Philanthropy is commonly depicted as a universal practice and is either valued for supporting community transformation or critiqued for limiting social justice. However, dominant definitions and even popular connotations tend to privilege wealthy Western approaches. Using the Caribbean as a rich site of observance and concentrating on the island nation-state of The Bahamas, Get Involved! uncovers the hidden and under-documented activities of “philanthropy from below,” revealing a broader conception of philanthropy and civil society, especially within Black and other historically marginalized populations. Kim Williams-Pulfer draws on narrative analysis from enslavement to the current post-post-colonial moment, depicting the repertoires and practices of primarily Afro-Bahamians through the stories emerging from history (including the transnational observations of Zora Neale Hurston, social movements, and political and social institution building), the arts (from Junkanoo, literature, and visual practices), to the lived experiences of contemporary civil society leaders. Get Involved! shows the long history and continued significance of civil society and philanthropic engagement in The Bahamas, the circum-Caribbean, and the wider African Diaspora.

Junkanoo is the national cultural festival of The Bahamas.  It fosters a sense of community pride, identity, companionship, spirituality and unity. Watch a video about Junknoo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnMpMesNb1Q&t=14s

KIM WILLIAMS-PULFER is an independent scholar and the principal consultant of KWP Research Strategies LLC, a research consulting firm focused on community development, the arts, public humanities, and nonprofit and philanthropic management, in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

"Expressions of love for humanity through philanthropy by people in power most often manifest in activities aimed at fixing people instead of the conditions they live in. However, philanthropic practices in its many forms by oppressed groups provide insights into how to address root causes of their suffering. Kim Williams-Pulfer's hyperlocal analysis of Bahamian philanthropic practices seeks to transform regressive notions of philanthropy into a concept that recognizes an authentic love that comes through resistance." — Andre M. Perry, author of Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities

"Williams-Pulfer brilliantly uses history, art, and storytelling to excavate and document previously 'undocumented' Black Caribbean traditions, cultures, and practices of giving in the Global South. Her cogent analysis demonstrates why centering Black people is essential to the intellectual project of understanding philanthropy as human practice."— Dr. Tyrone McKinley Freeman, author of Madam C.J. Walker's Gospel of Giving: Black Women's Philanthropy during Jim Crow

"The uniqueness of this book is in its examination of cultural identity, the development of civil society, and philanthropy through narratives of lived experiences. Its focus on the evolution and impact of the third sector in a small-island developing state in the Caribbean contributes new knowledge and charts new research paths."— Eris D. Schoburgh, coeditor of Developmental Local Governance: A Critical Discourse in ‘Alternative Development’