When we named racial equity as a priority in our strategic plan, we also named it a value to start our own internal learning journey as an organization and as individuals. Starting in 2019, each month, we feature a "What We're Reading" section in our Member News that highlights what people in the Funders Together network are reading to expand their understanding of racial equity. This page is an archive of past articles, blog posts, and books that were featured in past editions of the FTEH Member News. We hope this will spur inspiration for your personal or organizational racial equity work and that you'll learn alongside us.

What We're Reading in: 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019

What We're Reading: Resilient in the Face of Challenge: Responding to the Fearless Fund Decision and Upholding Our Commitment by ABFE - A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities

Who's Reading It: Funders Together to End Homelessness Staff

Earlier this month, the Fearless Fund ended a small business grant contest for Black women in a settlement deal with conservative group American Alliance for Equal Rights. As we grapple with the impact this has on the Fearless Fund’s grantee partners, the authors make one thing abundantly clear: race-explicit grantmaking and programming is legally sound and necessary to achieve a more liberated world. The scope of the case was narrow and strategic, and should not distract from our work of racial justice.

As ABFE shared in their statement: "We cannot let one case dismantle our vision. A race-explicit lens is the only way to be clear-eyed about fairness and opportunity in 21st century America. We know that when Black people win, we all win, and our work must continue for the sake of fairness, opportunity, and justice." In light of these challenges, philanthropic leaders must not only show up in their commitment to racial equity, but they must show up vocally and visibly with continued investments for Black communities and other marginalized groups. 

What We're Reading: A Call-In to Grow Indigenous Power by Michael Johnson and Angie Chen. 

Who's Reading It: Funders Together to End Homelessness Staff

As part of our learning journey on Indigenous housing justice, we have highlighted the importance of self-determination and decolonization. During our 2024 Funders Institute, Native leaders highlighted how less than half of a percent of philanthropic dollars go to Native organizations. In this article titled A Call-In to Grow Indigenous Power authors Michael Johnson and Angie Chen invite funders to reckon with the history of philanthropy, including the significant disparities that exist between institutional priorities and pressing needs of Indigenous communities. 

The authors advocate for solutions like directly funding Native organizations and listening to Indigenous leadership, demonstrating trust through abundant multi-year general support grants, seeding community organizations doing the work, and investing in cross-sector relationship-building with grantees. By moving towards decolonization and beyond just land acknowledgments, we can truly reimagine our relationships with ourselves and our communities. 

What We're Reading: A Multiracial Democracy in the United States Requires Racial Repair by Nicole Carty, Aria Florant & Vikas Maturi 

Who's Reading It: Funders Together to End Homelessness Staff

During the 2024 Funders Forum, we explored the role of funders in racial repair and reparations with Aria Florant and Vikas Maturi from Liberation Ventures. As the 2024 election cycle is in full swing and we are witnessing the effects of the Johnson v. Grants Pass ruling in real time, it begs the question: what does it mean to build a multiracial democracy that secures rights and freedoms for all people? The authors write, “We must create the conditions for a true multiracial democracy. Reparations go beyond the financial; they mean demanding the cessation of policies that infringe on Black peoples’ rights and suppress Black political power.” It means recognizing the political harm of discriminatory policies, such as redlining and mass incarceration, and taking active steps to redress them to truly create an inclusive democracy.

What does it take for funders to make this vision a reality? They urge philanthropy to invest in the reparations ecosystem and support organizations advancing the reparations movement: storytellers who are doing narrative work on reparations, grassroots organizers and advocates, and those building movement infrastructure. Furthermore, funders can push for reparations and support policymakers committed to the work, such as in Evanston, IL, where policymakers distributed restorative housing payments to Black residents harmed by discriminatory housing practices. As the authors remind us, political participation in our country’s history has never been equal. But by fully embracing efforts to redress the injustices of the past, we can build towards a more visionary future - one that protects the rights and freedoms of all people.

What We're Reading: “Whose Streets? Our Streets!”: Grants Pass v. The People by Representative Cori Bush and Stephanie Sena.

Who's Reading It: Jack Zhang, Programs and Communications Manager, Funders Together to End Homelessness 

After the release of the Johnson v. Grants Pass decision, I have been doing some deep reflecting on what it means to achieve justice. As authors Representative Cori Bush and Stephanie Sena point out in their article, the ruling on Johnson v. Grants Pass was not only about homelessness, it was something deeper: it is a question about who belongs.

This is important as we consider the devastating effects of the ruling, to not lose sight of how it will affect people of color and other marginalized communities. Incarceration overwhelmingly impacts communities of color, and the new ruling is only set to exacerbate the racial disparities that already exist in the criminal-legal system and make it that more difficult for people experiencing homelessness to get the resources that they need. 

Racial justice is housing justice. As the authors remind us, the criminalization of homelessness is a violation of due process, the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, and it further entraps people within a system of poverty. While it is true that our country has a history of displacement of Indigenous people, redlining and segregation, and incarceration of people experiencing homelessness, we can choose another way. By investing in housing, communities, and our unhoused neighbors, we can work towards a world where each of our lives matter and are cared for.

What We're Reading: No More Police: A Case for Abolition by Andrea Ritchie and Mariame Kaba

Who's Reading It: Michael Durham, Director of Networks, Funders Together to End Homelessness 

In their coauthored work No More Police, Mariame Kaba and Andrea Ritchie make the case for police abolition with precision and vulnerability. For those of us in the housing justice movement, it stands out that homelessness shows up on nearly every page of this text on policing. Just as we name the criminal-legal system as a key intersection for our advocacy, it is instructive to know that abolitionists draw on homelessness similarly. Moreover, abolition of the prison-industrial complex and ending homelessness are both functions of dismantling structural racism because anti-Blackness and colonization are responsible for both crises.

Kaba and Richie’s writing knits these systems together under the umbrella “criminalization.” Rereading Kaba reminds me of the increased attention to punitive responses to homelessness provoked by Johnson v Grants Pass and whether the term “criminalization” is effective in our messaging to a popular audience. How do we hold space for both the opportunities and risks of positioning criminalization as the central issue that our intersecting movements mobilize against?  

What We're Reading: A History of Housing Policy Through a Racial Equity Lens by Enterprise Community Partners

Who's Reading It: Jack Zhang, Programs and Communications Manager, Funders Together to End Homelessness

For us to understand the massive racial disparities in our housing system today, we need to take a look back at the origins of our country and the policies that have had an enormous influence on the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. This timeline by Enterprise Community Partners reveals how centuries of discrimination and exploitative policies have significantly impacted where and how people from marginalized backgrounds have been able to live. 

By recognizing these historical precedents and their implications, philanthropy can help forge a new path forward that puts racial and housing justice at the forefront. It also underscores the importance of philanthropy engaging in advocacy at the local and national level, since these housing policies have ripple effects that continue to this day. With this knowledge, philanthropy can invest in the movement building, advocacy, and racial justice efforts for a more just and liberated world. 

What We're Reading: Resonance 2nd Edition, a Just Transition Guide for Philanthropic Transformation by Justice Funders

Who's Reading It: Funders Together to End Homelessness Staff

Recently, Justice Funders released their second edition of the report "Resonance 2nd Edition, a Just Transition Guide for Philanthropic Transformation." As a follow up to their original framework launched back in 2019, this report features updates that center on several strategic question to guide philanthropy towards more restorative practices. It highlights funders who have taken bold action to transform their communities. As they remind us in their foreword, “Transition is inevitable. Justice is not.” The resource offers some crucial resources and action items for philanthropy as we move away from a extractive economy, and build towards a regenerative economy.

What We're Reading: Stifled Generosity: How Philanthropy Has Fueled the Accumulation and Privatization of Wealth by Justice Funders

Who's Reading It: Kristin Aldana-Taday, Program Officer, Homelessness, The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Board Member, Funders Together to End Homelessness

The article “Stifled Generosity: How Philanthropy Has Fueled the Accumulation and Privatization of Wealth," landed in my inbox and piqued my curiosity. With more than ten years in the private philanthropic sector, this quick-to-read article highlighted key moments in the construction of the philanthropic field and how some of the well-meaning intent of particular policies and practices ended up increasing inequality and perpetuating harm.

Checking out this timeline can help inspire funders to reflect on these historical events, and, "re-imagine how philanthropy can operate in ways that redistribute wealth, democratize power, and shift economic control to communities."

What We're Reading: Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot

Who's Reading It: Paula Carvalho, Program Officer, Youth Homelessness, Raikes Foundation

Michael Harriot’s Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America is a phenomenal piece written in a way that catches the reader's attention with hard historical facts and casual humor. The book dives into U.S. history as well as how the U.S. has driven inequitable outcomes for victims of the Transatlantic slave trade and their descendants. It is unapologetic at fighting popular whitewashed versions of history. Reading this book was especially timely given the political atmosphere to distort what is taught in schools through increased push back on Critical Race Theory, book bans, and the deliberate minimization of the horrors of slavery. 

This book taught me so much more about American History than I had ever been taught. It clearly lays out that Black history is American history. Additionally, Michael Harriot narrates the audio book, which allows his humor and brilliance to really shine through.