Four Ways Philanthropy Can Support the Movement for a Third Reconstruction | Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.

"The Trump administration's attacks on hard-won US freedoms pose a devastating threat. The administration has bullied independent institutions to limit free speech, ignored people's rights to due process and equal protection under the law, and slashed the nation's social safety net that provides people access to healthcare and economic opportunity. As unprecedented as this may feel, we have been here before."

"The fight for freedom and justice in our country has never been linear or easy. Periods of advancement have routinely triggered vicious backlash. In the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, Black people made transformative political and economic gains. But much of this progress was short-lived, as White supremacists responded with violence and racist policies that undid many civil rights gains. Over the following century, courageous grassroots organizing laid the foundation for what became the civil rights movement, also known as the Second Reconstruction."

"Those in the halls of power retaliated by passing policies to suppress voting, encourage mass incarceration, and divest from universal public goods like clean drinking water, clean air, public parks, swimming pools, libraries, and education. This is a predictable cycle-but the whiplash is painful, nonetheless. Foundations should...support communities to build and sustain a more equitable, just, and resilient Third Reconstruction."

The Trump administration's attacks on freedoms have included bullying institutions, limiting free speech, ignoring due process and equal protection, and cutting the social safety net that ensures healthcare and economic opportunity. Periods of progress have triggered harsh backlash historically: Reconstruction gains were undone by white supremacist violence and racist policies, and later civil rights advances faced suppression through voting restrictions, mass incarceration, and divestment from public goods. Grassroots Black-led organizing produced the Second Reconstruction's gains. Foundations should use philanthropic money and public platforms to support communities in building and sustaining a more equitable, just, and resilient Third Reconstruction.

Read at Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.