Mission and Vision
“All of this imagining, in the poverty of our current system, is heightened because of scarcity economics. There isn’t enough, so we need to hoard, enclose, divide, fence up, and prioritize resources and people. We have to imagine beyond those fears. We have to ideate- imagine and conceive- together. …As Toni Cade Bambara has taught us, we must make just and liberated futures irresistible. We are all the protagonists of what might be called the great turning, the change, the new economy, the new world.”
Another Alternative: Give it Back.
Artist: Faviana Rodrigez
Mission
To support people and organizations to close the racial wealth divide and create an equitable economy for everyone.
Vision
We envision a world where people with wealth are committed to repairing the painful history of exploitation that made their wealth possible. Where they return what is owed to poor and working class communities to close the racial wealth divide and create an economy where all people thrive. A world where organizations led by and for the people most affected have access to an abundance of resources and connections needed to realize their visions of a just world.
We value the wisdom of communities. We know that the people harmed by systems of oppression are the ones with the solutions for their liberation.
We value redistribution and reparations. We know that the wealth of the few was accumulated at the expense of the many and that people with wealth are long overdue returning it. We agree with philanthropic leader Edgar Villanueva, “the commitment to repair should come from the side with the wealth and the power it confers.”
We value organizing and collective power building. We know that by doing things together we will have a greater, more lasting impact.
We value transparency. We know the long history of hiding and hoarding wealth from systematically marginalized communities and that to rebuild trust as people with privilege we must do so entirely in the light.
We value relationships. We know the painful history of people and organizations being tokenized as well as the fear of only being valued for our resources and connections and not our personhood. Therefore we always put authentic human connection above all else.
We value discomfort as part of growth and healing. We know that comfort maintains the status quo and therefore discomfort is necessary for growth. All people and organizations have different starting places for political understanding of systemic oppression. Therefore we meet people where they are.
We value action. We know that to wait for perfection reinforces current systems of power and that action is the antidote. As Asians4BlackLive’s puts it: “We will not wait to be perfect, because we believe the time is now and we would rather be held accountable for our mistakes than forgiven our inaction.”
We value empathy and vulnerability. We know that social change starts with lasting personal transformation born in brave spaces.
Artist: Faviana Rodrigez