This Black Friday, direct some of that cash toward #Ferguson organizers

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With the release of a grand jury’s decision not to indict Mike Brown’s killer, many of us are feeling a lot of anger and sadness about the racist systems in place in our country. It warms my heart to see all the Black Lives Matter hashtags and Ferguson protest invites popping up on my Facebook newsfeed.Keep on posting and marching, but listen, there’s something we have to talk about:Money.Read more TC Daily Planet coverage of police misconduct issues.There’s a lot of it given away in the United States every year. Take it from someone who regularly looks at foundation tax returns. There’s a whole lot of money in the U.S. But, the vast majority of it is controlled by white people who are well served by the status quo. And those white people mostly transfer their wealth to cultural institutions that serve other privileged people like them, namely their alma maters.While there was a total of about $335 billion in private charitable giving in 2013, only a tiny percentage of that went towards social justice. It’s important to go to rallies and marches, and sign petitions and share information, but it’s equally important to open our wallets at the same time. Continue Reading

When it comes to climate change, our feelings do matter

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If you’re anything like me, you’re seeing daily headlines about climate change and the catastrophic consequences. When you see another article about species extinction, or sea level rise, or increasingly severe storms, do you stop and click through, or do you wince and scroll quickly down the page in favor of cat videos or that new Marcel the Shell video? Continue Reading