Submitted by Marjory on Tue, 2010-06-29 11:01

Filed under:

• Social Change in Oregon
• Philanthropy

When Walter Mosley accepted the annual Upton Sinclair Award from the Liberty Hill Foundation, the prolific writer and truth-teller used the opportunity to “chastise the false hierarchy of most charitable organizations” and challenge those who wish for a better world to work for liberation.

Walter Mosley serves on the editorial board of The Nation and is the critically acclaimed writer of more than 30 books including the Easy Rawlins mystery series. He was recognized for his "unwavering idealism and vision." 

Liberty Hill is MRG’s sister fund in Los Angeles. As members of the national Funding Exchange network of social justice foundations, we share the motto of “Change. Not charity” as a guiding principle in our work.

It's a philosophy Mosley shares.  In his acceptance speech he took aim at the false comfort of charity that strips people of their dignity under the guise of serving them.

“Poverty and charity are two evils. The former grinds our bones and souls and children into rubble, while the latter weakens and ultimately eliminates our ability to live lives for ourselves—leaving us dependent on the kindness of bureaucrats. You know the ones—those people who have your life in a manila folder hanging from wires in a green filing cabinet that sits behind a locked door that you don’t have the key for.”

Calling charity “the lesser evil,” Mosley challenged those who seek to relieve suffering in the world to search for a third way and applauded Liberty Hill's commitment to support activists, organizers and resisters of all kinds. In his provocative speech, which was reprinted in the Nation, Mosley reminds us of the danger that regularly tempts philanthropists. It is the danger of not questioning "their superior position of humility and selflessness or the rightness of their charity." And the danger of "aggrandiz[ing] themselves by throwing money at people who are ultimately transformed into bondsmen under the domination of this lesser evil."

It may be tempting to view a "philanthropist" as someone else -- someone with more money, for example, or someone who works for a foundation.  But philanthropy comes in all sizes, and many people with modest incomes donate a greater portion of their income than people with wealth, even if the overall amount is smaller. That means that each of us is a philanthropist, and each of us can take Mosley's words to heart.

At MRG, searching for the third way means joining communities in struggle, and funding groups that are led by people who are most impacted by oppression as they lead the way to solutions. Mosley's words are a powerful reminder of why that matters.

May we all take up his call.