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00:00The dynamic programming of day one of the Global Black Economic Forum stage continues and coming up, we've got the
00:07Black Men's Roundtable headed by our president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum, Alfonso David.
00:15But first, we explore the power of giving, investment, and community building. Joining the Global Black Economic Forum stage, please
00:26welcome Delano Massey, Midwest Managing Editor for Axios Local.
00:33Dr. Alfie Freeland Noble, founder of the Acoma Project and the Maddie Fund.
00:42Susan Taylor-Batton, President and Chief Executive Officer of ABFE.
00:48And the Reverend Siobhan Arline Bradley, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Council of Negro Women.
01:10Well, good afternoon.
01:11Good afternoon.
01:15I would say, you know, thank you for having us, thank you for showing up.
01:20It's really hot outside, so you could be many other places, which would be cool.
01:26But we have a limited amount of time, so we really just want to get straight into it.
01:31You don't know me, I'm Delano Massey.
01:34I'm Managing Editor of Axios.
01:36I also write a lot, so I think a lot about the intersection of all of the things that we're
01:43going to talk about today.
01:44And at some point, I've either covered it or I've led coverage about it, just thinking about our community and
01:51being in this space.
01:52So, you know, we've had conversations, and really what you all represent is like an ecosystem and what communities might
01:59need in order for communities to sustain.
02:02And I wonder, like, if we could just start the conversation by, you know, sort of laying out, like, what
02:09your personal why is and the work that you are doing.
02:13So, hi, everybody.
02:14I'm Dr. Alfie.
02:15My personal why is to create space.
02:19I remember a long time ago I worked with a pastor on some research when I was an academic.
02:23This is before this life.
02:24And I remember she taught me something I've never forgotten, and it really describes my why.
02:29And she talked about how anybody older than probably 30, 35, remember those old tables in the dining room where
02:36you would pull the table apart and you would put a new leaf in there to make the table longer.
02:40That's my why.
02:42My why is to create a larger table to create as much space as possible with my philanthropic and nonprofit
02:48work so that everybody, like the folks who look like us in here,
02:52has an opportunity to be at the table and make decisions about how they're going to take care of themselves
02:57and their communities because they have the expertise.
02:59So that's my why.
03:01Yeah.
03:02Hey, everybody.
03:03I'm Susan with the Association of Black Foundation Executives or ABFE.
03:07My why is that, you know, I learned from my parents about the importance of the village and the need
03:16for what some people call philanthropy,
03:18but what we call taking care of each other and loving each other.
03:23You know, my dad was a longtime school teacher in Brooklyn, New York, and on the weekends he ran homework
03:29clubs in our basement.
03:30My mom was a community health nurse and helped raise generations of families in a tough neighborhood in Long Island,
03:37New York.
03:37And so they instilled in me the responsibility to take care of our people.
03:43That's my why.
03:44Yeah.
03:45So, hey, everybody.
03:46I'm Reverend Siobhan.
03:46I think one of the things that pushes my why is my son.
03:50I'm a boy mom.
03:52And when you think about the investment in black children and black families, the ability to be able to survive
03:57is based on the investment of our people.
04:00And the only way he will survive is if others see him not as a threat, but as a thriving
04:04black man in this country in the future.
04:07And so my why is really about how we build a community of people that see investment as a part
04:13of a civil rights strategy.
04:14That the way that we give shows up in the way that we live.
04:18And I think that even in this Essence Festival, I'm looking at all the families that are out here.
04:24The why is seeing my people thrive in advance.
04:27And our children have to see us thriving in order to want to thrive.
04:31So that's my why.
04:33Yeah.
04:35So I'm not sure if you've noticed, the last couple of years have been different.
04:41Yeah.
04:41Been different challenges.
04:43We've seen rollbacks in DEI.
04:46We've also seen a lot of funding cut through Doge.
04:49We've seen an increase in unemployment.
04:51And a lot of erasure or changing of history in the narratives.
04:59When you guys think about, like, what is important in terms of preserving and building and sustaining communities.
05:07I think I was telling you earlier, I was looking at a video of Ambassador Andrew Young.
05:12And he said that this particular time frame is probably the worst in his lifetime, which said quite a bit
05:20in nearly 100 years.
05:21So what do you guys think about the urgency of this particular moment and sort of what we're facing and
05:28how that actually intersects with the need to build community, to fund community?
05:34And also thinking about, like, what it takes to sustain mentally.
05:40I'll start.
05:41I run one of the oldest black women's civil rights organizations founded by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.
05:47We all know our history about Dr. Bethune.
05:49We are an organization on Pennsylvania Avenue with the only black and woman-owned building on Pennsylvania Avenue.
05:56The reason why that's important when you think about legacy and longevity in history is that our spaces in history
06:02are literally at the verge of an intersection of either erasure or consistency and sustainability.
06:10Part of the reason why it's important to talk about it at this moment is that our ability to finance
06:16ourselves, fund ourselves, and support ourselves, it's about really proximity to power and then sustaining that power.
06:24I will lay down my life before we lose that piece of real estate on Pennsylvania Avenue because it's a
06:29symbol of Dorothy Height.
06:31It's a symbol of Mary McLeod Bethune.
06:33It's a symbol of all the ancestors that came before us.
06:36And I will offer this.
06:38As we're sitting in these spaces, this attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion is an attack on blackness.
06:45And when you have an attack on blackness, it's an attack on you and me sitting in this room.
06:49And so I think it's really important for us to understand that FUBU label, For Us, By Us, was never
06:55a pun.
06:56For Us, By Us, with Us, about Us, right?
07:00It's about how we keep each other in play.
07:03Yes.
07:04So the organization that I lead is a network with the largest network of black professionals that work in foundations
07:12around the country.
07:14And the attack is real.
07:15Yeah, it is.
07:16You know, all these executive orders on DEI, eliminating DEI, we know how corporations folded too soon, quite frankly, because
07:25of the fear.
07:26We know how some universities folded because of the fear.
07:31And right after one of the DEI executive orders came out, the administration actually asked the OMB to list every
07:39foundation in this country.
07:40They're over 100,000, every foundation in this country that had assets over 500 million, and to scrutinize them, scrutinize
07:48them for any illegal DEI activity.
07:52Or language on their websites.
07:54That's right.
07:55That's right.
07:55So basically, just like corporations and universities folded based on fear, so did too many foundations.
08:03So did too many foundations.
08:05They actually started scrubbing their websites when just five years before, after the murder of George Floyd, everybody was rushing
08:11to give money to black communities.
08:14And a couple years later, because of the fear-mongering that's happening in D.C., people started scrubbing their websites
08:21and actually started pulling back their resources that are focused on us and focused on racial justice in particular.
08:28So while we have always needed to be organized, Delana, you and I were talking backstage a bit about sometimes
08:36there's something about this moment that's making us do what we need to do, which is organize even better.
08:41So now is the time that we've got to really be thinking about, and sister, thank you, building our own
08:46foundations.
08:47Yes.
08:47Right?
08:48Organizing our own funds and leaning on black philanthropy for us by us, because that won't waver.
08:54That won't waver.
08:55That's right.
08:55I think we have, whether it's media, really a lot of industries, but for venture capitalists, black-owned venture funds
09:07have less than 1%.
09:09So we're not receiving the money, not receiving the funds.
09:13That's right.
09:15And part of what you do is creating pathways so that people can find the right relationships, right?
09:21Right.
09:22So having the accessibility is critical to that.
09:26It is.
09:27What about the mental aspect of this?
09:30So I think what each of you have described, what my sisters here do, I exist because they do what
09:38they do.
09:38So I run a mental health nonprofit called the Acoma Project.
09:42We're focused on three principles, raising consciousness, empowering people, and changing the system of mental health.
09:48And all of our work is grounded in uplifting, centering, and supporting the mental health and emotional well-being of
09:55youth and young adults who are black and also of color, of other racial ethnic groups.
10:00With a particular focus on, I've met the Professor Crenshaw, and I about passed out, but intersectionality is at the
10:07core of what we do.
10:08And I can only say that because of what she did when she coined the term and put it out
10:14there for us to consider.
10:15So for me, it really is about ensuring that as they do their work, as the people who work with
10:22them and under them and for them and beside them do their work, that there is a conscious effort to
10:27ensure that we're taking care of our mental health.
10:29Because that work is not for the meek, right?
10:32Understanding that you are the only sitting on a whole row of streets, we live in the DMV as well,
10:37is not for the meek because you know that you're a target.
10:40It's hyper-visibility and hyper-invisibility at the same time.
10:45So I think the other thing that I would say is I also run something called the Maddie Fund, and
10:52I'll tell you really quickly what the Maddie Fund is.
10:54In 2024, Melinda French Gates picked 12 global leaders.
11:00Each one of those people got a $20 million fund, and their job is to give that money away.
11:07I will say here, because I feel like it's important, four of the people out of the dozen are black
11:13women.
11:14And for somebody to empower black women in that way feels deeply important to me, and I don't take it
11:20lightly.
11:20So the work that I do is really also trying to be mindful of not just giving money for operations,
11:27but also giving money for capacity building.
11:30That's right.
11:30How do you take care of the people who are caring for all the people like us out here in
11:35the world?
11:35So for me, that's what it is, is really seeing and understanding and supporting the people who do the work
11:42to take care of the other people.
11:43Well, let's talk about that a little bit more because we actually, you know, when you think about the work,
11:49I think racism is very tiring.
11:53It's exhausting.
11:54It's exhausting.
11:55It's exhausting being black in America.
11:57It is.
11:58So, you know, there are often times we don't think about that.
12:03We were talking about that, like, with media, that I'm just going through it and covering it over and over
12:09again.
12:09But also we talked about the importance of joy and being able to capture some of those moments.
12:14So just talk about, like, your experience in that and, like, you know, how we should be thinking and approaching
12:20that part of this in this moment.
12:22Because I think a lot of people are just struggling.
12:25Yes.
12:26So I'll say this really quickly, and I'll leave it to my beautiful sisters, my beautiful and brilliant sisters.
12:30One thing I hope everybody in here remembers is that things do not happen to you because of who you
12:36are.
12:37All right?
12:37And just bear with me.
12:38They happen because of other people's perceptions of who you are.
12:42So the next time you go to a store, right, and everybody comes through the line, and they swipe their
12:47credit card, and nobody asks them for the ID,
12:50and they get to you, and they want ID, it's not because you're black.
12:55It is because that person is racist.
12:58That person is biased.
12:59Do you understand the difference?
13:00And so for me, that's the kind of reframe that's necessary so that I don't carry the weight.
13:06Because remember, whatever comes after the word because, I was an English major and undergrad at Howard University, H-U,
13:11you know.
13:11But what I learned is the word because, whatever comes after that is the reason.
13:16You understand?
13:17So the reason is never your blackness.
13:20The reason is that other person's choices and their bias.
13:23So that's what I would say we have to pay attention to and stay with.
13:27We push really hard in terms of working with funders to ensure that they are funding space and time for
13:35joy, right, space and time for rest.
13:38There are a number of leading funders who actually understand that and are giving grants to nonprofits for sabbaticals and
13:48time, again, to dream.
13:50People need time to dream.
13:51Talking about general operating support.
13:53There's a whole new kind of general operating support we need today.
13:56And that's time to dream and to plan with others.
14:00So we are behind a number of foundations that are moving in that direction.
14:05And they're investing in opportunities for joy.
14:07We also, for our members, because we are a membership association, organize retreats specifically for black women as well as
14:16for black men.
14:18Because, you know, in times like this, always being black in America is exhausting.
14:22But in times like this, we are very intentional about making the spaces, going off into the mountains.
14:28Again, being able to dream and bringing nonprofit partners with us.
14:33That's sort of how we're dealing with some of these issues.
14:36Yeah.
14:37So you represent an organization that is very historic.
14:42Yeah.
14:42And we talked a little bit about the cyclical nature of history.
14:48You mentioned that back in 2020, everybody was embracing DEI.
14:54They were running into it.
14:56And that recoil happened.
14:59But we've seen that recoil throughout history.
15:01It's something that, you know, going back to Reconstruction, as we were talking about, that that is something that has
15:06happened to the black community.
15:10Is there a moment that you guys think about, particularly you, do you think, can you trust that maybe things
15:18will go back to a particular place where it was?
15:22Or at this moment, does sustaining truly mean building, preserving what we build today, the infrastructure, the ecosystems that we
15:32build today to move forward and ignore the potential that some people might come around and say, you know what?
15:39We made a mistake.
15:40Yeah.
15:41I don't trust them.
15:44I don't trust people that oppress.
15:46But what I do trust is in the resilience of blackness.
15:50I believe, honestly, that the kind of opposition that we are seeing now is pushing black communities to do something
15:58a little bit different.
15:59So what I trust in is new investments from our own people.
16:04I trust in a commitment that will be made that has never been made before.
16:09I tell people all the time, the way that we've been able to sustain ourselves are by small gifts.
16:13People get caught up in, I need millions of dollars.
16:16I tell people, $20 a month for organizations like civil rights organizations, for charities, literally sustains them.
16:25What people have to understand is that your Starbucks cup of coffee can save the movement.
16:30Like one cup away from keeping black institutions alive.
16:34Your HBCU needs your $20 a month.
16:39NCNW.org, go online.
16:40If you're not a member, it's a problem, right?
16:42These institutions require that kind of commitment.
16:45I think the opposition has risen up another generation.
16:49My fastest growing members are 19 to 24-year-olds.
16:54We're on 113 college campuses in 33 states.
16:58And the reason why is because every generation now sees the same enemy.
17:04And because of that, I believe that this moment is calling for us to get new dollars in, new donors
17:10in, new quote-unquote allies in,
17:12but also a resurgence of folks that have been checked out because we got comfortable in 08 through 16.
17:19We thought 16 to 20 was a fluke, and we found out in 24 it wasn't.
17:23And so now we've got young people that have been really recharged.
17:27We've got seasoned folk that are saying, not on our watch, we're going to teach you.
17:30And now when the generations are talking the same language, y'all black people have never lost a fight that
17:35we got on the same page about.
17:37Let's win this fight.
17:39Can I co-sign on with you, Lana?
17:42Absolutely.
17:43Absolutely.
17:44And when we talk about the power of philanthropy and the power of black philanthropy, I love, sis, when you
17:49say it's the small checks, the $20 checks.
17:52We know that is how we have survived in this country.
17:56So even though I lead an organization that is pushing on institutional philanthropy, that made their billions of dollars in
18:03their endowments really off the backs of our people,
18:06I know that we've got to do much more to bring foundations and individual donors together, and particularly black individual
18:13donors.
18:13The power of everyday givers is something that we really have to lift up and be intentional about.
18:21And the explosion of, for example, black giving circles around the country is so exciting.
18:28There are so many black giving circles being developed around the country that there is now an association called the
18:35Community Investment Network that's organizing black giving circles.
18:39And there are funds that are being developed around the country.
18:43I think, again, since 2020, because we saw this coming.
18:46We saw this coming.
18:47And one example I will give, there's a brother named Jamie Wooten in Baltimore, Maryland.
18:53He runs something called Collectively.
18:55Every year, every August, which is Black Philanthropy Month, y'all, every August is Black Philanthropy Month.
19:02They have a 24-hour drive, fundraising drive for grassroots black organizations in Baltimore.
19:11Last year, in 24 hours, they raised a million dollars to support 150 black organizations.
19:19And they've done that every year for the last three years.
19:23Shout out to Jamie.
19:25So we've got to lean into what is our legacy.
19:28We know we are a giving people.
19:30It is how we have survived.
19:32There's actually data funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation that says that black people actually are the most giving
19:40people on the planet, African descendant people.
19:44We give away more of our discretionary income than any other racial ethnic group.
19:49We've been tithing forever, right?
19:52We've been paying our membership dues to our fraternities and sororities forever, over 100 and some odd years.
19:58So now is the time to lean in on what is our strength, and that's the giving of our people
20:04for our people.
20:05That's right.
20:08What do you think is the thing that would help you all right now?
20:14Like if there was a message that you would want people to leave with that would be beneficial to you
20:21in your respective lanes, what would that look like?
20:24For me, I think it is that every single one of us can give something.
20:27So if you can't give money, you can give your time.
20:30If you can't give your time, you can share your talent.
20:33Maybe you are an artist and you can create some art that a nonprofit would benefit from.
20:38Maybe you're a person who knows of a young person because so many young people, I've met so many who
20:45are developing their own nonprofits and doing their own activism.
20:48Maybe you know someone.
20:49Get them connected with people like this so they can have insight and they don't have to reinvent the wheel
20:55figuring out how to build up and grow up.
20:58So I think every single one of us can do something.
21:00And my challenge to everybody in here today is to find one black-led organization.
21:06It can be a coma.
21:08It can be any of the NCNW.
21:10It can be any of these organizations up here.
21:12And figure out what you can give.
21:14But find an organization and figure out what you can give.
21:16I think that's what we can offer.
21:19I would share.
21:20Thank you for that.
21:22Yeah.
21:22Yeah.
21:23Because you just mentioned, Sister Alfie, some people's definition of philanthropy.
21:28That's a big fancy word, right, that didn't come from us.
21:33But people, some people describe it as the giving of time, talent, and treasure.
21:38Treasure is the money.
21:39Time and talent is really, really important, right?
21:43And one of the things I will share with you, the studies and the research that we have on black
21:48-led nonprofits in this country and what they're going through right now.
21:51That fear that I said is coming out of Washington, D.C. and threatening foundations that will pull your 501c3
21:58status if you fund illegal DEI activity is actually rolling down and hitting black nonprofits very hard.
22:06We know that some foundations, and let me be clear, black CEOs in foundations are holding the line.
22:14Yes, they are.
22:14And they're pushing forward.
22:15But we are still a small percentage of the number of leaders in the field of philanthropy, in foundations, right?
22:23But it is really, really important that we think about the threats that black nonprofits are under right now.
22:30I've talked to more lawyers than I have cared to talk to over the last couple of years.
22:35And many of them, nonprofits, need support around legal counsel.
22:40They need support around crisis communication because they are under the radar.
22:45And it's not just the administration.
22:48In red states, attorney generals are coming after black organizations.
22:51If you say your work is black, you have a target on your back these days.
22:56And so we are trying to do more to get pro bono support.
23:00And just want to shout out Damon Hewitt, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law.
23:05Straight up.
23:05He stood up an entire program, you know, a couple of years ago that's providing pro bono counsel to organizations
23:12led by black folks.
23:13So you don't have to be afraid.
23:16You can pick up the phone and call and get some legal counsel.
23:20So the giving of talent and your giving of your time, we need black lawyers.
23:25We need black communications specialists to actually make these relationships with black nonprofits because we're under threat.
23:33We're under threat.
23:34Yeah, that's absolutely amazing.
23:36We are the National Council of Negro Women.
23:39The constant targets of being the only black building between the White House and the Capitol has been unprecedented.
23:47There's two things that we need.
23:48I think, one, you talked about it, which is small donations.
23:51If you're not a member or affiliated or if you have small dollar donations, go on websites right now.
23:57Like, pull out your phone, go to ncw.org, go to NACP, go to AFI, go to these organizations, give
24:03a small donation.
24:04But here's the second thing.
24:06Social media.
24:08Follow black institutions online and help our algorithms.
24:11We don't talk about this enough.
24:14A lot of the foolishness and misinformation that gets put out is because we are following foolish people and we
24:20are sending out their information.
24:23Deal with accurate institutions that are giving out the right information.
24:27So, go on social media.
24:29Follow us on Instagram, on TikTok, on LinkedIn.
24:33For those that use Facebook, follow us online.
24:36Follow us individually.
24:38Because when our algorithm goes up, people then begin to see more clearer, cleaner messaging.
24:44And they invest in what they see.
24:46The last thing I'll say is don't forget to invest in black children.
24:50Making sure that we get opportunities for our babies.
24:54We have a program called BHCP.
24:56We're giving students $5,000 each to pay towards their tuition.
24:59Please support organizations that support black families.
25:03It's the way we sustain ourselves.
25:05Yeah.
25:06I think we're about to wrap.
25:09Yeah.
25:09One thing that there is a word that you could think of just quickly.
25:15Yeah.
25:15What is the word that comes to mind when you're thinking about community and what is needed to sustain community?
25:24What is, if you could think of a word that when you think about what's necessary to sustain community and
25:31to sustain a black community, like, what is that?
25:34I would say empowered.
25:35And when I say empowered, I mean embodying the power that is within you.
25:40That's all I mean when I say empowered.
25:41I would say that's what it is.
25:43Mine is self-determination.
25:45Ain't nobody coming to save us.
25:46For us, by us.
25:48I would say bold collective.
25:52Right?
25:53I'm combining my words.
25:55Because blackness cannot be contained.
25:58It is bold.
26:00It's beautiful.
26:00It's bodacious.
26:01It's bad.
26:02It's big.
26:04And bold collaboration of blackness means that no matter where you come from, no matter if you got a degree
26:10or not, whether you're from the north, south, east, west, if you're black, you're bad.
26:14And you woke up that way.
26:16And that collaboration and investment allows us to do great things.
26:19So bold collaboration.
26:21All right.
26:22I mean, that's it.
26:24All right.
26:25Well, thank you.
26:32Get it now, yeah, yeah
26:35Get it now, yeah, yeah
26:37Get it now
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