Published in Chronicle of Philanthropy

By Darren Walker

I have long maintained that hope is the very oxygen of democracy. Yet today, inequality threatens to suffocate that hope.Despite a reckoning with anti-Black racism in 2020, hate crimes in the United States have increased year after year. Despite attempts to overhaul a broken health care system, zip code is still more determinative of health than genetic code. Despite a global pandemic that underscored just how essential so many workers are, labor protections are under attack as income inequality continues to rise. Despite promises from both parties to lower costs and improve daily life, one in six Americans struggles with food insecurity. In a nation where disparities are this stark, it’s no surprise that so many feel that the odds are stacked against them.

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