I have seen first-hand heartbreaking and horrifying actions by federal agents who are supposed to protect us from harm. But you don’t have to live in our state to understand that if philanthropy — and every other part of our society — fails to push back with every tool we have, we risk setting a precedent for broader, widespread attacks on Americans’ civil liberties and freedoms.– ທ່ານ TONYA ALLEN, ປະທານາທິບໍດີ
Throughout this past year, leaders in philanthropy have wrestled with questions about how best to respond to the nearly daily threats to our democracy — and to outright attacks on how we treat one another with dignity.
As a foundation leader who has been responding to and living through events in Minnesota over the last few weeks, it has become apparent that foundations nationwide must act when our federal government has clearly crossed a red line. Other parts of society don’t have the independence or flexibility to act quickly and forcefully, but we do — and that means we have a special responsibility to lead.
As the head of a foundation based in Minnesota, I have seen first-hand heartbreaking and horrifying actions by federal agents who are supposed to protect us from harm. But you don’t have to live in our state to understand that if philanthropy — and every other part of our society — fails to push back with every tool we have, we risk setting a precedent for broader, widespread attacks on Americans’ civil liberties and freedoms.
Across community foundations, family and corporate philanthropy, and local and national networks, this is our moment to show what our sector stands for.
We need to call out the excessive use of force, the intense curtailment of civil liberties, and the ways these actions have attacked and undermined basic tenets of our democracy that we fought for and won exactly 250 years ago this summer. What is happening in Minnesota won’t stop here. It’s likely that more regions across the United States will be targeted soon, and the impact on civil rights, civil liberties, and democratic norms would be detrimental to our entire nation.
In the past few weeks, foundations and nonprofits in Minnesota have heard from hundreds of colleagues from across the country asking about the situation here, ways they can help, and advice for how to navigate similar situations they may experience in their regions.
In a nutshell, I tell everyone that our job in philanthropy is to tell the truth, share resources, and gather people across businesses, educational institutions, faith organizations, civil society, and other centers of people power to devise solutions and demand action…
ຊາວມິນນີໂຊຕາກຳລັງສະແດງດ້ວຍຫົວໃຈ
ຊອກຫາວິທີທີ່ທ່ານສາມາດຊ່ວຍໄດ້.
