Giving Black Matters

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Photo: June 2020 protest against injustice, Charlotte, NC | V. Fullwood

Earlier this month, I spun a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts into an op-ed and posted it on Medium.com. I made an appeal to my Southern city, Charlotte, North Carolina, and hope it’s listening. Below is an excerpt.

By elevating and strengthening Black leadership and voices of groups that historically have been marginalized, our city can make strides in de-centering Whiteness. We must dismantle systems of anti-Black racism that have dominated Southern culture and sustained institutions and structures that perpetuate distrust, oppression, inequity and injustice.

You can read the entire piece here, Giving Black Matters: A Call for Philanthropy That Believes In Our Humanity and Invests In Our Equality.

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Photo: June 2020 protest against injustice, Charlotte, NC | V. Fullwood

Monday Morning Shout-out

So grateful for all the folks who participated in our “Giving Back” video shoot last Friday. Over 20 people, including several children and teens, took part in the shoot for a trailer for the book Giving Back. The day was fantastically fun and everyone brought great energy.

Thank you to Lisa Moore and Bailand Bohannon, Rashad Davis (we appreciate the lunch that you provided!), Diatra Fullwood, Melissa Harris, Terry Tiamd, Cathy Peterson, Q and The Bazzelles, The Bradfords and The Thomases.

Studio space was kindly provided by WTVI, Charlotte’s PBS station. I’m appreciative to Eric Davis for making the connection and to Rick Fitts, Jere Thomas and Jeannie Fry for providing support during our time at WTVI.

The gifted Sino Chum of Camko Studios is our professional videographer. Sino worked nearly nonstop over an intense 48-hour period and crisscrossed the country—from Denver to Charlotte to Columbia to Charlotte and back to Denver—to make it all happen. Thank you Sino for your time and enthusiasm!

I’m also filled with gratitude for the dear friend who generously gave a donation to make the video shoot possible. Wow!

We’re aiming to release the main video around Thanksgiving, which marks the start of the season of giving. Please look out for the video’s release and then help us circulate it by sharing the link with family and friends.