On Philanthropy/Platform for Dialog

Knowing I could find the time this week that so many sisters here do not have, I signed up to take part in a 3 day open discussion on the current state of philanthropy local and global. It seemed a good opportunity to send a message to all joining in that the bulk of unpaid labour both voluntary and demanded still rests on the shoulders of women, because we are expected to and often forced to work for free, and because funding is intentionally kept from us, held in place by patriarchal societies and a global system still dominated by men, this strategy to keep money out of our hands in a system that demands money as currency.

Philanthrope

mid 18th century: from Greek philanthrōpos, from philein ‘to love’ + anthrōpos ‘human being

to love beyond oneself

As the online discussion grew, philantrophy was described as a discipline of sharing resources (funds, skills, technology, materials) used to support “an expressed need of an individual or groups who have less capacity at the present to survive, grow and prosper in order to improve the quality of life and lead a life of dignity”.

Soon after the discussion opened, our World Pulse Ambassador Pauline Nayra sent this:

“Philanthropy aims to fill-in the gaps in capacity of individuals, physically, economically and socially to remove the barriers to full human development. While it is the responsibility of the state to respect, promote and fulfill human rights, it is also the responsibility of individuals who are better off, who have the means to share and those who have accumulated wealth to be cognizant of the situation of people in need because everyone deserves to live a quality and dignified life”.

I wrote in that along with having been given false promises for so many years, we now face a much heightened urgency given the state of our planet today.

We were asked what a decolonized philanthropy would do and I offered that a decolonized philanthropy would empower and make more possible the work that so many women are already doing for free as voluntary work, to create the truly free societies local and global that we know are possible, and that most of this work for free is being done by women because we cannot bear not to, and that much of it is still being done under physical attack, under threat of death and too often in slavery, that a decolonized philanthropy would acknowledge and support the work being done by women and challenge the current system.

Jasmine Linaberry wrote on “whether we just reproduce and continue to privilege the values of those in positions of power or center those from minoritized communities”.

As the discussion went deeper the global north/south divide was questioned, calling for a look at where the money is coming from, and for "decolonizing" philanthropy by eradicating the systems that necessitate the philanthropic system in the first place, recognizing that philanthropy cannot exist without those systems, pointing directly to philanthropy being inherently colonial and premised on subjugation.

I felt it important to add that while holding respect for cultures and values there is need to recognize that women have been and are working for many forms of freedoms within what are assumed cultures and values, calling for change and for the re-emerging of values and societal structure that have been defamed  and called imaginary, values of respect and equality that remain under attack, in particular Indigenous cultures and cultures that respect or have historically respected the leadership of women.

I added that too often funders do not recognize the amount of change making work being done by women and that funds need to be put directly in the hands of those doing this work. I wanted it known that within the World Pulse membership are thousands of women reporting within our online network what is being done and where, and what needs to be done.

At the end of the three days came this message from the group who invited this discussion: 

“We are a global campaign to center the knowledge of marginalized communities (the majority of the world) on the internet.

In the meantime, we will work to bring together the conclusions and learnings from this consultation in a short report that we will share with you. The report purports to be based on the DWP book Decolonizing Wealth and the Peace Direct reports "Time to Decolonise Aid" and "Race Power and Peacebuilding". We hope it can serve as a resource for philanthropic actors around the world with the main takeaways from this consultation and recommendations on how to decolonize the sector.

We hope that we were able to provide a free and open space to have an honest discussion on the issue of decolonising international philanthropy, and that this consultation shed light on the challenges we continue to face to dismantle the existing inequities in the philanthropic sector. Our hope is that this consultation will serve you as you continue in your efforts, having provided you with the necessary understanding to recognise and support the practitioners and communities who are actively contributing to philanthropic processes worldwide”.

I am hopeful that these discussions ongoing will lead to sisters here being recognized for the work being done and how much more we could accomplish if this work were to be respected with the funding it deserves.

Platform4Dialog

https://www.platform4dialogue.org/en/a/decolonising-global-philanthropy/ad/

https://whoseknowledge.org/

https://systemicjustice.ngo/