“When Black women move, the whole structure of society moves with them,” said Angela Davis.
This essay is part of a Women & Democracy package focused on who’s funding the women and LGBTQ people on the frontlines of democracy. We’re manifesting a new era for philanthropy—one that centers feminism. The need is real: Funding for women and girls amounts to less than 2 percent of all philanthropic giving; for women of color, it’s less than 1 percent. Explore the “Feminist Philanthropy Is Essential to Democracy” collection.
By the end of 2024, more than half the world’s population will have gone to the polls.
It is an unprecedented moment: the number of countries holding elections—compounded by the literal and metaphorical fires taking place everywhere, from severe climate disasters to rising living costs and harrowing global conflicts—will either edge us closer to authoritarianism and patriarchal hegemony or steer us away from it.
How is philanthropy meeting this moment? On the one hand, conservative philanthropic foundations have doubled down and intensified their funding to restrict rights and freedoms. And on the other, too many self-declared progressive donors have stalled in their mission.
Black feminist movements at the forefront of transformative and courageous work are the very antidote to the anti-rights machine, working across intersections that benefit the entire community. Yet, philanthropy is still not moving enough funding to them.
Resources for women and girls overall comprise less than 2 percent of philanthropic funds. Zooming specifically to Black feminist organizing, this percentage becomes even more horrifying. Data from the Black Feminist Fund’s 2023 report, Where is the money for Black feminist movements?, shows these figures sitting between 0.1 percent to 0.35 percent of all philanthropic funding.
Yet when Black feminist movements receive sustained and abundant resources, as opposed to last minute drops in the ocean, the world wins.
Anti-rights organizing is consistent and effective in part because its funding is well coordinated and sustained. The simple but successful playbook of narrative control, flexible funding and political influencing has succeeded in every corner of the globe. Since 2007, the Christian right in the United States has delivered at least $270 million globally against the rights of women and gender expansive people (likely a conservative estimation, as recent analysis by the Global Philanthropy Project puts the revenue of several anti-rights actors at over $1 billion.)
The bitter consequences of this can be seen worldwide:
- In Ghana, a Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill targets LGBTQ+ communities and allies in ways even more extreme and draconian than other homophobic legislation.
- It can be seen in the signing of the Trump-endorsed Geneva Consensus Declaration by multiple African and Latin America countries, which states that there is no right to an abortion, undermining safe access and bodily autonomy; its principal advocate Valerie Huber, has succeeded in courting Guatemala and Uganda to also put this declaration into action.
- It can be seen in the United Kingdom, where the latest venture of Paul Marshall, conservative philanthropist who bankrolled Brexit, is GB News—which takes inspiration from Fox News, pushing half truths and conspiracy theories and employing racist and misogynistic journalists.
- And in the U.S., where conservative donors fund a world mirroring The Handmaid’s Tale, the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity has noted certain swift and reactionary steps on the part of progressive philanthropy, particularly in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against affirmative action. Among those are interventions like amending racial justice language on websites, asking partners to be more ‘race neutral,’ and censoring and/or defunding organizations for their solidarity with Palestine and calls for a ceasefire, all of which signal a racialized hierarchy about whose lives count.
Whether we look globally, regionally or locally, the bastions of white supremacy and all its associated ills are, as Beyoncé says, “in formation.” They are well coordinated and in lock step with the anti-rights movements they support.
The Black Feminist Fund exists to support and fund social movements doing life-saving and world-building intersectional work. In three years, we have moved over $15 million, by investing in 72 movement partners who work across 44 countries. We cannot do this work alone, and are calling in philanthropy to join us, rather than recede. We are making room at the table for allied funders to show up earnestly, move money abundantly and stand firm at this critical juncture for democracy.
To paraphrase Angela Davis: The whole structure of society moves when Black women move, so what is philanthropy waiting for? Let us move together!
Think investing in women is essential to democracy? We do too. Sign up for our daily or weekly emails to hear from (and join!) the feminist philanthropists funding the future. (We heard alliteration is back in style.) Or go back to the essay collection.
