Our Commitment to Impacting Change
To our friends and colleagues,
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in broad daylight on Memorial Day and the remarkable response to this event in the past two weeks has made painfully visible a longstanding dynamic in American history: the depraved indifference to black lives and the widespread invalidation of the struggles and lived experiences of Black Americans.
As mass unrest sweeps the country, we are hearing voices—long unheard—crying out for a platform. We mourn the pain and destruction our communities of color are experiencing especially.
Beyond the tumult of the past two weeks, we do not want to lose sight of the primary issue at hand: the gaping inequality in the legal, economic, medical, educational, and social treatment afforded white people versus people of color.
George Floyd’s death was tragic, but not random — it provoked unrest sufficient to open a nationwide conversation about continued racial disparity.
We believe the best way we can honor the memory of George Floyd is to listen intently to our community and work to help create positive, enduring change. Ultimately, whether his senseless death was meaningless will depend on the individual choices of each person — did we let it pass or work to make a lasting change?
His legacy, in many ways, is yet to be decided. The ultimate difference that the death of George Floyd makes in American history will be decided by our collective action now.
Above all the dissenting voices we hear most clearly an ultimatum. To do nothing is to side with the dominant momentum, to keep the status quo alive. To not speak out at all is to take a side that is complicit in continued mistreatment. In order to be against racism, we must proactively strive for equality.
Words are not enough. Challenging systemic racism is a task that requires more than outspoken verbal solidarity from allies. Making change in our society involves the expenditure of both labor and resources, and we at Creative Fundraising Advisors are committed to a holistic program of action.
In the past few days, we’ve begun a dialogue with colleagues and fellow nonprofit professionals to offer our services in a pro bono capacity to local organizations whose missions foster equity and equal opportunities, and who are prominent voices for people of color within our community.
We are also financially supporting local organizations that are a vital resource for underserved communities and that represent healing and progress: Hiawatha Academies, We Love St. Paul, African Economic Development Solutions MN, The Link, and the Minnesota Healing Justice Network.
Finally, while we hope our donations will provide some temporary relief, our sights are set on creating a lasting and sustainable change. We realize the work we’re doing can’t be an ephemeral, token, one-time offering in response to an issue that has spanned generations. Our efforts in the coming months will be one small part of the very beginning of change—the adoption of a new model of representation.
Sincerely,
The Creative Fundraising Advisors Team