Black philanthropy at work

Black philanthropy at work: "My View: Philip Rutledge
Black philanthropy at work

September 13, 2004
What is 'black philanthropy?' And what patterns will it take as socioeconomic forces change the nature of the African American community? This discussion raged at the recent Symposium on Black Philanthropy: Strategies for Building on the Heritage, sponsored by the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, in partnership with the National Center for Black Philanthropy Inc.
The symposium also provided an opportunity to revisit some conclusions from a 1987 IU Center study on African American Traditions of Giving and Serving.
Emmett Carson, president of the Minneapolis Foundation and a leading expert on black philanthropy, offered this definition: Black philanthropy is the giving of time, talent, energy, goods or money by African Americans to charitable causes. In spite of his eloquence, there was much grumbling in the corridors for a definition that emphasized 'African-American causes' over 'charitable causes"