#92 Hilary Giovale on tending to the ancestral wound of white supremacy through reparative philanthropy
“We can engage in reparative philanthropy because that is where we are right now. We are living in a system of extreme wealth disparity, but our goal long-term should be to work ourselves out of a job because we should not be maintaining a system of inequity like this. It could be that present and future generations will have to work through this phase, but I think ultimately our goal is to create a different system that doesn’t engender this type of inequity. ”
Under the oppressive systems of white supremacy and colonialism, and the internalisation of "whiteness" in the dominant culture, how can the practice of reparative philanthropy re-story colonial narratives of power to shift to flattened hierarchies of giving and receiving?
In today’s episode, we are in conversation with Hilary Giovale, a mother, writer, and community organizer. Being a ninth-generation American settler, she is descended from Celtic, Germanic, Nordic, and Indigenous peoples of Ancient Europe. As an active reparationist, her work is guided by intuition, love, and relationships to transmute harmful philanthropic practices to ones rooted in reciprocity and equitable giving. Hilary’s recent book Becoming a Good Relative shares remedies for the debilitating shame that can overtake white Americans when facing their peoples’ colonial past and our current complicity with systemic white supremacy. It offers a unique methodology, supported by African American and Indigenous Elders, which we dive into the depths in today’s conversation.
What will be covered
White culture creates comforting cocoon of denial that permits white people to opting out of difficult decisions and situations —> “whiteness” engineered and designed to withhold power and privilege in the hands of elite European men
The devastation for Hilary in acknowledging her ancestry rooted in slavery and colonialism as a 9th generation American settler
Understanding need for rewiring identity and facing very uncomfortable truths by being present and not running away from the reality
Unlearning white supremacy is white people’s work
Reparative philanthropy as the transmutation of colonial philanthropic practice to more just and equitable ways of giving and receiving
Hilary’s reparative philanthropic journey began with reading the book Decolonising Wealth by her friend Edgar Villanueva —> has been a journey of unlearning and relearning colonial history of the creation of the US and engaging in spiritual healing, and encouraging others in the space to do the same
Reparative philanthropy has to be practiced without strings attached or rigid control of outcomes to move resources back into communities systemically impoverished
Abolishing philanthropy - engaging in reparative philanthropic practice knowing we are working ourselves out of a job
Philanthropy guided by the resource needs of the community without expecting detailed reporting in return to maximise use of resources to actual change-making —> meeting donor needs together with needs of marginalised communities and institutions
For philanthropists and those outside the practice, reparative giving begins with deepening our connection to land through offering as much as our capacities allow to sit in the present reality and reviving ancestral ways of repairing and healing generations worth of harm and oppression
Episode resources
Decolonizing Wealth, by Edgar Villanueva
An Indigenous Peoples History of the United States, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
The Half Has Never Been Told, by Edward Baptist
Reclaiming Our Indigenous European Roots, by Lyla June Johnston
This page includes links to order Hilary’s book from independent booksellers. All the proceeds Hilary receives from book sales are returned to Decolonizing Wealth Project and Jubilee Justice.
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Mind Full of Everything is a podcast calling for the radical healing of the self and community to outgrow the broken dominant culture of radical individualism and disconnection from our place as interdependent beings, so that we can collectively re-envision a safer, healthier and equitable world. Each episode takes a healing-centric approach to explore the embodied ways in which we can collectively restore and transform our journeys as stewards of community and earth through conversations with writers, researchers, coaches and educators, as well as reflection episodes with the host Agrita Dandriyal on her journey navigating the world as a deeply conscious, culturally-rooted and relational being. Learn more here.
