Provocations

These provocations are designed to support you in your journey to moving away from neo-colonial ways of speaking and talking about philanthropy, towards more restorative narratives…
(without asking the usual cliches or telling you what to say)

Are we
spotlighting others?

Each time you celebrate the work your organisation does, it offers an opportunity to celebrate the work of another organisation or activist that is often overlooked or marginalised. This challenges ‘White Saviour’ narratives by spotlighting ‘other’ faces who are also doing the work.

Provocation
How might we use this opportunity to gift our spotlight to an organisation or activist that could benefit from being seen?

Suggestion
Normalise actively looking out for those outside of mainstream circles so you have sources to routinely draw upon.

Are we
being heroic or dutiful?

White/Western savior narratives suggest that the White/Western gives because it is superior, while ignoring what it has first taken and/or destroyed. Alternatively, decentring the idea of ‘giving’ in mainstream Western philanthropy and moving towards centering a ‘duty to give back’ offers more balanced narratives.

Provocation
How might we use this comms as an opportunity to move beyond ‘heroism’ and highlight the duty we have to give back?

Suggestion
Make an effort to learn about your organisation’s history, particularly the origins surrounding how it got its wealth/resources.

Are we
being vulnerable?

White/Western savior narratives often communicate authority, certainty and ‘right ways’ of doing things.

Embracing apprenticeship, uncertainty and experimentation - on the other hand - brings balance.

Provocation
How might we use this as an opportunity to be vulnerable and share our fears, learnings and challenges openly?

Suggestion
Think about some organisations or activists that have challenged you or that you’ve learned from. Is there room to highlight this here?

Are we
showing gratitude?

It’s common to talk about what benefits the recipients of philanthropic donations receive. But for a balanced narrative, it’s also important to discover and talk about the benefits that donors and philanthropy organisations receive from giving.

Provocation
How might we highlight some of the benefits our organisation/people get from doing this work?

Suggestion
Take some time to reflect on or research some of the benefits that you and/or your organisation gets from doing this work. (Including tangible things like a salary and less tangiable things like cultural exchange).

Are we
educating and holding
to account?

When talking about ‘giving’, the root causes of the issue are often overlooked, ignored or sometimes intentionally covered up. A sign that this might be happening is when words such as ‘crisis’ are used. This gives the impression that inequalities just ‘happen’ and ignores/hides the systemic inequality.

Provocation
How might we use this as an opportunity to shed light on systemic issues so that we can also understand and confront them?

Suggestion
Begin learning about the causes of the issues you are addressing so that you can talk about them from an informed place.

Is our language direct?

Attempting to educate people on the backstories is great, but if the language you use is passive or beats around the bush, it’s unlikely to be very effective.

Provocation
How might we use active/direct language that truly shifts perspectives?

Suggestion
If any feelings of fear or tension come up, take a moment to feel into where these might be coming from.

Is this restorative?

Are your bringing positive attention to people, concepts, ideas and approaches that are frequently marginalised?

Provocation
How might we use our awareness of binaries to shine a light on decolonial themes that are marginalised in the sector in order to bring balance?

Suggestion
Use the binary deck to develop an understanding of binary oppositions and why it’s important to make an intentional effort to bring balance.