“Race-conscious policies are just reverse racism.” “Talking about race is what keeps us separated.” Really? As the brilliant Ibram X. Kendi points out in Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, generation after generation of white people in power in the U.S. were TOTALLY FINE with race-conscious policies that explicitly […]
“With liberty and equity for all?” Doesn’t stir the heart in quite the same way as “justice for all,” does it? So why have I been using equity and justice like they’re synonyms when I talk about racial issues? Well, because I hadn’t yet read PRE’s introduction to Grantmaking with a Racial Justice Lens. Yesterday […]
SCENE: A couple of weeks ago at a national conference. I’m doing the slow crowd-waddle out of the plenary ballroom with hundreds of my fellow philanthropy professionals when I find myself next to a silverhaired Old-Timer whom I’ve known since I joined the field six years ago. ME: Wow, kind of amazing that they’re trying […]
On the scroll: my name, as a founding Steering Committee member for the LA County Center for Financial Empowerment. Not on the scroll: the names of 42,000 Angelenos who opened checking accounts via our BankOn initiative, thousands more who claimed their fair share of $15 million in EITC tax refunds through our Free Tax Prep […]
I’ve never felt quite at home in the name Amanda, and Mandy was my childhood, so I am leaning into using Andie as my nickname. It just feels more fun and less formal, you know? Amanda is still my real official name (and I’m still a girl!) so no worries if you still call me […]
Woohoo, I’m on spring break in Florida! Time for me to go wild and flash you with my three key takeaways from last month’s SPARCC webinar on Making the Case for Racial Equity with Dwayne Marsh, about how to show government officials the need for systemic change. 1. Racial equity is the business of government, […]
Greetings from midair. Today I’m flying to visit my mom in Florida. She’s a snowbird these days, living not far from where we would visit my grandparents and various other aged relatives every winter, not to mention a certain Mouse. So I used to think I knew something about the state. “Florida is IN the […]
I have so much to learn. I’ve spent decades reading voraciously, even compulsively… sneaking out of bed to huddle by the nightlight devouring the Chronicles of Narnia (sorry, Mom), getting my B.A. in Russian history and literature, becoming mildly obsessed with the personal narratives of South Pole explorers, reading Harry Potter side-by-side in English and […]
My aunt still teases me about the first time she met me, before she got engaged to my uncle. Apparently, three-year-old me arrived at a family party in Boston, in the depths of winter, in a full-on hissy fit because my mother forgot my patent leather party shoes so I was doomed to wear ugly […]
I’m treating myself like a kindergartener, and IT’S WORKING. Thought I’d share my system of rewarding myself with sparkly heart stickers for daily, weekly, and monthly goals when I do things that make me happier and healthier. Hope this is as helpful for you as it is for me!