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Philanthropy
Today I read an article in the Washington Post called Black Oriented Museums Are Lacking Black Donors and it was about the new Muhammad Ali Center and other black museums and memorials that are not getting the expected funding from black folks.
What I found most interesting about this article was the following:
The Ali Center's experience was telling. Given Ali's status as an icon and role model for many in the world of sports, the center recruited sports commentator Bob Costas and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), a boxing aficionado, to raise money from athletes. They were surprised by the poor results."I was grossly disappointed," Meeks said. "I know there have been difficulties with several . . . professionals who are paid well and might not be paid well if it were not for Ali breaking that [racial] barrier.
"We called and oftentimes we didn't get called back," Meeks said. "Then I tried to get other people who called, people who had connections, and we heard, 'I'll get back to you on that,' and they never got back to us. I never thought in my wildest dreams that it would be difficult to raise money for Ali."
Meeks would not name the sports figures who were contacted. But a top administrator at the Ali Center, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of being fired, said former basketball stars Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley were contacted, as were golfer Tiger Woods and fight promoter Don King. Actor Will Smith, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his movie portrayal of Ali, was also solicited, the administrator said. None contributed.
Now....it's YO business who and what you contribute to in your private life. I'm not going to judge these people.
Nor am I going to judge African Americans on the whole, who tend to me more giving toward churches and scholarship. Give where you can (though I wish we'd give more and with greater variety).
But I will speak on this: Should I ever become filthy rich, I imagine that it will be hard for me to "keep" my money, so to speak. To phrase it differently, I'd much rather give away my wealth while I live than after I'm dead.
I don't know, it's just how I am. If I've got two dollars, my friends have at least one of those.
I don't make a lot of money, but if I see a kid lingering at the school book fair with less than a dollar to buy a book, yes, I will buy them a book or two. I mean come on, how could you NOT buy a needy kid a book?
So it amazes me that pro athletes, who make a LOT more money than I do, wouldn't throw a few thousand dollars at the Ali center. I mean hell, I didn't know Lennox Lewis had $300,000 so you know the more well known athletes must have a few discretionary million.
But again...not judging them....I don't know how they donate their money.
Let's say I was filthy rich....and I mean FILTHY....I'd do the following:
1) Adopt some Latino families in my neighborhood and make sure they can enjoy Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter, at least for their first few years in the states. (Okay, so I don't need to be filthy rich to do this and I already "adopted" two Latino kids for the season, but we're not talking about that, lol)
2) Endow the African American Studies program at Georgetown so that it becomes not only a full major, but a graduate program through the PhD level.
3) Endow the Georgetown University Black House.
4) Endow the GU Step Team so they never have to fundraise again.
5) Establish a foundation for my high school so that whenever they need money for improvements, conferences and camps for the students, more staff, etc, all they have to do is ask the foundation. (Not sure how legal this is for public schools, but alls I know is that I want this money to go to my high school and NOT the system.)
6) Scholarships for the POOR, not the smart, lol.
There's probably more I could do, like AIDS research, cancer research, mental health care, and all that jazz. But I think my primary philanthropic interests are improving quality of life and education.
Oh yeah, and grants for authors. ;-)
Posted by Rashid on December 6, 2005 7:06 PM
Comments
And with that mindset that is why you and I are not rich or even wealthy, the mindset to have is how to get mo and make mo, not give mo.
Commented by Jaqua on December 7, 2005 6:13 PM