March 25, 2010 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Over the years a wide variety of people have called on foundations to make grants for general operating support. Add to that number the actor Wendell Pierce, who played Detective Bunk Moreland on the HBO series, The Wire.
A native New Orleanian, Mr. Pierce formed the Pontchartrain Park Community Development Corporation to help the historic African American neighborhood where he grew up rebuild after Hurricance Katrina.
He told grant makers gathered in New Orleans that foundations and nonprofit organization have distinct roles to play in rebuilding.
“If you are that interested in telling us what to do, then by all means join us on this side of the fence,” said Mr. Pierce. “Otherwise, help us do what we’re doing.”
He urged foundation officials to listen to a wide range of voices along the Gulf Coast and not to automatically support the status quo players.
“Please do not come here and work with the same old ineffective individuals and institutions,” Mr. Pierce implored. “In many cases, they are part of the problem, and you will be too if you continue to prop them up.”
For post-Katrina grant making to be successful, grant makers need to be mindful of how historic racial and class divisions continue to play out today, said Mr. Pierce.
“The race and class dynamic as it impacts funding choice, media attention, and even perceived effectiveness is profound, and is a dangerously slippery slope that will derail your work if you have not acknowledged and grappled with it,” he said.
While Mr. Pierce tackled difficult issues in his speech, he charmed the audience, often eliciting appreciative laughter from conference participants. And he frequently leavened his advice to grant makers with self-deprecating humor.
Said Mr. Pierece: “Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate — with each other, with local entities, with less well-known organizations, with community residents, with the occasional actor who may have started a CDC.”
