By Mary Uyematsu Kao
On Sept. 7, Weingart Foundation, a social justice philanthropy organization, celebrated its new CEO and president, Joanna S. Jackson. Over 150 people came to celebrate the occasion — partners, allies, friends, and grantees of Weingart.
Joanna spoke eloquently of her mission forward: “It builds on the shoulders of my mother, my grandmother, my father, and my grandfather, courageous freedom fighters, who dedicated their lives to ensuring those promises of liberty, justice, and equity were actually going to be delivered to everyone.”
She spoke of the need for philanthropy to “shift to the long-haul work of actually building movement. We need to get to the root cause and invest in the movement, fostering real radical solidarity across communities, work in deep partnership with one another, and with those on the ground leading that work.
“Those upholding the status quo hold us back from seeing that shared vision of a beloved community for all of us . . . New ways to advance the multiracial solidarity that we know we need and that will actually get us to multiracial democracy that we know is necessary to build a thriving and just community that we all talk about.
“I absolutely know that our solidarity is the only way that we move forward.”
This was a historic occasion because Jackson is the granddaughter of the late greats William L. Patterson and Louise Thompson Patterson, two lifelong fighters for justice, from the Scottsboro Boys to freeing Angela Davis. Grandpa Patterson along with Paul Robeson presented the petition “We Charge Genocide: The Historic Petition to the United Nations for Relief from a Crime of the United- States Government Against the Negro People” in 1951. i
Grandma Louise Thompson was once a secretary to Zora Neale Hurston and close friend of Langston Hughes. An important radical Black feminist, Louise published the first use of the term “triple exploitation” (1936), marking the early understanding of what is now known as “intersectionality.”ii
William and Louise’s only daughter, MaryLouise, is Joanna’s mother, lovingly described by Joanna in her CEO debut speech as “the fiercest activist I have ever known.” And Joanna’s father went to prison in 1966 for refusing to go fight in Vietnam.
Bay Area artist Betty Kano kindly introduced me to MaryLouise because of my article “The Shoulders of Giants that Malcolm Stood Upon.” (https://rafu.com/2022/05/through-the-fire-the-shoulders-of-giants-that-malcolm-stood-upon/)
From Weingart’s website: “Mission — The Weingart Foundation partners with communities across Southern California to advance racial, social, and economic justice for all.
“Overarching Goal and Vision — The Weingart Foundation seeks to achieve inclusion and opportunity for all Southern Californians, especially for those who have historically been excluded due to their race, income level, gender, religion, immigration status, disability, age, sexual orientation, or zip code.
“To achieve this goal, the Foundation’s grantmaking program and other support are designed to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of nonprofit organizations, collaboratives, and coalitions working to meet essential needs, expand opportunity and eliminate structural barriers to equity by building the community power required to sustain long-term prosperity.
“Our vision is a dynamic and effective social change sector in Southern California that is creating equitable systems and structures needed to achieve justice.
“Weingart’s core values: courage, dignity, innovation and curiosity, partnership, racial justice, respect, and trust.” (https://weingartfnd.org)
For 2024, Weingart funded AAPI Equity Alliance, and has funded Asian Americans Advancing Justice of Southern California and Asian American Resource Center in past years with “unrestricted operating support” grants.
- https://depts.washington.edu/moves/images/cp/WeChargeGenocide.pdf
- https://jacobin.com/2023/03/louise-thompson-patterson-black-domestic-labor-international-womens-day
Mary Uyematsu Kao was the publications coordinator for the UCLA Asian American Studies Center for 30 years. She received her MA from UCLA Asian American Studies in 2007. She published a photo/journal book, “Rockin’ the Boat: Flashbacks of the 1970s Asian Movement,” in 2020. She can be reached for comments, questions, and/or criticisms at uyematsu72@gmail.com. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.