Episode 2

Joy in
Collective
Giving

On today’s episode, we will hear from a few radical leaders, moving funds and resources through mutual aid and collective giving efforts.

Each guest embodies the very soul of what ancient forms of giving stood for.

featuring

  • Philanthropy Together
    CEO

    Sara Lomelin is a connector of people and ideas, a relationship builder, and a firm believer that everyone can be a philanthropist. Sara is the founding CEO of Philanthropy Together, a global initiative to diversify and democratize philanthropy through the power of collective giving. In 2023, Sara was named to Forbes’ 50 Over 50: Impact List and her 2022 TED Talk, "Your invitation to disrupt philanthropy," has more than $1.45M views. Sara serves on the National Council of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the Board of Directors of GivingTuesday, and Battery Powered.

  • Philadelphia Assembly
    Executive Director

    Till Arts Project
    Founder & Artistic Director

    Wit López (they/them) is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed, multidisciplinary maker, performance artist, writer, cultural advocate, and radical social change philanthropist based in Philadelphia, PA for the last 20 years. They are the Founder and Artistic Director of Till Arts Project, a grassroots arts services project serving LGBTQ+ artists in the Greater Philadelphia Area, and the Owner and Curator of Wit López Gallery, a space centered on uplifting the artwork of LGBTQ+ creatives of color. López is also the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Assembly and the current Board Chair of the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation.

  • Community Advocate of
    Reproductive Justice and Mutual Aid

    Yellowhammer Fund
    Executive Director 

    Jenice is a grassroots organizer and advocate in Birmingham, Alabama dedicated to Reproductive Justice, direct aid, and equitable services for marginalized people. Jenice - a mom herself - is the founder of Margins: Women Helping Black Women, a local community aid organization that addresses the reproductive, financial, and material needs of low-income Black mothers, TGNC parents, and their children. Jenice prides herself on her work through a harm reduction lens and views her work as direct pushback to the stigmatized services that Black people are often subject to as well as a direct pushback to capitalist systems. 

  • Operation Olive Branch
    Accomplices

    Operation Olive Branch (OOB) is a volunteer-powered grassroots effort committed to the collective liberation of ALL peoples. This global solidarity initiative is steered by a diverse core council of advocates from occupied Turtle Island—including Palestinian activists, a Jewish grandchild of a holocaust survivor, and everyone in between. We hope to honor our Ancestors and the Activists who came before us by continuing their efforts as the Empire finally falls. 

Listen & Scroll

Read along and check out resources as you listen.

segment 1: ancient forms of giving
narrated by Tom Tamayo Young

segment 2: generosity from your bones
with guest Sara Lomelin

segment 3: mutual aid in a crisis
with guest Jenice Fountain

segment 4: tendrils in the community
with guest Wit López

segment 5: friendship in giving circles
with guest Sara Lomelin

segment 6: art fueling revolution
with guests Z and M

segment 1

ancient forms of giving

narrated by your host,
Tom Tamayo Young

feat.
'Blossom, Flourish, Grow’
by Wit López

  • Wit 

    [ singing a capella ] Blossom, flourish, grow.

    Host

    [ overlapping, spoken ] For the Love of Radical Giving,

    Wit 

    [ singing a capella ] We still need to blossom, flourish, grow….

  • Host

    [ overlapping, spoken ] ... you are tuning into a GIA Reader miniseries that deconstructs traditional philanthropy and celebrates the joy and power of giving out of love. I'm your host, Tom Tamayo-Young. I'm a proud co-founder of Vital Little Plans, an artist giving circle, and Flannel & Blade, a queer-owned communication shop for good. Take my hand as we jog through some incredible interviews with radical visionaries who are actively working on reshaping this philanthropic landscape towards a more just and equitable future for all.

    Long before the rise of industrial capitalism and the birthplace of institutional philanthropy, communities around the world practiced radical forms of collective giving that were deeply entrenched with everyday life. Systems like the Susu in West Africa, tandas in Latin America and Pasanaku in the Andes exemplify these communal approaches. Susu, in particular, is a resilient communal saving system that survived the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade, becoming a vital tool of necessity and enduring centuries of oppression. These practices are more than just alternatives to traditional philanthropy. They represent the original ways of mutual support and shared wealth, where giving was a way of life, not a means to protect privilege.

    Traditional philanthropy, as it emerged during the industrial era, marked a departure from these communal traditions, serving more to preserve the interest of the industrial class than to foster true communal welfare. Today, as we look for ways to reclaim radical and collective approaches to giving, it's critical we remember that these are not new ideas. They are a return to ancient practices of care and solidarity. On today's episode, we will hear from a few radical leaders moving funds and resources through mutual aid and collective giving efforts. Each guest embodies the very soul of what ancient forms of giving stood for. Let's get started, shall we?

    [ music transition ]

Resources

segment 2

generosity from your bones

with guest
Sara Lomelin
Philanthropy Together

begins at 2:35

  • Sara

    I want to see radical generosity, that it goes literally from your bones. It emanates from your bones. You wake up in the morning and you are radically generous, not only with your money and your financial resources, but with your time, with your smile, with your love, with your presence.

    Host

    This is Sara Lomelin, chief executive officer of Philanthropy Together, an organization democratizing and diversifying philanthropy through the power of collective giving.

  • Sara

    When we started Philanthropy Together, it was very purposefully that we picked the name philanthropy to be in the name. We said we are reclaiming the word and we're changing that concept. And how do we reclaim that, how we change the narrative of who gets to be considered a philanthropist?

    Host

    So who can call themselves a true lover of humanity?

    Sara

    My mom never considered herself a philanthropist, but she was always the one feeding our family members, feeding our neighbors, supporting our cousins when they needed support. So that is philanthropy.

    Host

    And this love of humanity, what we see beautifully in your mother's actions is exactly what's at the heart of collective giving.

    Sara

    It's how do we give better together and have a larger impact? By pulling our resources. And not only our financial resources, but what we call in collective giving as the five T's. So our time, our talent, our testimony, our ties, and our treasure of course.

    Host

    How can philanthropy shift its approach to more collective forms of giving?

    Sara

    It's changing three different things. It's changing who gives and not making assumptions on who can give and who cannot give, how we give and moving from the transactional to the relational, blurring power dynamics and involving people from the community giving to the community, and what gets funded. If we are just waiting for a handful of billionaires or foundations to decide what is worth it, we are leaving 95% of the nonprofits underfunded. So by each of us taking, rolling up our sleeves and getting together with our neighbors, our colleagues, our family members, our cousins, that is how we change what gets funded.

    Host

    It sounds like real change, even big change against billionaires happens around the coffee table.

    Sara

    And that is what I love about collective giving, giving circles, mutual aid societies. Because we start by building relationships and by connecting to each other at a personal level. You open this space for love, for literally seeing people where they are, and doing everything in your power to walk alongside that person.

    Host

    And as we build relationships at the steady speed of trust, how can funders shift their focus towards resourcing more grassroots movements?

    Sara

    We should be giving to nonprofit organizations and to leaders on the ground and to move leaders like we give to family members. Looking them through the eyes, right? Like looking them to their eyes, that is how you establish a connection. Some of these foundations are so far removed from the communities that they are supporting, supposedly, that there is a big disconnect.

    Host

    Can you tell us more about the ways in which collective giving groups are funding and fundraising for the things that they care about?

    Sara

    We were talking about mutual aid societies. We are talking about giving circles. There are also giving days. Like Giving Tuesdays started as a hashtag and now they're in a hundred countries.

    Host

    I love learning about all these creative ways that people are giving. What else?

    Sara

    Giving projects are kind of giving circles in steroids, because literally is people that not only are giving their financial resources, but they're really engaging deeply in a community as volunteers, as mentors, as giving their talents.

    Host

    Tell me a little more about giving circles. These seem to be gaining momentum and are starting to pop up all over the place. How did these groups of people giving collectively start?

    Sara

    Most of the giving circles and collective giving groups are led by women and were started by women years ago. Why? Some of these women had their own family foundations and they were not funding women and girls issues. They were very patriarchal. So they were like, "Okay, this is not good." So they started giving circles that then became women's funds. And you have many, many women's funds giving to women and girls.

    Host

    So in a digital age, the idea of community has expanded beyond the local. How do giving circles accommodate for this shift in scale for how we approach different challenges?

    Sara

    Right now, I feel that we're in a very good place where giving circles are using different tools to make sure that they are supporting the causes that they care about. So you still have intimacy of those giving circles that are around a kitchen table. But you also have the flexibility of some giving circles that are around a cause, but they don't have a geographic limit. So you have giving circles that give regionally, nationally, internationally, and also kind of hybrid ones.

    Host

    All of these collective giving approaches are powerful and lean into the hard work of their leadership. How can our listeners continue to become inspired by this work?

    Sara

    I would say for folks that are part of the industry, the sector, take the time to meet those leaders on the ground, the people that are really doing the work. And take the time to be grateful for the privilege of your work. We are so privileged to be able to move resources to causes and to the people doing the work on the ground.

    Host

    The world is as big as its problems are plenty. How can we show up to this work to prepare us for the long journey?

    Sara

    The challenges and the problems that the world is facing are overwhelming and are heartbreaking, but the act of giving should be joyful. And we shouldn't forget to do this in a joyful way, in a social way, in a community-building way.

    Host

    We're going to hear again from Sarah in a little while. In the meantime, let's explore a few other ways that folks are meeting their neighbor's needs.

    [ music transition ]

segment 3

mutual aid in a crisis

with guest
Jenice Fountain
Yellowhammer Fund

begins at 9:30

  • Jenice

    Mutual aid is not, "I have this thing you need. So give me 12 reports, your firstborn, and then maybe I'll give you $2 that you need to report on."

    Host

    This is Jenice Fountain, executive director of the Yellowhammer Fund, a reproductive justice organization serving Alabama, Mississippi, and the deep south. They center mutual aid at the heart of what they do and why they do it.

  • Jenice

    We're reproductive justice experts. We're abortion advocacy experts. But we're not the experts of anyone's lived experience.

    Host

    And what does mutual aid mean to you?

    Jenice

    What does it mean? To have what we need and part with what we don't, to make sure that everyone else is collectively okay as well.

    Host

    And where have you seen mutual aid in action?

    Jenice

    After the Dobbs decision, we couldn't fund any more abortion at all. We couldn't advise. We had the threat of criminal conspiracy. It was so necessary for us to already have things in place to take care of people that we can only have to double down on.

    Host

    It sounds like it's really simply about getting needs met, meeting people where they're at.

    Jenice

    We got rid of our office, we got a bus. And we were like, "Let's get to folks in community." We're already in community, but how do we do most of our work in community now that there's not access to abortion?

    Host

    So what's the bus bringing folks?

    Jenice

    Our bus has safer sex supplies, so like condoms, emergency contraceptives. It has pregnancy tests, ovulation tests, lube. But it also has lunch, because we don't want to talk to people that are hungry about abortion access.

    Host

    How else do mutual aid networks distribute resources?

    Jenice

    Part of the work has been just funding mutual aid organizations, because we know that when someone says they need gas money, they're just going to give them gas money. It's not going to be like, "Well, we have a workforce program that you could join and you have these parenting classes."

    Host

    That's incredible. But I can't imagine many of these foundations want to grant somebody's gas money.

    Jenice

    What is great about the Yellowhammer Fund and our money is that 74% of it is single donors, so literally community. And that also allows us to hold the few funders that we do have that are engaging with us in different ways accountable, because we have community to back us for funding.

    Host

    Ah, there's no way you'd be as nimble and responsive with concentrated support from just a few funders.

    Jenice

    Again, we're able to lean into the fact that we have a lot of trusted support from single donors. Because I think if we had more reliance on philanthropy, we wouldn't exist anymore.

    Host

    But isn't getting large chunks of money helpful? Why not lean into a system that has more resources?

    Jenice

    I can't say enough that mutual aid of philanthropy are not the same. Because mutual aid allows you to address needs in real time. It allows you to see full humans as whole individuals that have autonomy over their life and what support for them looks like. The same is not true of philanthropy.

    Host

    And why do you think that is? Why is there a lack of humans seeing humans in philanthropy?

    Jenice

    Because when we engage in philanthropy sometimes, it definitely feels like, "Am I deserving?" And there's this dynamic of having someone decide whether you deserve to have your needs met or not, while also stating that they're cognizant of what you've engaged with to end up in this situation to need your needs to be met.

    Host

    Ah, I can see how this causes an imbalance in the relationship.

    Jenice

    But we can't hold them accountable for ghosting us or a conversation in which what's left, like, "We're not sure what's going on. Are they going to fund us? Are we going to have the conversation again? Did we say something wrong?" How do we have a conversation that holds philanthropy accountable when they're in this position to fund us or not fund us? Which would mean it could mean our salaries, it could mean the work that we're able to actualize in communities.

    Host

    Totally. It leaves you in a position where you can't even advocate for your own needs, particularly those from complicated overlapping systems of oppression.

    Jenice

    People's lived experiences and the multitude of their oppressions can't be seen as inconveniences to philanthropy when you say, "Hey, we want to actualize universal basic income," or, "We want to fight these systems that disproportionately impact Black and brown people and their reproductive health." And then it's like, "Well, not that." We wanted to say the thing that we were supposed to say and leave the chat, and that's very harmful to the folks that we serve and the people trying to actualize work.

    Host

    And so how can funders show up in this space to be more supportive of the communities that are already actualizing this work?

    Jenice

    I had a conversation with a funder in Atlanta recently, and they hired 60 people to go out into communities to have conversations. Whereas they could have sub-granted the money to an organization that was already in community to do that work. Very counterproductive, right? People are already actualizing that work. You can just be cognizant of where you stand, what your role in the work is, and trusting that that's happening in the way that it's being communicated to you.

    Host

    This is important. Oftentimes, the burden of code-switching and garnering trust goes to the ones trying to get the work done.

    Jenice

    There's only so much time in a day that we can devote to convincing you that we're doing work that we've already been doing for free, and do the reporting and do the work and then come back and follow up with receipts. You have to know your space. And if your space is funding, then fund the work that is being done.

    Host

    Your perspective makes all this systemizing seem a little unnecessary.

    Jenice

    My people, we need cash. We definitely said cash. If you want to do granting that is super restrictive and you have this idea off your head that you don't want to pay a salary out with funding, although you're sitting on a salary to do this work, then it's like, "Well, what then was your actual point? What was the actual goal?"

    Host

    And for those listening who might be hearing a bit of themselves in all of this, what would you encourage them to do going forward?

    Jenice

    Be in community, be in genuine community, be in collaborative collective community with people, and in an autonomous way. And if you have resources that are like you build to be ill gains or at the exploitation of others, turn them over and turn them easily, quickly, without restraint, without prerequisites. Give the money where it should be.

    Host

    Give easily, quickly, without restraint. There's something beautiful and human about that.

    Jenice

    It is not innate to us as individuals to gatekeep resources or money. It's been very much taught to us by our white supremacist culture. And we need to get back to what's genuinely innate. We are people that know how to share. We know how to make sure that collective is taken care of. And we need to really get back to that.

Resources

segment 4

tendrils in the community

with guest
Wit López
Philadelphia Assembly and
Till Arts Project

begins at 15:48

  • Wit

    [ singing a capella ] We still need to blossom, flourish, grow…

    Host

    [ overlapping, spoken ] This is Wit López…

    Wit

    [ singing a capella ] We still need to blossom…

    Host

    ... a multidisciplinary maker, performance artist and cultural advocate, living and making art in Philadelphia. They're the founder of Till Arts, a haven for queer artists in Philly. And they're also a member of the Philadelphia Assembly, which formed in 2019 as one of ArtPlace America's last investments. Local control, local field.

  • Wit

    There was that trust and belief in that group of people from ArtPlace when they were like, "We love the mission you've created. Here's $2 million."

    Host

    And how'd the assembly choose how to collectively distribute this windfall of cash?

    Wit

    The original membership was 30 people. And so a small steering committee would make some decisions, and then pass it to the larger group and ask, "Is this something that we want to move forward with?" And then we will move forward collectively.

    Host

    The assembly quickly grew, because each member reached out to invite someone else with closer ties to the community.

    Wit

    I think when you have the people who are doing the work reach out to the people who are doing the work at the community level, and then who reach out to people who are in the communities, who are embedded in the communities doing the work. And so, it kind of puts tendrils out into the community, feelers out to make sure that the people who are at the very base level who need these things get these things.

    Host

    So how is this money distributed to actually reach folks on the ground?

    Wit

    So one of the ways that we've given out funding is through a program that we call Ripples. It'll be like a $2,000 grant that is at the mercy of one of our members. And that member will find someone in the community that they feel like needs this to support their work. It can be an artist, it could be a community center. And those Ripples will go out into the community in the form of a $2,000 grant.

    Host

    How do you know those $2,000 are being spent well? Do you ask for any reporting?

    Wit

    In the same way that we don't ask people to do an application, we ourselves as the Philadelphia Assembly can also continue that kind of research or that kind of observation to know that yes, the people and the organizations and collectives who receive this are blossoming and becoming the things that they want to be without having to tell us or report back, or even thank us, honestly. Because why should we feel like we are owed anything when other people have actual needs?

    Host

    It sounds like you've all created a really effective process for distributing funds pretty equitably. Where do you see the challenges in collective giving?

    Wit

    I think sometimes conversations can get a little lost, because people feel like one thing needs to be prioritized over another instead of addressing the fact that people are losing housing and people are dying and people are hungry and people are unemployed or underemployed chronically. Those are the things that need to be addressed. And it is not a competition. It is not a competition.

    Host

    Prioritizing basic human needs over all other goals is critical. Till Arts, the organization that you founded, provides resources, food, and safe spaces for queer artists in Philadelphia. How did a simple artist residency form into something so life-giving?

    Wit

    So I started telling people, "Feel free to come by my studio if you want to work on something, if you want to whatever." And then I started having snacks and I was like, "Hey, if you want to come here and have snacks, feel free." And then people were like, "Oh, you're doing art with people? I'm going to send you art supplies." And other people were like, "Oh, you're giving people snacks. I'm going to send you food." So then I started using it as a space to collect food for community members that didn't have food. But then also keeping food there so that people wouldn't have to say, "I'm hungry," but you could just stop by and make art and then also eat without having to ask anybody for food.

    Host

    Wow, that's very powerful, Wit.

    Wit

    It's literally using the arts as a tool for social change by feeding people, by getting people art supplies, by being able to give them unrestricted micro grants, so that they don't have to choose between, "Am I going to get a new pencil today for my sketchbook or am I going to buy eggs, a carton of eggs?" Nobody should have to pick between those things. And a lot of artists do, especially artists who are living in poverty.

    Host

    Eating food and making art. These are joyful practices that bring life into this work.

    Wit

    Oh, absolutely. I think joy is super important. It is so, so necessary for people to live and to thrive. And it also helps people forget about the pain of living in a capitalist society and having to go to work every day or having your body not being deemed valuable because of the amount of work that you can or can't do. So people deserve joy, living in these systems that can be so heavy every single day.

    Host

    This is a beautiful testament to the power of art in this work.

    Wit

    Even if it's just a single picture. Or if it's somebody clowning on a stage or making a ridiculous joke that makes almost no sense. They deserve that. They deserve that joy. And joy should be something that is shared regularly with everyone. [ they laugh ] It's okay.

    [ music transition ]

Resources

segment 5

friendship in
giving circles

with guest
Sara Lomelin
Philanthropy Together

begins at 21:20

  • Host

    Joy has always been a source of inspiration for me in my art practice and my giving practice. It's part of what inspired me and my six friends to start our own artist giving circle, Vital Little Plans. We had a lot of help from folks at Philanthropy Together, by the way. Let's check back in with our friend Sara Lomelin.

    Sara

    Collective giving is literally a mini laugh of civic engagement. Because we get to be together, getting to discourse and debate, right? Because yeah, I mean you are giving circle, all the members of Vital Little Plans, you are rallying around a cause. But all of you come from very different backgrounds, very different stories, and you may disagree in many different things. And by being together you learn to, again, see the person on the other side and understand each other and engage in discourse.

  • Host

    I couldn't have said it better myself, Sara. It is a true joy to play in this radical sandbox with these friends of mine.

    Sara

    Someone asked me one time... They said, "But why do people want to do that? It's messy." And I said, "Yes, it's totally messy. And it is joyful and it's fun and it's transformative."

    Host

    I totally agree. VLP has changed and morphed and flowed as our individual lives and the world continues to evolve.

    Sara

    You can do it however you want. Literally, you are going to build something that is going to fit your group, your audience. And if in six months it's not working, you tweak it, you change it. Literally, there are not set rules.

    Host

    And when we're talking about giving circles, we're not talking about small niche groups of people organizing book clubs here.

    Sara

    Every time people tell me, "Oh, giving circles are cute." I said, "No, no, no, no, we're not cute. We're a very powerful movement. $3.1 billion in six years. This is not chump change." And again, they're giving circles that move a few thousand dollars a year. They're giving circles that move a few million dollars a year. But if you aggregate all of us together, you have this movement of hundreds of thousands of people doing this work.

    Host

    $3.1 billion in six years is wild. Hey, some of my money's represented in that number.

    Sara

    The movement is poised to double in size in the next five years, again.

    Host

    Other than the research data, where does your optimism for this movement come from? Where do you see hope in collective giving?

    Sara

    It's a great way to engage young people. Because it's fun, it's joyful, it's social. There is this giving circle in Arizona that a young woman started when she was 16. She wanted to get a hundred teenagers to join a giving circle, and she got 180. And they have been moving more than $50,000 already. Each of the teenagers gives $25 every quarter. It's very doable for them. It's like they can sell lemonade, they can wash cars, they can walk dogs, whatever. And they meet every quarter and they have food and they have a DJ and they have fun, and they have supported causes that they care about. So mental health in adolescents, homelessness in teenagers, foster care kids, addictions, many things that they care about. And now Lilly has trained other 30 groups of teenagers, not only in the US, but there's one in Pakistan, another one in Canada, of teenagers that are starting their circles. It's pretty powerful.

    Host

    Powerful indeed. Gen Z and other young activists continue to inspire me with their strong sense of right and wrong and the conviction to do something about it.

    [ music transition ]

Resources

segment 6

art fueling revolution

with guests
Z and M
Operation Olive Branch

begins at 25:22

  • Z

    Most of the energy that I have is given to collective liberation and being able to use at least the privilege that I have.

    Host

    This is Z, a TikTok creator and accomplice for Operation Olive Branch, which is a global solidarity initiative raising funds on social media for mutual aid efforts in Palestine, Sudan, and Congo.

    M

    The only joy, the only serotonin is just sticking it to the man. The more of a menace I am, the more of a threat, that is how I get my endorphins.

    Host

    And this is M, another radical accomplice for OOB.

  • M

    Operation Olive Branch is the collective effort to amplify and support the voices of those who are occupied and oppressed through this quest for collective liberation.

    Host

    And how did it all begin?

    M

    It started on social media, on TikTok specifically, in January, after everyone was pretty much getting sick of losing their accounts, being de-platformed trying to raise awareness and that awareness going nowhere. And we were seeing the large international aid organizations either being defunded or having little to no access to people on the ground.

    Host

    So how did you all make those connections?

    M

    Families got a tiny bit of access through their eSIMs provided by Connecting Humanity and were able to access TikTok and let us know that they had a GoFundMe and, "Could you help us to share this?" We literally copied the Maui Rise Lahaina fire spreadsheet and shared this information. At the time there were only 11 families. 11 became 52, then 200. And now what we're at...

    Host

    The global scale that you're providing solidarity and mutual aid feels revolutionary.

    M

    Just like our brother Aaron Bushnell said, many of us asked ourselves who we would be in these moments, and it's what we're doing right now. So we took the tactics of our ancestors, abolitionists and activists throughout history, and we have just innovatively used them with the technology of today to disrupt these systems.

    Host

    This work is indeed radical and in step with civil rights leaders before you. They would be proud to see what you've accomplished. But the activists of your generation have production studios in their pockets.

    M

    We're using the tools of the empire against itself, which it does not like. Google fights us. The social media fights us. It is the way it is.

    Host

    Z, as a creator, can you tell us how you use TikTok to develop these funds to send to families in Gaza?

    Z

    Operation Floodgates, which was where I was taking a family from OOB and creating a unique hashtag for them, having people tag pro-Palestinian people in the comments and then flooding another non-pro-Palestinian person's page. And for a while before the algorithm caught on, that worked beautifully. We were able to raise $10,000, $16,000 in 24 hours.

    Host

    On my own for you page, I've seen a lot of augmented reality filters being used to raise funds and awareness for Palestine. TikTok pays out of its Effect Creator Rewards program, one of a few ways it attempts to compensate creators for their content.

    Z

    Pretty much when people use the filters, they can generate funds. TikTok has also gotten more strict on the amount of uses to start earning money. I think it has to be like two or 300,000 uses of a filter to raise any funds.

    Host

    A lot of music that's emerged from this movement has been incredible. And I'll link a good Spotify playlist on the episode's page for anybody interested. Are those being used to fundraise too?

    Z

    People have made songs where you can just put them on the background of any videos that you're making and they can generate funds. Someone who's done this beautifully is Yana The Artist. She's made songs for Congo, Sudan, Palestine. It's really helped, as long as suppression is not catching up to us.

    Host

    Campaigns like this can be exhausting for both the creators and the viewers. How have you adjusted your strategy to keep up with the algorithm and waning attention?

    Z

    We start with an attention grabber. So we'll say like, "Oh my goodness, did you hear that Taylor Swift got married over the weekend?" And then we'll be like, "Just kidding, bestie, but don't scroll, okay." I have also noticed folks creating fake beef with people, being like, "Oh my goodness, I never thought I would have to make this video, but so-and-so," and then just jump straight into fundraising. That generated millions of views for folks. So it's just always figuring out how to be one step ahead of the algorithm. And it's kind of fun to figure it out.

    Host

    It does sound kind of fun. In this algorithmic arms race though, how do you know that you're moving the needle?

    Z

    I think we know we're moving in the right direction because of the suppression. If we were not doing things correctly, then TikTok would not be barely giving us 10,000 views when we have 400,000 followers. If we weren't moving in the right direction, Instagram wouldn't have deleted our account randomly. So whenever you're being so horrifically suppressed, that is how you know that what you're doing is working.

    Host

    I've seen one creator, XO Jourdan Louise, make these interactive and beautiful filters that make fundraising fun. It's inspiring to see artists bringing creativity to this movement.

    M

    Jourdan is collaborating with Kehlani on using Next 2 U to create her newest Filter for Good. And Kehlani is an amazing artist who raised over half a million dollars in quite literally a week from just a single T-shirt merchandise sale that benefits OOB families and mutual aid in Congo, Sudan, and Palestine.

    Host

    Wow. Kehlani is setting the bar for celebrity artists. Also, Next 2 U is a bop. Don't worry, it's on the playlist.

    M

    But even with the smaller artists like Yana The Artist, they're organizing beyond this. Artists for Humanity is the group that they've created, and there are a lot of other artists signing on and helping to create sounds for specific... fundraising for specific mutual aid. And so I think that is very much a future.

    Host

    It's so exciting and motivating to see art being so generative in this path towards collective liberation.

    M

    Art has historically always fueled all revolutions. And artists have always been at the forefront, on the front lines of all liberation. Who were the first ones to host in-person fundraisers for OOB? It was little punk rockers out in California and Brooklyn, and it was the queer community doing drag shows in [inaudible], in New York, in San Francisco. And why are they always on the front lines? Because they live in these communities.

    Host

    I love being a part of the queer artist community because we bring joy and creativity to the hard work.

    Z

    Joy is a form of resistance. Our oppressors never want to see us joyous or hopeful. Something OOB has done is give people back that hopefulness, to know that they can create art to generate funds, to know that this money is getting to a family that can tangibly use it right now, especially, because the borders are closed. And the colonizers want us to be hopeless and they don't want us to have joy. Because if they can break our spirits, then we'll stop mobilizing and we'll stop organizing and they will win. And we can never allow them to win.

    Host

    As we're learning in this series, joy is not the same as comfort. As Palestinian families have bravely shown us, joy can exist in extreme discomfort. Those of us with privilege to make change cannot conflate the two and become complicit.

    M

    The right to comfortability is a [inaudible 00:32:39] of white supremacy. When you're triggered by something, that's where the work is. If you find yourself at a point where you're super comfortable, then you're not a menace to the empire, you're not a traitor enough, and you're not active in your work.

    Host

    What can those listening, who may find themselves a little uncomfortable, do about all this?

    Z

    In order for nonviolence to work, you have to make people uncomfortable. The status quo has to be challenged. And that's the only way real true collective liberation will happen. Fundraising is a small piece of what we should be doing, and it's really important to not divorce fundraising from why we're fundraising. So you have to be committed to deconstruction. Get a journal and read books and apply the theory, so that you can use that discomfort in a way that's not harmful to the people that you're trying to help.

    Host

    Do you think there's reason for optimism in all this?

    M

    I think historically looking at what's happening right now is the closest we've ever been to collective liberation. I see everybody rising up together. The empire is going to do absolutely everything it can. This is going to get very uncomfortable for pretty much everybody. So we're going to have to dismantle this empire to return the land to the Indigenous, for full reparations and full autonomy. And it's not going to be pretty because they're willing to go down with the ship because they have to. But I do think we're already well in the middle of a global revolution. And when you see these tactics, it is always a good indicator that you're on the right side and you're doing the right thing.

    Host

    A global revolution that continues to unfold seemingly every hour. Since our interview, Operation Olive Branch in collaboration with PAL Humanity launched a family encampment in Gaza, which will provide 30 families or 300 people with food, water, shelter, onsite medical, Wi-Fi, and other basic necessities. They hope to expand this camp to accommodate a hundred families or a thousand people. As of August 2024, their spreadsheet currently has 791 families who are raising funds for their basic human needs during this ongoing genocide.

    [ music transition ]

Resources

segment 6

wrap

with your host
Tom Tamayo Young

begins at 34:45

  • Host

    We got through a lot today. How's everybody doing? We heard from Sara about the beauty of relationships in collective giving. We heard from Jenice who broke down the simplicity and power of mutual aid. We heard from Wit who explored the role of trust and joy in giving collaboratively. And finally, we heard from z and M from Operation Olive Branch, a team of volunteers who stand as a testament of what it means to give radically. I hope you take their gifts with you today. You are not alone in your radical pursuits, and I hope you find community at GIA or in other spaces to support you in making necessary changes to your actions within philanthropy.

  • Check out the GIA Reader website for resources and more information about this episode's guests. In our next episode, we will unpack how artists today struggle making ends meet, and how unrestricted funding is a necessary way for arts philanthropy to give. I want to take a moment to thank all of our guests for their contributions, to GIA for hosting and producing this miniseries, to Flannel & Blade for your ongoing support, and to Nadia Elokdah for your friendship, guidance, wisdom, and wealth of knowledge. And thank you for listening.

    Wit

    [ singing a capella ] We still need to blossom, flourish...

    Host

    [ overlapping, spoken ] This has been for the love of radical giving.

    Wit

    [ singing a capella ] ... grow.

    Host

    Give often, give lovingly, give radically.

    [ music playout ]

Next Episode…

EP03
Unrestrict the Funds
Coming in October!