Social Justice

Sexism: I’m the founder of the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island…leveling the playing field for women and girls. Despite progress, it’s still a disadvantage to be a woman in every country in the world, including the United States. In fact, the most gender equitable country in the world is Iceland.

Check out the commentary on this article, “11 Qualities of a Perfect Woman.”  Check out the film “Miss Representation,” which explores how the media’s misrepresentations of women produce underrepresentation of women in positions of power and influence. Read Gail Collins’ 01-10-13 column in the New York Times, “The Woes of Roe.” Ask yourself – and your legislators – “What Happened to the Violence Against Women Act?”

All this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. We have to keep fighting to level the playing field for women and girls. It’s called social justice and basic human rights!

Gun control: I am so tired of guns in the U.S. I’m so tired of the ranting and raving about “protecting myself” so I’m gonna have a gun. And if everyone had had a gun in the Aurora cinema, everyone could have stopped that guy. Really? With all your training from the NRA, you could distinguish the good guys and the bad guy? Or would there be some innocents shot, too?

I subscribe to Reader Supported News, a great compiler of news articles in the U.S. and elsewhere. Check out Juan Cole’s article “Gun Murders vs. Terrorism by the Numbers.” Read Bill Moyers’ commentary about guns. Read Robert Reich’s article “Debt Ceiling and Guns, “Using Presidential Authority.” Go for it even more, Mr. President! How about Tom Engelhardt’s article “The Pentagon as a Global NRA.” By the way, apparently the NRA was not always so ridiculous about gun control. Check out Jill Lepore’s article in The New Yorker, “Battleground America.”

Always remember, the U.S. spends something like 7 times more money on defense than multiple other countries combined. Golly gosh… I am so pleased that we can kill so many more people so many times – and destroy entire countries and societies. Thank heavens we can! Yippee!

By the way, reading Cole’s article reminds me: how about ending this stupid war on terror. Wars are supposed to have an end. Enough with the war. Terrorism won’t end. It’s with us forever. Consider it a police action. And enough with the absurd theatre of airport security and screening. What a bunch of crap. Let’s not forget “The Colossal Blunder That is the Iraq War.”

And let’s end another war, the war against drugs. Oh please. All the research says that the war on drugs didn’t work, isn’t working, doesn’t work, and won’t work. How ironic is it that the U.S. provides the guns (gun control anyone?) for the cartels to fight the war for drugs? And U.S. prisons are full of marijuana smokers or small sellers. And most of them are not white. Racism anyone? By the way, why is President Obama so bothered by decriminalizing marijuana? Read Naomi Wolf’s article in the U.K.’s Guardian.

One final thought…all the secrecy about security. Check out this RSN article by Daniel Ellsberg, “Secrecy and National Security Whistleblowing.” Another by the way: Daniel Ellsberg is one of my heroes.

Okay, it’s Friday night. Close to 8 p.m. in my office and home. I’m stopping now. I’m thinking of dinner and some frivolous movie. Family time. Personal time. And since I’ve ranted and raved in this blog, maybe I won’t do that with Tom this evening.

Please can we fight for change? This is the war need to fight – here at home…the fight for social justice…the war against the war against women…racism…the fight to protect without guns…and so much more.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a staff person or a board member. It doesn’t matter what position you might have on staff or within the board. No matter when or where, you often have the opportunity to lead. And leadership often requires risk.

I received a wonderful email after a workshop for the AFP Capital Area Chapter (Lansing, Michigan – hosted by Michigan State University, my alma mater and the community where I grew up). One of the attendees said: “Thank you for following your heart, speaking truth and being courageous enough to be a leader. Insecurity, complacency and dependence lead to a robotic society…more the norm these days.”

I very much appreciate those words…words to inspire me and challenge me.

What about you? Do you follow your heart? Do you speak truth to power? Do you step out in front, leading with the body of knowledge, challenging the assumptions of your boss and board and colleagues?

What level of risk are you willing and able to take? Sometimes that’s a hard question to answer – but I think we always need to ask it. Risk is hard. Risk is risky. And not everyone is privileged enough to take risk.

Here’s another thought about leadership, gleaned from Stephen King’s book 11/22/63. I very much enjoyed and appreciated it. It’s not one of his scary horror/thriller tales, which I don’t like. But 11/22/63 made me thing and also intrigued me.

At one point the hero tells himself, “Don’t look back, never look back.” He goes on to say, “How often do people tell themselves that after an experience that is exceptionally good (or exceptionally bad)? Often, I suppose. And the advice usually goes unheeded. Humans were built to look back; that’s why we have that swivel joint in our necks.”

I think it’s good to look back, if we learn from the past. But we don’t much seem to do that as humans — just consider Vietnam and then Iraq and Afghanistan. What did we learn?

But sometimes I annoy myself because I look back and agitate myself instead of looking back to learn and change. Sometimes I suspect that I don’t move on quickly enough, looking to the future. How about you?

Leadership means civic participation, too. Voting. Volunteering. Check out these good thoughts by Neil Steinberg, the President and CEO of my community foundation, The Rhode Island Foundation.

Neil reminds us that leading is a civic calling – and a duty for each and every one of us. He talks about information – both factual and inaccurate. (I am so tired of “personal opinion” trumping fact. I am so tired of giving “equal time” to inaccuracies.)

Our democracy needs us. Our democracy needs us to step up to the plate. Our communities need leadership, people working together. Then we can move forward. Then we can make change. Thanks, Neil.

Check out these marvelous articles in Reader Supported News.

— “…the biggest underlying problem America faces – the unprecedented concentration of wealth and power at the very top that’s determining our economy and destroying our democracy…” From economist Robert Reich.

— “…killing the American dream…” From author and activisit Naomi Wolf.

— “we now have a record of what our modern day wealthy gentry really thinks of the rest of us…” From Bill Moyers and Michael Winship.

Here’s an interesting perspective: The NRA doesn’t concern itself with gun violence. The NRA’s focus is selling more guns. I heard this insight in a conversation about the NRA on the Callie Crosley Show, WGBH, August 9, 2012.

And here’s a powerful description of what happens here in the U.S.: “Another Mass Killing Shocks America. Why?” That from Gary Younge in the August 13/20, 2012 issue of The Nation.

Younge talks about all the gun killing in the U.S., “a wretched yet constant feature of American life.” For example, there are 90 guns for every 100 people in the U.S., the highest concentration in the world. Guns kill 85 people daily in the U.S. However, Younge does note that access to guns “does not, by itself, lead to gun crime.”

But, “what links America’s high concentration of guns and relatively high level of guns deaths are the country’s high levels of inequality, segregation and poverty. For in countries with at least two of those features…you will find higher levels of gun deaths…. America is the only place in the Western world that has both rampant inequality and ample access to guns…. [and] a healthcare system in which large numbers of people are deprived of the mental health facilities they need, and you have laboratory conditions for sustained outbreaks of social violence involving guns.”

Younge ends this sad article with the following: “The shock resides not in the fact that a lrage number of people have been killed by a gunman – that happens every night in America – but that every now and then, the wrong people have died in the wrong place.” The movie theatre in Aurora, for example.

Read more »

The other day, I heard a Tim McGraw song on the radio: “Live Like You Were Dying.” These lyrics made me think about how I live my life…and how I might live my life (which includes my work) better: “I loved deeper. I spoke sweeter. And I gave forgivness that I’d been denying.”

That sounds like a pretty good way to live one’s life and pursue one’s vocation and avocation…as if one might die at any moment.

While going through some old files, I encountered one of my newsyletters (the original print version – before it was electronic): July 2004 – devoted to social justice. That was 8 years ago. Things haven’t changed much and I think that’s sad. So here goes…July 2004 revisted…

I’m concerned about the growing disparity between the haves and the have-nots in America. And for me, that’s a justice issue. I believe that progressive public policy is co-opted each day. And that, too, is a social justice issue.

I see rampant social injustice – and that breeds a sense of hopelessness. But I know that you and I can make a difference – through social change philanthropy.

What is social change philanthropy?

Social change philanthropy works by changing the systems (public policy, societal mores, institutional biases) that support social injustice. I believe that if we gave more money to social change philanthropy, we could produce social justice – and we wouldn’t need so much charity to redress social ills.

As Tracy Gary and Melissa Kohner explain in Inspired Philanthropy: Creating a Giving Plan, “traditional philanthropy is based on responding to, treating and managing the consequences of life in a society with a capital-based economy.”

Social change philanthropy, on the other hand, “analyzes and responds more to cause than effect…. Progressive philanthropy srives to fund work that is proactive rather than reactive. Progressive philanthropy’s investment lies in supporting and facilitating change, challenging the assumptions that economic and social inequities are somehow unavoidable as the price of progress or prosperity.”

“You have to take power,” said American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, the son of slaves. “No one gives it.”

Social change philanthropy is about organizing and activism. It’s about engagling all members of our society in dialogue and action.

Social change philanthropy and activism ensure that people who are typically ignored and disregarded have a seat at the table. By sharing power, we can hold all our institutions – from governments to corporations to nonprofits – and society itself responsible for social justice.

A seat at the table…justice…I’m reminded of the old saying about “give a person a fish or teach her to fish.” But you have to give her a place to fish from. It’s not good enough to teach people to fish. People need a spot on the river to fish from.

Social Injustice in the U.S. arises because of choices made by you and me as voters…choices made by elected officials…corporations…and other institutions. Yes, there are individuals and institutions that fight against injustice and promote social justice. But not enough.

Fighting against social injustice – and promoting social justice – is a progressive act. Progressives challenge established systems – and people naturally resist change.

What I find ironic is that those of us who work and volunteer in philanthropy often collude with injustice. We want to raise more money for good causes … so we focus on big donors and recruit well-connected big moneyed people to our boards. That’s a bit unjust. That’s a bit limited. That’s really focusing on privilege…and much of privilege is unearned. Read “Philanthropy’s Moral Dilemma,” posted on my homepage.

Do we speak out? Do we ruffle feathers, albeit carefully and graciously? How many times have you heard someone in your organization (or on your board say), “Let’s not rock the boat. We shouldn’t speak out about that public policy issue because some of our donors won’t like it.” Maybe some of your board members won’t like it either.

Susan B. Anthony once said, “Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations…can never bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation, and publicly avow their sympathies with despised and persecuted ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences.”

Think about it.

Read more »

Here’s something I learned while reading an article about Bruce Springsteen in The New Yorker magazine’s July 30, 2012 issue:

There are two “radical” verses in Woody Guthrie’s “American anthem,” This Land Is Your Land.” But we don’t hear these verses much:

“There was a great high wall there / that tried to stop me; / A great big sign there / Said private property; / But on the other side / It didn’t say nothing; / That side was made for you and me.

Woody Guthrie sang a lot about the rights of all Americans, an equitable society.

1. “Remember Thomas Jefferson’s Betrayal,” a piece by Bill Moyers in the July 2, 2012 issue of Reader Supported News, an online compilation service. Jefferson penned those immortal words, “All men are created equal.” But he didn’t free his slaves, even those he fathered with his slave Sally Hemmings.” As Moyers says, “So, the ideal of equality Jefferson proclaimed, he also betrayed.” Jefferson wrote about “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” But he denied it to others. Moyers writes that Jefferson “lived it wrong, denying to others the rights he claimed for himself.” And so, “Jefferson came to embody the oldest and longest war of all – the war between the self and truth, between what we know and how we live.”

2. “What’s Sex Got to Do with It?” asks Kavita N. Ramdas in the Summer 2012 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review. “Girls are hot. Reproductive rights are not,” she starts out. And she ends with: “…if we want our daughters to grow up with confidence, courage, and competence, we must make sure that they grow up with knowledge about and access to contraception. We should build schools, fund libraries, encourage teacher training, and support free tuition, but we also need to push for comprehensive access to sex education for both girls and boys, not just aborad, but right here in the United States. The words of Margaret Sanger are as prescient now as they were when she first uttered them: ‘No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.’ If the future freedom of the world depends on the freedom of women, it must include sexual and reproductive freedom. If not, their ‘freedom,’ to paraphrase Janis Joplin, will be just another word for ‘nothing left to lose.'”

3. I just read Nora Ephron’s 1996 commencement address at Wellesley. This is a must-read for women and men. “Don’t delude yourself that the powerful cultural values that wrecked the lives of so many of my classmates have vanished from the earth…. Don’t underestimate how much antagonism there is toward women and how many people wish we could turn the clock back.” Thanks to dear friend, Alene.

Read more »

1. “Court martialing the military,” Molly M. Ginty, spring-summer 2012 issue of Ms. magazine. Nearly 2 in 3 women are raped during their service in the U.S. Military. That’s what the Veterans Affairs Administration says. A dirty little secret that is, finally, receiving the attention it deserves. Leon Panetta is now interested. And lots of this has to do with Kirby Dick‘s documentary “The Invisible War.”

2. Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Title IX…the activists who fought so hard for women’s equal educational opportunities (and that includes sports)…the benefits to all the young women…But still, it isn’t perfect and there are too many challenges. Check out Erin Buzuvis’ article in spring/summer 2012 Ms. magazine.

3. There is a war against women. Just read #1 and #2 above. And now check out Beth Baker’s article, “Fighting the War on Women,” in spring/summer 2012 Ms. magazine. The attacks on women’s health (which directly relates to economic security for women and families), grows and grows in the U.S. What happened to our democracy?

I very much appreciate the elected women who are making fun of the male-dominated laws against women. If these war-waging men want to require that women undergo invasive, unneeded procedures to access healthcare, then let’s offer some invasive, unneded procedures for men.

By the way, check out YouTube: The Human Rights Channel. “Film it. Share it. Change it.” It turns out that “nonprofits and activism is one of the rastest-growing categories on YouTube,” says the New York Times. Thanks to www.theagitator.net for this news bit.

Read more »

I’m late to the viewing: The PBS series on the African-American Civil Rights Movement, Eyes on the Prize. Archival footage, interviews. So much is there. The Montgomery bus boycott and James Meredith and the University of Mississippi. The Freedom Riders, the March to Selma, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Black Panther Party. SNCC and James Forman and James Lewis and Muhammad Ali.

Sometimes we forget our history. Sometimes we never really learned it. I remember SNCC in the Vietnam War. My war. I wasn’t sufficiently familiar with its role in the Civil Rights Movement.

This statement from James Forman, SNCC leader, really hit me hard: “If we can’t sit at the table [of democracy], let’s knock the fucking legs off.” Yes. Sometimes, the gradual approach and patience just don’t work so well.

Watch this documentary series with your children and grandchildren. Help them see and learn and understand. Watch it for yourself. To see and learn and understand – and remember, always. It’s not to late.