Movements are…

The lifeblood of a democratic and free society

Loose collectives that are not registered or formalised

Only around for a set period of time

Have multiple leaders

Have one leader

Non-hierarchal

Risky

Essential to the fight for our rights

Essential to support in the early stages (before they noticed by the press)

Undervalued

Under-supported

Undermined consistently by the iNGO complex and foundation world

Not perfect and that ideal of perfection is part of white supremacy culture

…..

All of the above I have heard from philanthropists, funders, organisation leaders, and movement builders over the past few months in conversations around the need for supporting movements. It is probably pretty evident what movement leaders have said vs. the iNGO/Funding complex. Yet funders and philanthropists say they are listening and trying to do better and still movements are left hoping that funders will actually trust them enough to support them.

There is a very clear power dynamic here and the white supremacy culture that foundations bring and uphold in conversations with movement leaders must be discussed.

Over the next months I will be holding conversations with global movement leaders in an effort to tell the story of the challenges movements face and how the lack of support and funding is affecting their ability to fight for our collective liberation and freedom.

Stay tuned.

In the interim here’s some conversations/articles/readings to keep you company:

An interview with Tides in which I talk about how movement building is never free from conflict.

A conversation between Donors and Movements from Women In Dev.

An article by Dr. Carmen Rojas and Dimple Abichandani — Our Democracy Is Under Attack and Philanthropy Needs to Act Now