An update for those following this story many years in the making about Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Greater Toronto Chapter.
It’s a powerful outcome, but we can’t forget:
🔶 Anti-Black racism is undoubtedly prevalent in many areas of the social impact sector (Collecting Courage is still only two years old)
🔶 It takes a concerted and consistent effort over time to challenge institutions, and there is significant risk in doing so, which is why most issues don’t make it this far
🔶 This only happens when many other folks support and join the movement, putting their reputation, energy, and social capital on the line
🔶 An almost predictable set of things will happen in efforts to sweep this under the rug (legal action, minimizing, denying, villainizing)
Thank you to everyone who signed the petition, sent messages of support, shared their stories publicly, and put yourself forward, even when you might have had fear in doing so (that’s the pull of status quo).
While it’s amazing that this outcome happened, it shouldn’t have required this much labour from Black folks especially, and it’s just one incident of racism restored of so many within AFP and our sector. Ideally it doesn’t even happen in the first place, but we’re humans on a journey and I’m not naive, at least not as much as I was before.
I’m hopeful that this makes future work easier and sets the stage for better. The next steps in this story are at least as important as what’s happened so far.
Blessings and gratitude to Múthoní Karíukí HBSc, MPNL, CFRE Mide Akerewusi, B.Sc., M.Sc. (Econ), CSR-P, CDEP. Nneka Allen, CFRE, COC, PCC for the sacrifices, risks, and energy you have put into advocating and not giving up even in the face of significant resistance. While this isn’t and should never have been on you to resolve, your stories and efforts activated hundreds of others to support and take note.
Nneka Allen, CFRE, COC, PCCNneka Allen, CFRE, COC, PCC• 1st• 1stRelationship Builder/Stone-Catcher/Freedom Fighter/Writer/CoachRelationship Builder/Stone-Catcher/Freedom Fighter/Writer/Coach
“After taking this grueling journey of dirt road antiracism, humanity can come upon the clearing of a potential future: an antiracist world in all its imperfect beauty. It can become real if we focus on power instead of people, if we focus on changing policy instead of groups of people. It’s possible if we overcome our cynicism about the permanence of racism. We know how to be racist. We know how to pretend to be not racist. Now let’s know how to be an antiracist.”
~ Ibram X. Kendi, How To Be An Anti-Racist
Birgit Smith Burton, Mide Akerewusi, B.Sc., M.Sc. (Econ), CSR-P, CDEP., Múthoní Karíukí HBSc, MPNL, CFRE, Nicole Salmon, Camila Pereira, PhD, Stephen Hinds, MA, CPHR, CHRL, ACC, COC, Esther Saehyun Lee, MA, Rickesh Lakhani, Cathy Barrick (she/her/hers), Julie Berthoud-Jury, Mazarine Treyz, Nicole Jamrozinski, Elizabeth LeClair, Scott Russell
