What if Target Corp and Home Depot pivot back to DEI? What then?
See, philanthropy is not power. Philanthropy is not justice. Philanthropy is not structural change. Philanthropy is a sedative, if we let it be. And too often, that’s exactly what happens: a handful of organizations receive money meant to “support the community,” while the community itself remains underfunded, unheard, and unprotected. Meanwhile, Target and Home Depot can swat us away, like the critique in our notes says, because flies are easy to get rid of when they’re buzzing alone. But a collective? A unified community? That can’t be swatted away. And that's the real story today. A few can negotiate. But only the many can win. If these corporations want to talk about partnership, then they need to talk to the people, not just the intermediaries who soften the message to protect the funding pipeline. And if we want transformation, we need to stop outsourcing our voice to organizations that benefit from being the only ones allowed to speak.
