In the days following reggaeton artist Bad Bunny’s groundbreaking halftime performance at this year’s Super Bowl, there appeared to be a widely shared view, online and in public life, that the musician’s ode to joy, family, and cultural diversity was exactly what Americans needed in this moment of political and societal division. His closing message, “the only thing more powerful than hate is love,” anchored a celebration of Puerto Rican culture grounded in history and truth. Despite its critics, the public response to the performance has been overwhelmingly positive — as evidenced by ratings and streaming data — and the promised backlash to the artist’s message of tolerance and multiculturalism has largely fizzled outside of the most politically polarized corners of the internet.
There is a message here for those of us who work in spaces dedicated to strengthening American civic life: the American people have not abandoned or rejected their desire to live in a diverse, free, and fair society. Nonprofit leaders should take heart and courage in this — and recommit to the egalitarian and democratic principles that are the backbone of our work, regardless of what political winds are blowing.
The commitment to these principles remains at the heart of the civil rights movement. Despite the real and ever-present threat of racially motivated reprisals and backlash, civil rights leaders like the late Rev. Jesse Jackson were unequivocal in their mission of creating an equitable, just society. Black-led churches, supported by allied non-Black congregations and nonprofit equity-focused organizations like the NAACP, drove this advocacy and provided a home for equity-focused work long after boycotts and marches ended. The Rev. Jackson was a strong proponent of expanding the civil rights and racial justice movements to include economic and educational equity, founding the Rainbow PUSH Coalition to pressure businesses and school districts to take concrete steps to end disparities disadvantaging non-white entrepreneurs, workers, and students. Today, these organizations continue to pursue missions of a fairer, more just America — even as the civil rights laws they fought to secure face challenges in the courts, state legislatures, Congress, and the White House.
Over the past year, the U.S. charitable sector has had to weather a surge of political, legal, and rhetorical attacks on organizations engaged in equity-driven work. Nonprofit and philanthropic organizations have become a frequent subject of contentious congressional hearings and damaging partisan rhetoric, leaving nonprofit leaders and staff exposed to escalating risks of harassment, threats, legal challenges, reputational attacks, and even violence. After the creation of the president’s DOGE initiative, widespread reporting revealed that nonprofit grant proposals using words such as “bias” or “gender” faced reduced or eliminated funding. The administration’s threats to use the IRS to target politically-unfavored philanthropies have raised the alarm for both progressive-leaning and conservative-leaning organizations, all waiting anxiously to see if vowed partisan investigations will indeed come to pass. Nonprofit and philanthropic leaders are having to reckon with a political and legal environment that threatens to punish their organizations for the seemingly unforgiveable crime of staying true to their missions.
At Independent Sector, we don’t prescribe a one-size-fits-all strategy for organizations seeking to navigate this perilous political moment. A particular organization’s threshold for political risk is dependent on factors like their size, access to resources, geographic location, and the vulnerability of their staff and the population they serve. It is wholly understandable that some organizations would utilize caution when speaking about areas of their work that may draw the ire of those with the power to target and harm their communities. But there is growing evidence, in opinion polls and in popular culture, that the American public have grown weary of a society that favors cruelty over compassion and division over diversity. The compounding tragedies in Minnesota and other communities targeted by federal immigration enforcement have left many Americans seeking out opportunities to volunteer, advocate, and contribute to the communal good.
Charitable organizations were built to meet moments like these — to turn collective will for a kinder, fairer, and more just world into concrete action. Now is not the time for retreat — instead, it is the time to re-commit to our missions, re-engage our communities, and remind the American people of their own collective power.
Dr. Akilah Watkins
Dr. Akilah Watkins is president and CEO of Independent Sector.
