Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance

273 Pages·2021·3.63 MB·English

by  Edgar Villanueva

Praise for Decolonizing Wealth, Second Edition
“If we are to escape the insidious hold racism has on our society, we
must be intentional about truth and reconciliation. In Decolonizing
Wealth, Edgar lays a foundation that not only explains the history
of wealth and racism but also provides a pathway to healing that
we all need.”
—Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award–winning author of Stamped
from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist
“Only a truthful reckoning of our history of colonization can inform
the transformation of our extractive economic systems. Recognition,
repair, and transformation are not only moral imperatives—but they
will also finally and truly benefit us all. Edgar knows this deeply and
is leading the way.”
—Kat Taylor, philanthropist and cofounder of Beneficial State Bank
“Due to years of detrimental federal Indian policy and discrimina-
tory economic systems, Native American communities have been
marginalized and left out of the economic opportunity experienced
by other Americans. Edgar offers a new vision and an Indigenous
perspective that can put us on a better path. Everyone should read
Decolonizing Wealth, especially those who control the flow of
resources in government, philanthropy, and finance.”
—LaDonna Harris (Comanche), politician, activist, and founder of
Americans for Indian Opportunity
“Decolonizing Wealth is a call to action for all who seek real, mean-
ingful progress. If we want to see the kinds of change, unity, and
radical generosity that we know are possible, we must reckon with
the systems that continue to perpetuate the racial wealth gap and
change them from the root up. We need healing, we need hope, we
need solidarity, and in this book, Edgar has provided the blueprint.”
—Asha Curran, CEO of GivingTuesday
“Edgar is an incredible thinker and activist. His work is fueling efforts
across the globe to face necessary truths about history and to take
reparative actions. Everyone should read this book to understand
mutual liberation and the powerful and necessary ways that we can
heal ourselves, our communities, and our world.”
—Matt McGorry, actor, activist, and cofounder of Inspire Justice
“Decolonizing Wealth offers an arrow to pierce the status quo. It out-
lines a Native-generated constellation of insights and pathways toward
being in right relationship with each other through exploring and
amplifying the inherent power and resilience of Native Peoples and
ways that the philanthropic sector can heal, learn, and grow—and
ultimately can serve individual and collective liberation from centuries
of oppression.”
—Tia Oros Peters (Shiwi), Executive Director, Seventh Generation
Fund for Indigenous Peoples
“Decolonizing Wealth is a transformative love letter to humanity.
As Edgar says, all of our suffering is mutual and all of our healing
is mutual. If we are to have true belonging and justice in our lives
and public spaces, then we all must heal—and this book provides
a wisdom-led guide on how that can be achieved.”
—Dawn-Lyen Gardner, actor, activist, and founder of Belong
“Edgar has challenged the status quo and held a mirror up to the white
supremacist philanthropic structures and constructs that perpetuate
inequity in society today while offering a hand of healing and justice.
This book and Edgar’s leadership are very important for this nation
as we head into an era of repair that has the potential to build a
pathway forward for true transformation and equity.”
—Nick Tilsen (Oglala Lakota), President and CEO, NDN Collective
“By anchoring the solutions to America’s ills in the wisdom and
knowledge of its original people, Edgar challenges all of us work-
ing in the nonprofit and philanthropy sectors to analyze how our
nation’s history of racism and disenfranchisement has infected its
financial and giving institutions. I strongly recommend this book
as a key resource for funders and advocates to ensure their invest-
ments are truly equitable and benefiting the lives of people and
communities of color.”
—Heather McGhee, author, political commentator, and former
President, Demos
“We are all on a journey of self-reckoning—every CEO, every exec-
utive, everyone. With his vital and timely book, Decolonizing
Wealth, Edgar provides a means of having those necessary
conversations, including with yourself. We all have the opportunity
to progress, and this book provides an important pathway for that.”
—David Linde, CEO, Participant
DECOLONIZING

WEALTH
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DECOLONIZING

WEALTH
Indigenous Wisdom
to Heal Divides and Restore Balance
Second Edition
Edgar Villanueva
Foreword by Bishop William J. Barber II
Decolonizing Wealth, Second Edition
Copyright © 2018, 2021 by Edgar Villanueva
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording,
or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permis-
sion of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
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Coordinator,” at the address below.
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Second Edition
Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-5230-9141-6
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-5230-9142-3
IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-5230-9143-0
Digital audio ISBN 978-1-5230-9144-7
2021-1
Cover design: Idea2Form and Irene Morris. Front cover author photo: Adam
Ouahmane. Interior design: Mayapriya Long, Bookwrights. Book production:
Seventeenth Street Studios.
To the memory of my grandmother, Gracie Bryant Miller
(1936–2020), our unassuming matriarch and resident
comedian. We miss you. To my mother, Sheila Jacobs, her
caretaker and the first philanthropist I knew. I love you.
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“If we are going to heal, let it be glorious.”
—Beyoncé