( ENSPIRE News ) Women Invested To Save Earth Fund Presents Ayo Tometi as Black Philanthropy Month’s Keynote Speaker
ENSPIRE Contributor: Phitchaya Thongthai
Titled the “Fierce Urgency of Now: From Dream to Action”, Dr. Martin Luther King’s unflinching tenacity in his activism inspired this year’s Black Philanthropy Month. Black Philanthropy Month or BPM is an annual multinational summit held in August to celebrate and empower Black giving. Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland launched BPM in 2011.
Through the years over 30 women across the globe have had a hand in helping organize summits and campaigns, with Camila Aoli as its current leader. Since its inception, BPM has grown to have over 19 million participants across 60 countries to celebrate Black History Month. Starting on August 3rd and ending on August 31st, this year’s summit features Ayo Tometi as its keynote speaker and other prominent members of the Black community such as Bakari Sellers, Darren Walker, and Sunny Hostin.
Tometi is the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement and the founder of Diaspora Rising. One of the most influential movements of the 21st century, Black Lives Matter used social media as a tool to highlight racism, discrimination, and inequality experienced by Black people, changing the way America conceives and converse about race. Who better to open the BPM summit than the co-founder of a movement that defines our generation?
Black Philanthropy Month focuses on elevating and funding efforts toward equality and equity. The summit promotes black businesses and philanthropy, which aims to address economic inequality. In participating in the summit, there is a renewed sense of urgency and refocus on ongoing racial issues at hand.
ENSPIRE interviewed Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland on the 2022 summit and BPM’s future plans.
How does the 11th year compare to the first year of the summit?
The movement has grown phenomenally from 8 million participants across 20 countries at the first official Black Philanthropy Month (BPM) Summit to a total of over 19 million across 60 countries aided largely by the advent of social media. The past few years, we’ve been adding about a million people a year, between direct summit and social media participation. I’m hoping that the 2022 summit takes us over the 20 million mark and adds even more countries.
What is the main takeaway for those who take part in the summit?
Black people worldwide give at high levels, but we don’t have fair access to philanthropic or venture funding, although we’re qualified. There can be no racial or economic justice without fair funding opportunities for the Black innovators founding and leading our nonprofits and businesses. Let’s unite around the 10 global Black funding equity principles to promote racial and economic justice for Black people everywhere.
How can others contribute or collaborate on the summit’s initiative?
There are 5 ways. Register to get informed at https://bit.ly/FundBlackSummit2022; answer our surveys and nominate equitable funders for our annual award available at https://blackphilanthropymonth.com; fund us to build the movement at https://givebutter.com/WCvpRR; all funders and investors should sign and enact the Global Black Funding Equity Pledge at https://bit.ly/BPMPledge.
BPM invites all funders and investors. Are there any other professionals or community leaders that should be interested in this?
BPM invites people of all backgrounds – anyone interested in making Martin Luther King’s always universal Dream become real in our times. All funders and investors need to remove the implicit biases fostering the stark and continuing funding gap facing Black communities worldwide, especially in this Fierce Urgency of Now – a crossroads where converging crises threaten to turn back the clock on the civil and human rights gains of the past century. Justice won’t wait! Together, we can finally make funding equity real for communities still undermined by the resilient injustices of racism and neocolonialism.
Black Philanthropy Month is a celebration of progress but a reminder of the work left to do. To quote, Dr. Martin Luther King, “In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there ‘is’ such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”
To learn more about this year’s Black Philanthropy Month Summit click here.
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