(A LONG) THREAD: I am one of the founding organisers of @CharitySoWhite The last few weeks have brought me unbelievable sadness, and unprecedented hope. I believe that the charity sector can do better, but it's not going to be easy and it's not going to be comfortable.
This morning, like so many mornings before, I woke up more exhausted than I had been when I went to sleep the night before. Don’t get me wrong, I am still determined and hopeful, but the exhaustion I felt was more acute than anything I'd felt in the last few years.
When @charitysowhite first started last year, I was under no illusions - tackling racism in our sector would be thankless. I knew we were in many ways putting our careers on the line to fight for something we believed was not only important but critical for our sector’s survival.
I don't want to mince my words. Our sector is no longer fit for purpose. Like others I joined to fight the injustices in this world. We have provided so much aid and support, but the dial rarely shifts. Something isn't working.
We are too invested in the status quo and not ready or willing to take the risks needed to actually change. Our sector is in too many ways structured to prevent and punish those who do.
Charities ask for donations – some appeal to morality, others play on that good feeling you get when you give. But we never ask donors to interrogate why the inequality exists in the first place, what privileges they might have unfairly inherited that led to this need.
And if you’re thinking you can’t get donations by talking to people about privilege you’re wrong. Is it harder? Yes. Will it take longer? Yes. But surely that is part of the work of changing the world as it is into what it should be.
The sector has raked in £££ off the back of BAME stereotypes which portray minorities here and abroad as helpless and without agency. When we see BAME people in the workplace we are fighting the stereotypes we have ourselves created and reinforced. We are part of the problem.
It’s how we get to a place where you hear these #CharitySoWhite examples, "At criminal justice networking events, when everyone of colour is asked when they left prison"
Faced with the perception that we're a bunch of “amateur do-gooders” we corporatised. We didn’t challenge these assumptions or appreciate that there were people with lived expertise we weren't speaking to. Now we're past the point where this professionalisation has gone too far
Those on the front line and those with lived experience are tokenised or put on a pedestal but still have no actual decision-making power. Too many funders are driving strategy from a helicopter dictating priorities to charities who are better able to understand needs.
We tie ourselves into knots to avoid being seen as political when we should be reminding ourselves that all our choices are political. Funding soup kitchens vs. funding affordable housing is a political decision. Pretending it’s not is a dangerous and ineffective way of leading.
I sometimes wonder if this Billion pound industry we've built is too big for us to actually challenge on its effectiveness. There is a moral hazard in our livelihoods dependent on helping those in need vs. addressing the root causes.
The hypocrisy in the past weeks has exhausted me. After being told, “it’s complicated” for so long, the rush to respond to the grief and rage felt by black communities around the world has laid bare our simplistic ideals. We should be deeply embarrassed. bit.ly/2B7l3wH
@CharitySoWhite has been told we don't understand, that our tactics are too aggressive, that we haven't celebrated the success enough. We all work in the sector. Some of us very senior, some just starting.
We all love and are deeply proud of the work of charities. We believe the sector can and should do better. We are hopeful. We believe it can lead the way for others - what greater pride is there than that? But we won’t get anywhere by shying away from the hard conversations.
We are all tired. That’s not a reason to accept less. It’s not a reason to silence discussions on our shortcomings or to avoid hard choices. If we can't risk that much to really begin to tackle injustice, then what is even the point?
Self-care is always important. I'm going to get an early night, sleep in and find some time to relax over the weekend. But you best believe I'm gonna come back fighting. I hope you'll be there with me.
