Black philanthropy was shaping Birmingham even before the area became an official city.
Enslaved workers of Alabama dealt with the harshest of environments, but they still found ways to protect each other. According to the social justice philanthropy organization Tides, enslaved Africans brought West African traditions of philanthropy, such as cooperatives and savings clubs, to the plantations.
The ingrained practices of giving and sharing have been passed down through centuries; as Tides reports, Black families contribute the largest portion of their wealth to charity, more than any other racial group. In detail, two-thirds of Black families give around $11 billion each year. Individually, Black families give 25 percent more of their income yearly than their white counterparts. The high number of donations to charity is despite the fact that, on average, a Black man earns $1.8 million over a lifetime, as opposed to a white man’s $2.9 million, according to the nonprofit research organization the Urban Institute…