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“Why We Can’t Wait”: Ford Foundation Publishes Highly-Praised Report on Investing in Black Males
The funding community plays a vital role in changing the game for Black men and boys. By consistently investing in Black male initiatives, important work across vital sectors such as research, philanthropy, direct service, public policy and advocacy can be lifted up in communities across the nation.
Recommendations from the Report
Research Recommendations for Philanthropy Academic institutions and other research venues have infrastructures that can play an important role in connecting black males to positive life outcomes. As is the case in other sectors (practice and policy), philanthropy has tremendous opportunity to strengthen the research infrastructure. The authors recommend the following issues and needs of the research sector for the philanthropic community to consider:
• Fund grants for research on African-American males (universities are responsive to fields that appear
fundable). Most of the studies and data that have come out of academia around black males have not been a result of host academic institutions validating or incentivizing this work. Accordingly, few academic grants exist to support such research.
• Create a national research center to be a central clearinghouse for research (useful to scholars, practitioners, advocates, funders and policy makers). There is currently no central clearinghouse for information and data on African-American males.
Practitioner Recommendations for Philanthropy
The community of practitioners and array of programs that seek to connect black males to positive life outcomes are diverse in their approaches. There is ample evidence that many of the organizations conducting work in this area face organizational instability, capacity deficiencies and/or isolation. The authors recommend the following issues for the philanthropic community to consider:
• Make larger and longer-term grants to programs that target improving life outcomes of black
males. In light of the data that demonstrated the short organizational life spans of many of these organizations and programs, we maintain that larger and longer-term investments would help nurture a field composed of stronger and more sustainable direct-service efforts.
• Provide pools of funding to be allocated toward building the organizational capacity of direct service practitioner groups.
• Develop forums, both regionally and nationally, for practitioner networks and peer exchanges.
• Provide support for projects that integrate related social justice concerns. For instance, programs that work at the intersection of racial justice and gender equity could be given priority. Explicit funding at the intersection of related issues affecting black males, such as education and employment, health and criminal justice, and education and masculinity, also could help sustain this work. for black males in operation today.
Public Policy and Advocacy Recommendations for Philanthropy
This report documents and analyzes some examples of public policies that disproportionately impact the
life outcomes of black males. Efforts to bring about changes in these policies through advocacy initiatives and social justice campaigns have yet to demonstrate effectiveness. Leading policy research and advocacy organizations also face resource and organizational capacity challenges with regard to advancing more just and equitable public policies. Philanthropy stands to play a unique role in educating policymakers, shifting power dynamics and identifying the levers of social change. To advance such strategies, local, regional and national foundations could support:
• The identification of public policy best practices (local, state, and national) and replication strategies for policies that have effectively created more access to opportunity for black males.
• New and existing advocacy institutions to develop the capacity and resources to mount advocacy initiatives and/or campaigns to influence public policy that helps address the disparities in quality of life outcomes for black males.
• Research and advocacy that lead to the creation of policies that improve life outcomes among black males.
Conclusion
The aforementioned advocacy efforts are just a few of many policy initiatives and programs that the authors
came across in this scan. As these efforts verify, the policy advocacy institutions working to address issues
that disproportionately affect African-American males are varied in structure, issue area, advocacy activities and products. These institutions provide both obvious opportunities and challenges for philanthropy. There are several questions that the philanthropic community must grapple with in an effort to make the most strategic investments in supporting and creating sound policy advocacy initiatives that both dismantle existing oppressive policies and develop more equitable alternatives:
• If a community of policy/advocacy institutions already exists, what are the barriers that impede a steady progression of “policy wins” that improve African-American males’ access to positive life outcomes? How can philanthropy identify opposing forces, strategically allocate funding, etc.?
• If the aggregate infrastructure of policy advocacy institutions extends from civil rights organizations to academic institutions, is the current policy advocacy apparatus sufficient? How well has philanthropy resourced the current policy advocacy institutions and initiatives?
* Excerpts from "Why We Can't Wait" used by permission. Copyright: Frontline Solutions Inc. - Marcus Little's, Founding Partner and Principal Consultant - 274 Willoughby Ave. #BG, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11205, (347) 350–5430. email: frontlinesolutions@gmail.com
