The artist, producer and entrepreneur, Pharrell Williams, recently launched Black Ambition, a nonprofit organization that awards competitive funding, mentorship and investment opportunities to recent Black/Latinx HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) graduates who are building tech, design, healthcare, and/or consumer products or services. Through another recently launched nonprofit, Yellow, Williams is supporting elementary school age education. Yellow plans to open a school for low-income students in Norfolk for children in grades three through five.35
GOING FORWARD From the slavery era to today, philanthropy has been an essential part of life in the Black communities of Hampton Roads. Nationally, wealthy Black donors are more likely than non-Black donors to support Black causes and donate to groups with a race relations focus. Across the country, Black Americans devote a higher percentage of their discretionary income to charitable giving than other racial groups.36 Churches, social organizations, and beneficial and secret societies provide the foundation for the rich philanthropic tradition in Hampton Roads. Early practices in Black giving resonate and remain relevant in Hampton Roads today. The Black church, especially, is still central to Black giving. In a survey of Black residents of Hampton Roads, most donors reported attending church regularly, including most Generation Z and Millennial survey respondents. Churches were ranked as the top recipient of donations. Many interviewees associate their earliest memories of philanthropy with the Black church. Dr. Tyrone Freeman, an expert on Black philanthropy, notes the church is still central to the landscape of Black giving, and church programming dollars “are frequently redistributed into the community to support education, housing, or soup kitchens or to assist youth.” 37 During the Civil Rights era, Black churches were hubs for collective action by Black communities. That legacy of activism has been reenergized by newer organizations and movements. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement refocused attention on police violence and racial inequities. Black Lives Matter 757, Hampton Roads’ local BLM chapter, has catalyzed a younger generation of activists in confront-
ing police violence and racial inequities. The work for racial equity and justice reflects the early practices of Blacks in Hampton Roads, who used their time, talent and resources, to obtain freedom and opportunity for their communities. The pattern of giving in Black communities today reflects new practices that employ internet-based giving especially among younger Black donors. Their giving is more likely to be channeled through platforms, such as GoFundMe and Facebook, and mobile apps that bypass traditional forms of giving. Nationally, mass online fundraising appeals raised $16.2 billion in 2014, a 167 percent increase from 2013. Nearly half of Millennial donors supported or were likely to support a crowdfunding campaign, compared to one-third of Generation X, 13 percent of Baby Boomers and 4 percent of older donors.38 Giving circles, such as Visionaries for Change, and donoradvised funds also reflect the contemporary landscape of Black giving. Although the pooling of Black resources to fund a collective purpose has been a longstanding Black philanthropic practice, giving circles and donor-advised funds have significantly increased over the past two decades.
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