- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Research shows that less than 1% of the $4.8 billion in philanthropic funding flowing into the South reaches Black girls and women. A nonprofit consortium is hellbent on closing that gap.
Founded in 2017, the Southern Black Girls and Women Consortium has already awarded over $11.4 million to more than 250 grassroots organizations that support its target demographic. The collective recently launched its nine-city “Joy and Justice Tour,” which will make two stops in Florida.
The free, festival-style tour coincides with the consortium’s Black Girls Defense Fund awarding $350,000 to 24 community nonprofits across 13 Southern states. Executive director Chanceé Lundy echoed the organization’s ethos: Joy is a strategy, not a luxury, and protecting and celebrating Black girls intertwine.
“It’s our opportunity to spread joy; to amplify the work that some of our grantee partners are doing in those communities,” Lundy told Power Broker Magazine. “And uplift Black girls and women in a period where there’s so much chaos.”
Based in Selma, Alabama, Southern Black Girls operates as a decentralized network that serves its home state, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Over half of the nation’s Black population resides in the South. However, the region has the lowest rate of philanthropic funding per woman or girl of color, according to the groundbreaking “Pocket Change” study.
The issue, while more pronounced in the South, extends nationwide. Foundations contribute only 0.5% (roughly $5.48 per person) of their total funding to women and girls of color, states the study.
Lundy said those harrowing statistics were the catalyst to launch Southern Black Girls. She also noted that “in some of the far-reaches of our region, we were not getting as much participation.”
The consortium began hosting annual summits in 2020; a bus tour followed in 2022. “It was a way for us to actually go out into the community, so people didn’t have to worry about spending their money to travel to us, at one location,” Lundy explained.
Southern Black Girls partnered with rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s Pete and Thomas Foundation to launch the “Joy Is Our Journey Dream Tour” in 2022. The consortium has also collaborated with Comic Relief US and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.
Lundy noted that “Joy and Justice” is the consortium’s second tour, as an annual event is cost-prohibitive. It began in New Orleans on June 26 and will reach Fort Lauderdale on July 10.
A second Florida stop is closer to Tampa Bay. Southern Black Girls will arrive in Eatonville - roughly six miles north of Orlando - on July 11.
Each stop features nine activation zones designed to holistically uplift, inform, and celebrate Black girls and women. Those include advocacy and justice; economic empowerment; education; health and wellness; arts and culture; sports; beauty; nutrition; and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).
Lundy hopes that people from across Florida - the only state with two tour stops - will make the drive. She said a group took a bus from Birmingham, Alabama, to attend an event in Jackson, Mississippi, a nearly four-hour trip.
The Black Girls Defense Fund, one of several, supports grassroots and community-based organizations that address justice, gender based violence, carceral systems, and restorative justice practices. Lundy said it launched “a few years ago when we provided legal resources to help someone who had been assaulted by a school officer.”
“We center Black girls and women, but not to the exclusion of anyone else,” she added. Many awardees also serve other races and boys, and Lundy emphasized the importance of investing in all youth.
However, the tour website states that Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes, and two times more likely to be murdered by men, than their Caucasian counterparts.
Lundy noted that women of color are typically community and household anchors. The consortium also recognizes that “you don’t just spring up one day and become a leader” and that investing in Black girls is “very critical.”
Recent federal policy changes have affected nonprofits nationwide, particularly those dedicated to uplifting people of color. “Rural areas - we know that if other people aren’t getting funded, they really aren’t getting funded,” Lundy said.
“These places do critical work, but they don’t have the large programs like those national organizations you might see in our larger cities.”
Lundy recalled the mentors who “poured into me growing up.” She credited their willingness to invest time and energy into increasing her confidence and leadership skills, and said Southern Black Girls is her way to “pay it forward.”
The tour is transformative for attendees, Lundy pledged, and highlights the consortium’s impact. Most importantly, the events spotlight the existence and value of grassroots organizations, she said.
“The tour is a fun-filled celebration where they’re going to learn,” Lundy concluded. “We provide a great atmosphere to connect with the community, build solidarity with each other, and uplift the work that’s happening.”
For more information, visit the website here.
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