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| VALAIDA FULLWOOD |
| Banners line the hallway to “The Soul of Philanthropy” exhibit at the Charlotte Museum of History. The exhibit returned to Charlotte after a 10-year national tour. |
“The Soul of Philanthropy” exhibit is back in Charlotte, where it started.
The exhibit, which traveled across the country for 10 years and more than 35 cities, is now at the Charlotte Museum of History through Oct. 19. The exhibit was started by Valaida Fullwood and Charles Thomas with the goal of changing the narrative that Black people don’t give back to their communities.
Fullwood authored the book “Giving Back” that combined storytelling and imagery to showcase Black philanthropy is. In search of a photographer who could capture the stories Fullwood wanted to tell, the collaboration with Thomas began. The exhibit combines visuals, audio and interactive art along with Black voices throughout history who led in philanthropy.
“The Maya Angelou quote that opens it, ‘I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver,’” Fullwood said. “That quote really helped ground and give name to the title to the exhibit, ‘The Soul of Philanthropy.’ Just that question, liberating the soul of the giver. And as we all seek to be free and to feel like liberated people, recognizing that a key to that is giving in our generosity.
“I didn’t want stoic images or headshots in the most conservative, conventional way. And time and time again, one name came up. It was Charles Thomas.”
Thomas, a Charlotte Post alum who is program director at the Knight Foundation in Charlotte, had a history of creating work in Black communities and was thrilled to take on the project.
“What intrigued me about the project was that it was going to be kind of more documentary style, more what we call kind of portraiture, as people are doing environmental portraiture, as they’re doing their own projects or their work versus this kind of studio light standard.
That really fits with the idea around the giving back project and the soul of philanthropy, which is to reframe how we think about philanthropy. Most people think of philanthropy in one kind of way, that you got to have a lot of money, you got to look a certain way. And here we’re showing philanthropy across generations, the many ways that the Black community gives, and therefore, the images are a reflection of that.”
Capturing the act of giving and turning it into art came from understanding and holding a mirror up to what is already there.
“We wanted to reclaim the root meaning – love – and really to show the soulful ways people engage,” Fullwood said, “and so it was a matter of listening to their stories on why and how they give, and what motivates the giving that they do.
“Charles, being able to capture that environmental portraiture of people engaging with other people and demonstrating love in all the ways and being thoughtful and reflective and considerate and caring, and all the ways that can show up visually.”
The exhibit was launched in 2015 and received grant funding in 2016 to go on tour. Throughout the years, Fullwood and Thomas have encouraged others to tell their stories to combat misrepresentations about Black people in philanthropy.
“While the development of the book was an experience in and of itself, and we learned a lot during those almost five years of developing the book, and then over the course of the last decade, we’ve learned even more,” Fullwood said.
“The power of our giving, much of it may be initially, was showing respect and deference to our elders and ancestors and lifting up and celebrating stories of Black philanthropy. And increasingly we see it as a catalyst in reflecting back and finding our power in that history and helping us chart our path in the future.”
