The America(s) That Philanthropy Neglects

From senior editor Drew Lindsay: Two articles this week in The Commons illustrate divisions that are much older than the country’s red-blue schism. We look at rural America and Black America and whether philanthropy — which is largely urban and white — is neglecting both.

A Rural Renaissance?

I spoke recently with Carlton Turner , who represents the eighth generation of his family to live in Utica, Miss., population 600. Turner runs the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production , better known as Sipp Culture, which is rallying residents to reverse a decline in which most of the town’s bedrock institutions — schools, grocery stores, and businesses — have shuttered. Working from scratch, they have created a community farm, a commercial greenhouse, and an artists’ residency. “No one is coming to do this work for us,” Turner said. “No one’s coming to save us.”

This is a common refrain in towns like Utica. Rural communities are home to 20 percent of Americans yet receive just 7 percent of foundation funding, according to a federal analysis. 

A new $50 million venture bankrolled by some of the biggest names in grant making aims to close the gap, even though its investment is modest in the scheme of things. Called the Trust for Civic Life, it announced its first grants this week, with money going to Sipp Culture and 19 other groups that the funders believe are innovative engines of democracy. With their communities stripped of the old ways of coming together, they are helping to create new models that could hold lessons from the country.

Our story offers five takeaways from this effort and why it represents a shift from traditional funding to strengthen democracy, which aims to make change in Washington, statehouses, and elections.

Why Patience Is Not a Virtue for Democracy

Nwamaka Agbo, MPA is a veteran community organizer who has spent years in electoral campaigns and policy and advocacy work to advance racial, social, and environmental justice issues. “Progress is achieved by constantly demanding greater inclusion and equity,“ Agbo, now CEO of the Kataly Foundation , writes in an essay for The Commons. “Social advancements aren’t handed out to people standing in line, patiently waiting their turn.”

Yet philanthropy is asking activists and advocates to wait yet again, she says. With democracy seemingly on the line this election, funders contend that their calls for justice are too divisive. Put aside your differences, if just for now. 

The irony of such arguments is this, Agbo says: Organized resistance led by Black Americans forged democracy’s greatest advancements. 

I recommend her full essay. 

Of the Moment

News and noteworthy items:

• Democracy-minded business leaders John Fees of GradGuard - College Life Protected and Adam Goodman of Goodmans furniture in Arizona launched a group to defend threatened election officials. The state has seen more turnover in election offices than any other.
• Rajiv V. , head of Institute for Citizens & Scholars , writes in Inside Higher Ed about how college leaders can prepare for student protests this fall.

• The number of partisan-backed news outlets designed to look like the real thing now tops the number of local daily newspapers, writes Sara Fischer in Axios . Many are targeting swing states in the 2024 presidential election