Agape in Action

by Nicole Hsiang

Today is my 25th birthday. I love birthdays. Everyone gets a day dedicated to them.  Birthdays entitle one to receive love, celebration, and gifts for the sole purpose of being born.

Birthdays motivate giving.  It’s a tradition that’s lasted so long that it’s ingrained in our social psyche.  Birthdays invite your friends and family to do something for you because they want to make you feel special, and in return, they feel special as well.  I have been brought to tears by some of the thoughtful gifts people have given or made me. A mix tape, a handmade scarf, and a home-cooked meal are among my most cherished presents.

Unfortunately, the gift-giving tradition can stifle our goodwill if the gift doesn’t come from the heart. Gifts lose their meaning when you have no idea what to get your cousin Mary in Maine - the one you see every 5 years. You don’t even remember what she looks like.  When Mary opens the over-sized ugly sweater, all she can say is “Well, it’s the thought that counts.”

This year, I’m making it easy for my family and friends, especially for those who have no idea what to get me. For my birthday, I wish to contribute to a world of peace and justice, and I’m inviting my community to share that vision.  I’m asking everyone to make a donation to the Agape Foundation in my honor.  The Foundation is having a bowlathon fundraiser tonight, where me and my friends will bowl and raise money for grassroots social justice activism.

Raising money for a cause I care about from the people who care about me conveys a beautiful message about the power of community.  The spiritual impact of such a gift for me is in letting go of the greed and selfishness that creates a society ridden with having too much “stuff” and never enough satisfaction.  It is a gift that keeps on giving; if I inspire one or more people to ask their friends for donations as gifts, my one act creates a wave of change. It’s about understanding my life as not just my own accomplishment, but a product of labor (especially that of my mother!), care, and the generosity of others.  This year, my birthday will be a time to give back.  My community is the gift I’m most grateful for.

By Nicole Hsiang

Yesterday morning, Agape Foundation Board of Trustee Members Winnie Chu and Gwyn Kirk hosted a houseparty fundraiser to benefit our work that supports grassroots social change. On this lovely morning, we enjoyed a delicious brunch, made new connections, and learned about what can be accomplished by small groups of people who are committed to seeking justice. (more…)

by Nicole Hsiang
Last weekend, I attended the 2008 Raising Change Social Justice Fundraising Conference, which was organized by the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT). I was able to meet fellow fundraising comrades from all over the country (and some from other countries, as well), and attend workshops that covered everything from practical fundraising skills to analyzing our place in the global movement for social change.

The second morning of the conference kicked off with a lively debate on the topic, “Is the non-profit sector a vehicle – or has it become a barrier – to social justice?” This debate, by now, is not unfamiliar, thanks to the women of Incite! Women of Color Against Violence who recently produced the popular anthology, The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, in which its contributors seriously critique and challenge foundations and non-profit organizations to be more accountable to the communities that they serve. Their book serves as affirmation of the growing frustration among activists with the non-profit sector, a now highly professionalized, highly funded field, becoming the home for social justice movement building. Having to pay salaries, office rent, postage and more, non-profits are often enticed to conform to the interests of wealthy funders. Radical politics are downplayed, subversive language is watered down, and hours of weekly work time are spent writing grants, gathering data, and filing reports. And this is the way the wealthy may maintain the privilege and security of the powerful ruling classes, using their charity to manage and control activism. (more…)