Black philanthropy isn’t new—we’ve always taken care of our own.
Black Philanthropy Month (BPM), observed every August, was birthed in 2011 by Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland with support from Reunity, formerly the Pan-African Women’s Philanthropy Network. As of 2025, BPM has joined forces with BackBlack creating a powerful alliance committed to resourcing, celebrating, and amplifying Black-led change worldwide.
But here’s what they won’t tell you in the history books: our people have been doing this work since before it had a name. From churches, fraternal organizations, and mutual aid societies that kept communities alive before the Civil War to the transformative charitable leadership of Madam C.J. Walker and Harriet Tubman, we’ve always understood that our liberation is collective.
The numbers don’t lie: Despite facing persistent wealth gaps, Black families contribute the highest percentage of their wealth to charitable causes among all racial groups in America. That’s not generosity—that’s revolutionary love in action.
This year’s theme says it all: Sankofa Now! Remember. Reclaim. RISE.
BPM culminates with Give 8/28, a global day of giving. This date holds our pain and our power. We remember Emmett Till, whose murder lit the fire of the Civil Rights Movement. We remember Katrina’s devastation, which exposed how little Black lives mattered to those in power. But we also celebrate August 28th as the day Dr. King declared his dream and Barack Obama claimed his destiny. This is what it means to transform trauma into triumph.
Why Black Philanthropy Matters: This is How We Build Power
Cultural Power: When we give our time, talent, and resources, we’re not being charitable—we’re exercising our cultural authority. We’re honoring the ancestors who knew that community care isn’t kindness, it’s survival. This is cultural sovereignty in motion.
Economic Power: Black philanthropy disrupts the lie that wealthy white folks get to decide what problems exist and how to solve them. When we fund our own movements, we’re not asking for permission—we’re taking what’s ours. Every dollar becomes a declaration of independence from systems never designed to serve us.
Political Power: In a world where money talks, Black philanthropy changes the entire conversation. We don’t wait for seats at tables that were built to exclude us—we build our own tables, set our own agendas, and fund our own futures. This is power redistribution at its most radical: turning economic strength into political transformation.
Why Surge? Because We’re Not Here to Play Nice
We Are the Revolutionary Tradition
For over a decade, Surge has been what Black philanthropy looks like when it refuses to compromise. We didn’t emerge from nowhere—we rose from the same revolutionary spirit that built the Underground Railroad, funded freedom schools, and turned church collections into civil rights campaigns.
We don’t ask for inclusion—we create our own centers of power.
When you invest in Surge, you’re not donating. You’re making a power move. You’re saying that Black and Latinx leaders will control their own narratives, fund their own solutions, and wield influence on their own terms.
This is what unapologetic power building looks like:
- We’ve never compromised our mission for comfort.
- We don’t seek approval—we demand transformation.
- We understand that money equals voice in America, so we ensure our communities control both.
Every dollar you invest in Surge becomes a strategic deployment of power that creates more power. You’re not just supporting programs—you’re financing a revolution in who gets to shape this country’s future.
This is Black philanthropy’s superpower: turning love into leverage, generosity into governance, and giving into getting things done.
Your investment in Surge is your investment in a future where communities of color don’t wait for permission to lead—because we already are.
