Decolonizing Wealth
by Edgar Villanueva
I’ll be honest that I probably wouldn’t have picked up a book about philanthropy on my own accord, but fortunately, it was a local book club pick. I started reading without even glancing at the back cover & the contents certainly surprised me. Villanueva describes the ivory tower world of philanthropy in Part I & all of the toxic white supremacist culture that it is built on & functions within. He writes, “my central argument is that what ails philanthropy at its core is colonialism.” Along the way, the author shares his own upbringing as a poor urban Indian kid of a single mother (urban, defined as any Native person who lives off the reservation which is roughly 70% of Native folks in the U.S.) & his unlikely path to becoming a philanthropy executive.
This world of philanthropy is so broken & seemingly foreign (at first) as Villanueva discusses how the funding process is “plagued by the cult of personality” and the manipulative “culture of politeness” where funding for white nonprofits is prioritized & “safe.” The personal anecdotes from other people of color working in philanthropy make your stomach turn as one Black woman is told (by a white person) to use the term “African American” not “black folks” and “low income” instead of “poor folks.” Villanueva briefly ties in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) & humanitarian aid being the “new colonialists” & all of the power dynamics at play when these international NGOs take control. He states,
“Across the board, among all institutions of finance & wealth, the fundamental dynamic is that control remains in the hands of the old boys’ network. Mostly white saviors & experts use hoarded wealth to dominate & control—obviously or subtly—the seekers and receipients of those funds. Our means & mechanisms perpetuate the very problems in the world we claim to wish to solve.”
Decolonizing Wealth discusses these deeply ingrained traits of white supremacist culture—perfectionism, sense of urgency, defensiveness, paternalism, either/or mentality, and the worship of unlimited growth. Though I feel worlds away from philanthropy, I recognized early on that this book applies to me & applies to everything in the world around me. This culture is the ‘default’ (aka white) setting in the U.S. Many of the discussions throughout the book reminded me of an incredible training by Sandra Kim called “Re-Becoming Human” & the deep work of deconstructing white supremacy on a very personal level. She talks about how even our relationships & conversations with other people often stem from a white supremacist place, which Villanueva articulates as “divide, control, exploit.”
Part II is all about healing & using money as a way to heal (i.e. reparations, but he goes into a lot more). Villanueva stresses: connect, relate, belong instead of divide, control exploit. Those parts of the process are separated into the next 7 chapters of the book—Grieve, Apologize, Listen, Relate, Represent, Invest, & Repair. This is lifelong work & a process I certainly can’t summarize easily in a book review. But, as it relates to wealth & finances, Decolonizing Wealth really breaks down all of these concepts clearly & most of them can be applied in a broader sense as well.
On the topic of healing or “re-becoming human” or decolonization (a term I use cautiously because I don’t want to appropriate it from Indigenous folks but as it is the specific language used in this book, which is written by an Indigenous person) or dismantling white supremacy—Villanueva talks about the “tension” that exists to really make those changes. “People who rely on the current system are afraid to dismantle it…” & “the pragmatists say this is just the way things are…” while “the idealists are imaging another world.” He argues that there is a way to cross over or connect with these different ideas (it doesn’t have to be either/or). That might sound vague here, but that’s why you have to read the book! I’ve had these conversations before in other ways, but he brings up so many concepts in a way that I had never considered clearly.
One example of this that stood out is when a non-profit came to the funder & said, “you need us as much as we need you.” Ah! And Villanueva asks,
“In fact, what if funders no longer assumed that disadvantaged communities & individuals needed to be empowered at all? What if we acknowledged how powerful they inherently are? The irony of a project of empowerment is that it requires victims: if you need someone to give up power and make space for you, then you are a victim of the power dynamic. Transcending the Drama Triangle roles of perpetrator, victim, and savior involves everyone being allocated with agency & responsibility.”
It seems so basic yet revolutionary, right? While this example focuses on relationships & power dynamics between funders & nonprofits, it certainly relates to nonprofits & recipients as well. That seemingly simple question of not assuming that disadvantaged communities/individuals need empowering & nonprofits (or perhaps individuals/communities) saying “you need ME” is a powerful way to frame/interact in such a relationship.
There are so many other directions that this book goes & so many interrelated pieces. And, of course, it is grounded in the history of how wealth was created in this country—
“…a great part of it was on the backs of people of color, and now those communities are benefitting from just a very small percentage of dollars…Once you know, how can you not be equitable about how you’re distributing the money?”
This certainly ties back into The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates which is also mentioned.
Edgar Villaneuva’s website, Decolonizing Wealth, also has some incredible resources & I highly recommend reading this book!
Decolonizing Wealth ends stressing reciprocity, as opposed to altruism. And on a personal note, Villaneuva writes about his mother & the ways she took care of her family & community as a representation of real, true philanthropy.
“I want to be clear: Just because you apologize for bad behavior does not mean you are entitled to forgiveness or reconciliation. That’s a whole other part of the process, but apologizing is a necessary step before either can happen.”