It has been nearly five years since George Floyd was killed. His death forced deeper and wider acknowledgement of racism, real and stark, with life and death consequence. His death exposed the gulf between who we are and who we want to be, in communities and as a nation.

At the Bush Foundation, we already had a commitment to racial equity and George Floyd’s death deepened it. We resolved to do more and do bigger.

We took the action of issuing social impact bonds to raise $100 million.  We used that $100 million to establish community trust funds for Black and Indigenous wealth building. Those trust funds are now up and running as the Open Road Fund and the Collective Abundance Fund.

We upped our grantmaking game with a commitment of at least $50 million to address racial wealth gaps through our regular grantmaking programs in 5 years. We have actually committed more than twice that amount—almost $102 million—with more in the works. That includes investment in efforts as wide-ranging as developing new financial products for Native ranchers to supporting cooperative ownership of manufactured home communities. It also includes a significant investment in the GroundBreak Coalition, through which we are working in active partnership with lots of other public and private organizations to make the financial system work better for everyone and close long-standing racial wealth disparities in the Twin Cities.

Beyond these commitments, we have worked to consider the racial equity implications of all we do. We are a responsive funder and want to be available to and useful to communities all around the region. We consider equity in lots of forms—from religious difference to income disparities to disability inclusion and so on. This commitment to equity in general—and to racial equity specifically—is core to our purpose of making the region better for everyone.

As we approach this anniversary, there will be questions about whether people and organizations have actually lived up to the public commitments they made after Mr. Floyd’s death. We have—and we continue to learn and do more. And we get to work every day with people who share our commitment and are working in creative ways to make the region work better for everyone. And, of course, we see that many organizations have pulled back on public commitments—in language or action— given new political and legal pressure to stop doing anything related to “DEI.”

On this anniversary, I hope we can remember the deeper WHY behind racial equity work. It is not about favoring some groups over others. It is about addressing long-standing issues that are holding us back as a whole. It is about making our communities work well for all of us. It is about realizing our full potential— as communities and as a region and as a nation.

We are still committed to building a region where everyone truly belongs. We are pushing ourselves to understand how we can be effective bridgers—to help people see how our region’s success depends on our ability to include everyone. To work effectively across differences. To show how our biggest-picture interests are aligned and entwined.

I have been influenced through the years by the work of john a. powell. In his most recent book, “The Power of Bridging: How to Build a World Where We All Belong,” he makes a powerful case that what we call polarization is really about fragmentation. That we are all suffering when we are not connected and understanding and forgiving of each other. And that we all contribute to our fragmentation and suffering when we seek or promote belonging in ways that “other.”

All Bush Foundation staff will be reading this book over the summer then trying to put the principles into practice. We’d like to invite others to read and practice alongside us. We bought all the copies the publisher had on hand and will offer them for free to anyone in MN, ND and SD who is willing to read it and try some new actions in their own lives.

Think about getting a free copy for yourself or for your book club, church, workplace, etc. We would like to get as many people as possible thinking and talking and taking new and different actions to build a more whole and true spirit of belonging in our communities.

The memory of George Floyd lives on in us and people all around the world. We will not stop working toward a region where every person gets the opportunities and support and love to thrive.

——————–

Note: We are still working out all the logistics with our book fulfillment partner and will send another newsletter with all the details once we are ready to take orders later in June.

In the meantime, if you are excited about helping us promote this opportunity in your community or have other ideas for us to consider as we roll this out, please send us a note at staff@bushfoundation.org and put “Bush book club” in the subject line.