On this episode of Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast, Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Faron McLurkin interviews CEO of Liberated Capital Edgar Villanueva, author of the best selling book “Decolonizing Wealth.” They discuss the ongoing activism for reparations at the intersection of the racial justice movement and the philanthropic sector.

Edgar explains how his background as a part of the Lumbee Tribe and his career experiences influenced his perspective in money being “medicine” for historically oppressed communities –– leading to the work of Decolonizing Wealth. He takes us through the story of the organization’s founding, building the infrastructure for this trailblazing effort, to the Alight Align Arise: Advancing The Movement For Repair Conference presented by Decolonizing Weath.

Faron and Edgar also discuss the evolving role of philanthropy following the massive investments into racial justice work after the George Floyd uprisings, and the importance of efforts to cultivate long-term financial commitments, placing the conversation of reparations at the forefront. They also talk about the expanding “sweeping” energy of the movement nationally for “redress and reparations”, and how this has begun an emerging international awareness, sparking a global movement.

To listen to more of Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast check us out on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and remember that you can support our racial justice work by texting “RFPOD" to 44-32. 

Resources (by order of mention):

Sherman’s Field Order No. 15 via New Georgia Encyclopedia 

https://bit.ly/3DCc7wo

Pigford v. Glickman

https://bit.ly/44ZnfPI

Asheville North Carolina Community Reparations Commission

https://bit.ly/44Zn8ng

California Reparations Task Force Releases Interim Report Detailing Harms of Slavery and Systemic Discrimination on African Americans

https://bit.ly/3rYKx9W

Georgetown University Reparations Project (via The New York Times) 

https://nyti.ms/47adVdH

Liberated Capital (Decolonizing Wealth Fund)

https://bit.ly/3YcVr8n

Decolonizing Wealth Project commits $20 million to advance reparations (via Philanthropy News Digest) 

https://bit.ly/47eay5C

Edgar Villanueva

https://www.edgarvillanueva.net/media

Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina

http://bit.ly/3YgEdH9

Alight Align Arise Conference

https://bit.ly/3rLGhdT

Where Is My Land

https://bit.ly/47a19fc

About Race Forward:

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Executive Producers

Hendel Leiva, Cheryl Cato Blakemore

Assistant Editor

Sewa Olivares

Song: "Electro-Light - Symbolism (Mi77er Remix)" is under a Creative Commons (CC-BY) license.

Music promoted by BreakingCopyright: 

https://youtu.be/HLXm2IV1pdk