if white moderation works to make the world better, that’s one thing, but it doesn’t! It backfires! So, let’s learn the right lessons. Here are a few below:
1.When we stand firm in our convictions, especially when they are tested, we have a higher likelihood of winning. We can see it in the cases of some of the most vocal progressive political leaders. AOC, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib, won reelection with 69%, 75%, and 70% of the votes, respectively. In our field, the same lesson applies. In the face of injustice, our community members want to see steadfast courage and conviction and renewed commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
2.Increased pushbacks and attacks are an indication that what we’re doing is working: Power does not yield without a fight. The status quo does not change quietly. So the stronger the backlash, the stronger the indication that what we’re doing is making a difference. The fact that “DEI” has pissed off so many people means that it’s working, that it’s making tangible change in the world. The backlash against DEI work should be considered a metric of success, not a sign of failure.
3.Yielding to those who seek to make the world more unjust only makes them bolder and more effective. The way to handle a bully is to stand up to them, not acquiesce. Yielding to their demands teaches them that their bullying works, which they will then do more of, and to more people. Foundations and nonprofits stepping back from equity work only teaches right-wing forces that all they need to do is win a couple of battles, and the rest of the sector will fall like dominoes. That will motivate them to increase their attacks.
4.We must ramp up our defenses, while planning counterattacks: Funders need to increase the amount of resources they’re spending on things like legal defense funds for themselves and the leaders and organizations that refuse to back down. And as a sector we need to start going on the offensive. Maybe it’s time to have teams of lawyers of our own to sue those who continue to attack people and spread misinformation, as that may be the only way they will learn.
5.Philanthropy must be more creative in our approaches moving forward: The Onion, the progressive satirical publication, are trying to buy Alex Jones’s InfoWars, one of the most destructive right-wing companies. This is brilliant. Funders who care about democracy and progressive values need to start thinking along these lines. Imagine the difference it would make if, instead of cowering in fear and becoming more white-moderate, foundations tap into their endowments and get together and buy Fox News and other spreaders of misinformation.
6.We must define the battlefield, not just constantly fight on others’ turfs: I watch a lot of legal shows like Matlock, and it seems those of us who want to advance equity are always like that witness on the stand being berated in cross-examination by an adversarial lawyer, and no matter how good our character is or how valid our answers are, we are always made to feel guilty and defensive. We need to get off the witness stand, or at least object to the questions we’re being forced to answer. Let’s start reframing the conversations, instead of always working within the frames created by those who seek to make the world less just.
Let me know what other lessons we should learn. Our sector, like the rest of society, is at a crossroad. We have the choice of spiraling further into white moderation and ineffectiveness, or renewing our commitment to our values of equity and justice, strengthening our resolve, and achieving what we all got into this work to do. I choose the latter.
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