Disqus - Latest Comments for pinkjohn

Re: How to stay motivated when everything is on fire and you look and feel like crap

pinkjohn — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 16:20:47 -0000

Your fabulous humor and brilliant sarcasm help keep me going. Humor and satire help keep me going, as do the Star Trek and Marvel universes. Laughter (loud, long, joyous) and a vision of a diverse and justice-oriented future are my main coping mechanisms at the moment. So are Big Bang Theory reruns.

Re: Some thoughts on Maurice Isserman’s Reds: The Tragedy of American Communism

pinkjohn — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 19:10:20 -0000

Thanks Sam. I read it a few months ago and learned a lot, but it's great to get your impressions as someone who was in the thick of it. I always think I've read all the associated histories and memoirs but this book pointed me in the direction of several others that I was not familiar with. I also found his emphasis on the generation that was formed by the YCL in the 30's really fascinating. I was sorry that he pretty much stopped with the split in 1991, as if that was the end of the history of the CPUSA. I would like to see more writing about the period since then as the party has changed in so many ways. I've been really interested in the impact of the CPSU 20th Congress on the CPUSA for years. Isserman shed some light which compliments the memoirs of Peggy Dennis, John Gates, Al Richmond, as well as Vivian Gornick and others. More recently, I got a lot out of the book by Bettina Aptheker on LGBTQ experience in the party. If you have read any of these, I would love to hear your take on them.

Re: Courage and conviction

pinkjohn — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 07:55:46 -0000

You inspire me, Vu. Thank you for your work and for your huge heart. Enjoy your time off. Sending good vibes your way.

Re: The nonprofit rut, and what we can do about it

pinkjohn — Thu, 02 May 2024 16:05:05 -0000

It's tempting to think big and envision whole systems change and that certainly is what we need. But I'm pretty wary of it too, having witnessed and lived the whole shift to "strategic philanthropy." Remember when the United Way thought it could end poverty back in the aughts? It stopped giving the small grants to grassroots groups which depended on them to close their books at the end of the fiscal year because they weren't engaged in "systemic change." The whole field got caught up in this crap and is only now unwinding it, thanks to efforts like yours to promote general operating grants and less micromanagement from funders. Given the limited leverage nonprofits and philanthropy have in the system as a whole, the incremental approach may be the only realistic one.

Re: Testing: Please tell me you got email notice of this new NonprofitAF blog post!

pinkjohn — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 17:54:32 -0000

got it

Re: We as a sector must speak up for Palestine

pinkjohn — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:35:42 -0000

"Someone holding up a sign with that phrase while protesting genocide of Palestinian people probably does not condone genocide of Jewish people, for example." Nor are all people calling out anti-Semitism calling for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Nuance has been lost and we need to be intentional about saying these things. Assuming that people "probably don't condone" genocide is insufficient in the present moment.

Re: 10 DEI lessons we’ve seem to have forgotten and need to remind ourselves of as we talk about Israel and Palestine

pinkjohn — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 20:56:17 -0000

I love your blog, Vu, and will continue reading it. I appreciate this post. It goes further than many others who seek "balance" and actually does not seem to choke on the phrase "anti-Semitism." But lots of people are willing to discuss the 75 year history of conflict in the region but not the even longer history of state supported anti-Semitism. I support the aspirations of the Palestinian people. But I strongly suspect that Hamas sought to provoke this response of the Israeli government. And they succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

Re: An addendum

pinkjohn — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 20:32:52 -0000

I learned so much by reading the memoirs of Peggy Dennis, Dorothy Healy and Al Richmond.

Re: Not even a whisper of concern

pinkjohn — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 18:11:58 -0000

You speak my heart here, Sam. This is why, while identifying as a socialist, I never joined the CPUSA nor will I ever. There has been progress but still no thorough-going examination or self-criticism of Stalinism or the fallacies of "democratic centralism" as practiced in the capital "C" Communist movement. I'm happy to work with members of good will in movements and will not join any anti-Communist chorus, I cannot be a part of anything that even remotely supported or benefited from such a brutal regime.

Re: An apology to everyone I harmed with my insensitive words regarding donors and philanthropy

pinkjohn — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 07:17:52 -0000

This is one reason I left the sector and returned to working in government. (Corporate would never work for me.) The mildest criticism of the way funders fund things is unacceptable, and I was told that "all money is green, so we take it" from whatever source we can. I couldn't beg for blood money anymore.

Re: An apology to everyone I harmed with my insensitive words regarding donors and philanthropy

pinkjohn — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 07:00:29 -0000

I thought I could not love you more. I was wrong.

Re: Let’s de-normalize alcohol consumption in nonprofit, and let’s be more considerate of colleagues who don’t drink

pinkjohn — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 07:24:10 -0000

Thank you, Vu. As a person in recovery it is great to see an acknowledgement of how saturated the sector is with alcohol, especially at our events. Another issue you might examine is how alcohol producers and the industry wash their images with donations and sponsorships. Many years ago, in the HIV/AIDS sector, there was a major annual event called the "Tanqueray AIDS Ride," a bike ride of several hundred miles to raise funds. Tanqueray gave a modest amount for the sponsorship and got tons of visibility for their brand. Few asked, however, if perhaps the role of alcohol in unsafe behavior might be worth examining. Alcohol companies still reap rewards funding lgbtq+ pride events. Of course, the organizations need to raise funds but do we need to actually be such cheap dates?

Re: How financially stable people have been making life difficult for lower-income people in nonprofit

pinkjohn — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 11:56:38 -0000

Another excellent post, thank you. In addition to the manifestations of HISS you describe, there is one other that I have seen actually damage and destroy organizations. When an executive director or other senior staff member (like the development director) is constantly interacting with board members or donors of high net worth, they get caught up trying to match the wealthy lifestyle, e.g. getting a place in the Hamptons where they can invite these folks to socialize or have events convenient to them,. Or overspending on clothes and accessories because you need to "look the part" when you are interacting with your wealthy board members or donors. I have seen executives and senior staff embezzle funds (i.e. charging it to their organizations) for travel, meals, clothing, gifts, etc., The focus on cultivating the wealthy to fund our organizations is corrosive and corrupting. I understand why it happens; our whole field is chronically underfunded and so we go where the money is. But the costs are too high.

Re: We need to have a serious conversation about “Donor Love.”

pinkjohn — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 07:48:28 -0000

Awww HELLLL YESS!!! Name it! An abusive relationship with donors. Thank you!!!

Re: I love you, nonprofit colleagues. Please give yourselves a break.

pinkjohn — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 10:53:11 -0000

This is my first time commenting on one of your posts, but I have to say it's crazy how much I love your blog. You name so much that had no name when I was working in the sector. I left the nonprofit world a few years ago because I got an opportunity to get back into government and it was the right move for me. I got tired of having every damn thing be about fundraising even when it wasn't. Program design and evaluation? Great, how can we sell it to funders? Board development? Sure, how much money are they giving or raising? (Good governance? Not sexy and no money in it, so forget it!) Your critique of the way the chronic underfunding distorts our relationships to the communities we serve is the best I've read. We end up serving the funders and donors at the expense of our communities' real needs way too much. Finding your blog is one of the things I'm grateful for this year, and that's saying something. Take care of yourself, as self-care is a very radical act these days. <3

Re: Democracy is Dying. Philanthropy Needs to Stop Its Toxic Intellectualizing.

pinkjohn — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 20:48:58 -0000

You make a decent point, except that why do you think that no nonprofits have good plans or base their work on data? The post is about the fact that foundations and funders feel that they are the ones who should be doing the planning and we should all work off of their plans and logic models, not the ones developed by those closest to the communities we serve. Too many foundation leaders feel that their wealth = wisdom and that they have the key to social transformation, when in fact the historical wealth they sit on (of which they are only spending 5%) comes from the very systems that cause the problems.

Re: The class struggle and geopolitics

pinkjohn — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 20:41:06 -0000

Yes to all of this. Campism is cynical and deadly. My only criticism of this article is that you did not mention Cuba and it's brutal repression of workers and dissenters. We can be against the blockade and also recognize the corruption, failures and oppressive nature of the regime.

Re: Reading Darkness At Noon | The American Conservative

pinkjohn — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 16:23:24 -0000

I haven't been here for a while as I have grown weary of the anti-trans screeds. But this post caught my eye. I DEVOUR Soviet history and novels that give insight into Soviet society. I would also urge you to search up the Youtube channel with Soviet-era films with English subtitles. That will give you some sense of popular culture in the 60's & 70's in the Communist bloc. Why am I so fascinated by this? When I was in 6th grade, my teacher had been to the USSR and brought back filmstrips and artifacts to show us. Her point was not to justify communism but to show that they were people like us and understanding that would help the cause of peace. What I took from all of it was that there was no poverty or unemployment, and that people were guaranteed health care and education. That sounded good to me so I began to think of myself as a Communist, much to my Republican parents chagrin.

In college, I learned about the 20th Congress and how it basically gutted the communist movement worldwide and deeply impacted the progressive imagination and social movements here in the US.

Every now and then, I play with the label of "anarcho-communist" or "libertarian socialist" but all those labels have big problems so I mostly avoid them.

My fascination centers around how social movements and ideologies with the ostensibly human goals can morph into horrific formations capable of mass atrocities.

The parallels between orthodox communism and Catholicism are many, but the basic one is that to the masses of true believers and those in the hierarchies, they CANNOT be wrong. The Party is incapable of being wrong because it is the expression of working class as the revolutionary force that drives history. The Church CANNOT be wrong because it is Christ's body here on Earth.

The wealth of literature by ex-, lapsed, and disillusioned communists is a great resource for understanding the role of ideology in enabling atrocities. "The God that Failed" edited by Koestler is one of the best sources ever. And there are grades of disillusionment by a range of writers, those like Roy Medvedev who documented the Stalinist terrors and yet still identifies as a Communist.

As for SJW's being capable of similar atrocities, eh! Sure, some may be. But the more immediate danger comes from angry white people reacting to their loss of dominance in our culture. Trump and those more explicitly racist are giving them easy answers that could shape up into dogma and have already justified atrocities like Pittsburgh.

Re: Queerly Beloved: Seriously, It’s Not Pie

pinkjohn — Sat, 14 Sep 2019 20:32:07 -0000

Exactly proving Jacob's point. Do you really think MCC is the oppressor? Do you know how many thousands of members we lost to HIV? Do you how many people queers we buried when no other church would open their doors even when they were members? Do you know how many of us died in the Upstairs Lounge firebombing in NOLA? Do you know anything about the battles the Rev. Jacob Hero has had to fight as a queer minister transman raising children with his husband? Dear Mr. Ervin, I was at the meeting in NYC where the name of ACTUP was decided. I also fought for the first AIDS funding that we had to wrench from our closet case mayor, Ed Koch. I fought the political battles that elected the first lgbt candidates in NYC. I buried many, many lovers, friends, comrades, allies. And I am a proud queer Christian minister who believes that Jesus stands on the side of the oppressed. Please don't tell any one of us to "shut up," and don't call the pastor of a queer church that gets bomb threats regularly a "traitor."

Re: Power, socialism, and the communist movement

pinkjohn — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 15:29:08 -0000

Thank you Sam. I hope that all communists (both upper and lower case "C") will take this rigorous and heartfelt critique seriously.

Re: Why the Bible Doesn’t ‘Clearly Say’ Anything

pinkjohn — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 21:29:28 -0000

LOVE LOVE LOVE this article. You make the argument so much better than I ever could. After seminary I got tired of this argument so I boiled it down to one question: "You think that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. Fine. I won't argue with that, even though I can. But how can you ever know if you the reader are'inerrant?'"

Re: Assemblymember Jim Brennan Will Not Seek Re-Election

pinkjohn — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 19:59:16 -0000

I too am sorry to see Jim go. But 32 years? He wins my kudos for persevering in the cesspool of Albany. Does this mean that Robert Carroll will no longer be seeking to run for State Committee? Because I also like Jake Gold.

Re: City & State - NYC nursing homes forcing residents into homeless shelters

pinkjohn — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 11:43:24 -0000

A lot of issues here but the main issue is the lack of an appropriate "step-down" system of facilities for those who no longer need skilled nursing care but still need substantial help and housing. Everyone is passing the buck, "it's the regulations," "it's the state," "it's the city," "it's the nursing homes." Yes, it's all of those, but it's mostly a big, systemic hole in the continuum of of care.

Re: Neighbor Wendy Powell Hopes To Raise Awareness Of Mental Illness After Mother’s Death

pinkjohn — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 19:55:25 -0000

Ed Powell is not a District Manager, but an Democratic District Leader, an unpaid position, as is his position as president of the 70th Pct. Community Council. Ed and Wendy have given decades of service to this community and not the kind that will make one rich. But when many people have problems (such as needing help with family funeral expenses) they call Ed and Wendy. Time to give a little back.

Re: Mamma Lucia’s Restaurant Is For Sale

pinkjohn — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 19:42:55 -0000

The food has been pretty good the couple of times we went, but it took the kitchen an hour to tell the waiter that they didn't have any eggplant for the parmigiana that I ordered, and then another 40 minutes for the back up order of regular spaghetti and meatballs to come. Even so, I kind of like the harried, unorganized, authentic vibe if I'm not in a hurry.