Collecting Courage: Joy, Pain, Freedom, Love — Anti-Black Racism in the Charitable Sector

Top 10 Book of 2020, Charity Report Literary Circle
Gold Winner, 2022 Human Relations Indie Book Award, Cultural & Diversity
Gold Winner, 2022 Human Relations Indie Book Award, Collection of Short Stories/Essays

A collection of 15 first-person narratives shared by accomplished Black fundraisers and equity, racial, and social justice advocates, documenting their experiences confronting and surviving racism working in charitable and philanthropic spaces across North America. With searing and intimate detail, they write about their experiences with anti-Black racism: from coping with being last hired, first fired, and overlooked for promotion to outright hostility in toxic workplaces. Their testimonies chip away at the idea of the inherent goodness of the charitable sector.

This collection of works also speak to the journey of asserting Black identity in all-white work environments. The writers speak of their quest, often thwarted in the charitable sector, to bring to their workplaces the love they have inherited from their struggles to survive in a white dominated society. These brilliant, first-person narrative essays give voice to a more accurate and complete picture of philanthropy and charity in North America.

The original edition was published in Canada for worldwide distribution by Gail K. Picco, Civil Sector Press, in 2020. Rootstock Publishing has licensed the book for this U.S. edition.