Recently,
I had a conversation about some young people’s
obsession with getting paid for volunteer
work. My friend who works with several
community groups asked a young person to help
out with an event. He was promptly and
forcefully hit with the question of whether
pay was involved. When the answer was no, my
friend was accused of behaving like a slave
master. It’s time for a principled discussion
to resolve this nagging issue.
The
notion of getting paid for movement work is
not just limited to young people. Some
not-so-young folks make the same demand. I’m
not sure exactly where this thinking comes
from, but I have some thoughts.
My
generation saw payment for movement work
blasphemous. The freedom fighters of the 50’s
and 60’s were all about sacrificing for our
liberation. We understood that freedom ain’t
free but also strongly believed that
capital(ism) was the root of all evil. This
may have been an honorable position, but it
left too many of us in dire financial straits,
especially as we aged. Relying on GoFundMe to
pay for medical treatment or a burial is not
particularly honorable.
So,
could one blame the next generation for going
to the other extreme? Organizers, spoken word
poets, musicians - all refusing to do anything
for the movement without first getting paid.
Had neoliberalism tendencies crept inside our
beloved liberation movement and provided cover
for aspiring entrepreneurs? I’m making
generalizations here to convey a point.
Neither extreme is helpful for our liberatory
work nor to those committed to that work.
And
then there’s the mistaken belief that every
Black community-based organization has the
same hefty budget as groups like Black Lives
Matter Global or Color of Change. We need to
reach a healthy balance based upon a
constructive analysis of capital. This process
may take some time to engage sectors of our
social justice movements, but I think I can do
a quick primer on the differences between a
wage earner, a slave and a volunteer.
A
volunteer has the free will to choose where
they spend their time, money and energy. You
volunteer for assignments or make donations.
You join a group whose mission and vision you
share. You’re committed to carrying out the
activities of that mission. When you join a
church, you don’t expect to get paid for
passing out the programs to the congregation.
When you join a sorority or fraternity, you
don’t expect to get paid for passing out food
baskets. When you join a fair housing group,
you shouldn’t expect to get paid for tabling.
Small,
community based social justice organizations
rely heavily on volunteers or unpaid members
to carry out their work. Some are lucky if
they have a few paid staff to cover key areas
of the organization’s functioning. These
groups need members and supporters to
supplement any paid staff they may have.
Let’s
be clear. These nonprofits aren’t the same as
the American Red Cross or the Ronald McDonald
House. These charities do public good, but
they are not trying to challenge or disrupt
capitalism. They have huge budgets, and they
still recruit volunteers. People who believe
in their mission are free to help in any way
they can. They can choose to volunteer.
General
Motors or Wells Fargo may have charitable
subsidiaries and ask you to volunteer. But
when it comes to work - assembling a car or
managing a financial portfolio - that’s a
j-o-b. You are paid for what you do to
maximize the capitalists’ profits. As a wage
earner, you apply for a job so you can get
paid for your labor. It may not always be the
salary you want or deserve but it’s not free
labor.
There
is a bourgeoning sector of nonprofits working
for change. All are not created equal. It has
even been said that some of these
organizations and agencies have internal
cultures like the corporate capitalists. That
may be true, but they are not creating wealth
in the same way.
The
notion of someone demanding money from a
legitimate organization working for change is
unfair and misdirected. Accusing these groups
of profiteering off one’s labor or worse, or
calling someone a slave master is also unfair
and misdirected. If a community group asks one
to volunteer, that person can always say no
without insulting the group’s integrity.
We’ve
got to know the difference between an
organization fighting for social change and a
workplace that exploits the labor of workers
for profit. We have to know the difference
between being a capitalist and being a worker.
There are distinctive differences between a
slave, a wage earner and a volunteer.
I
saw an anonymous quote that puts this issue in
perspective: “working hard for something we
don’t care about is stress. Working hard for
something we love is called passion.” My vote
will always be for more passion because
fighting for liberation is not work. It is labor
- a labor of love.
