Shae Your Blessings
From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Share Your Blessings
“Be generous as long as you live. What goes
into the storehouse should come out… Generosity is a memorial for those who
show it, long after they have departed” – Ancient African wisdom saying
One of the qualities
of African people was generosity; sharing and assisting others. When I was
growing up we didn’t have a lot of money but I saw my mother give to others
when they were in need. Sacrifice is a form of giving, giving your time, resources,
the wisdom you have accumulated over the years so someone else can benefit. We
have to get back to sharing and not be so self-absorbed, self-centered and selfish.
Unfortunately a lot of Black people
think you have to be rich to give or to be a philanthropist. No so any and
everyone can give. The word philanthropy
comes from the Greek; philos meaning
to love, anthropos man, to love man
or humanity. People think you have to be rich to be a philanthropist due to the
work of a slick PR pioneer named Ivy Lee. Lee was a newspaper reporter who quit
his newspaper job and began helping politicians run their election campaigns.
He and a man named George Parker formed Parker and Lee the third PR firm in US
Another one of Lee’s major
accomplishments was changing the public image of John D. Rockefeller Jr. The
Rockefeller family was hated following the Ludlow Massacre when Rockefeller had
striking Colorado
Lee met with the miners and created
a media campaign featuring pictures of him (Lee) and Rockefeller meeting with
the miners union, dancing with their wives and planting positive stories about
Rockefeller in the media. Lee’s efforts helped quell public animosity towards
Rockefeller.
Image makers like Lee depicted the
robber barons as philanthropists because they created foundations to hold onto
their wealth but gave money to charity at the same time. This is where the American
notion that you have to be rich to be a philanthropist originated.
African people on the other hand
always knew the power of cooperation and sharing as their style was communal
living whether they were herders or sedentary agriculturists. Cooperative work,
responsibility and sharing the fruits of collective endeavors are part of our
history. Mutual aid and support were always integral parts of African culture even
during our enslavement in this country.
Today we live in a culture where
people are fixated on themselves the so called “selfie generation”. If we are
to grow, evolve and prosper socially and financially as a collective we have to
return to our African roots, values and ways. Even the poorest Africans share.
When most of our people resided in
the south, we had a tradition of helping, sharing and mutual aid. We have to
get back to and improve that tradition! A 2012 report by the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation entitled “Cultures of Giving: Energizing and Expanding Philanthropy by
and for Communities of Color”, stated African-Americans were more likely to
“give back to their community: than other ethnic groups. “African-Americans,
for instance, give away 25 percent more of their income per year than whites
and 63 percent of Latino households now make charitable donations. People of
color are also growing in size and their assets are increasing as well.” And
this report was formulated after the devastating economic crash of 2008 that
saw many African-American families’ wealth wiped out or greatly reduced.
An article about Black giving highlighted our history
of philanthropy. “The WKKF data also shows significant growth in
‘identity-based-philanthropy’, where the incentive is to give is based on race,
ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. The study, though, acknowledges
African-Americans have a long history of philanthropic giving, with its first funds
established in the 1920s. ‘Across communities, growth rates have varied but
African-American funds have had the most consistent growth over time,
increasing modestly each decade since the 1970s,’ says the report…It is not
surprising black Americans are such generous givers. This commitment to give
something back to society, especially to people of color, is best looked at in
the context of a history of racism and oppression. In the early days of
slavery the black church, with its emphasis on giving, played a central role in
aiding the community. As the fight for equality intensified, African-Americans
made significant contributions to the civil rights movement, ranging from
financial aid to helping organize NAACP events. From this struggle for equality
black people developed a loosely defined kinship, strong networks of mutual aid
and sensitively towards the less fortunate.” https://thegrio.com/2012/01/11/african-americans-are-more-charitable-than-other-races-report-says/
Let’s build upon this
great tradition and step up our giving and philanthropic efforts. Share what
you have, share your blessings.
-30-
posted by Junious Ricardo Stanton @ 1:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home