Despite coming from one of the country’s richest families, Hunt-Hendrix aims to be a champion for middle- and working-class Americans, and uses her considerable wealth to advance progressive causes. She seems to have the right qualifications for the job, having earned a PhD in Religion, Ethics, and Politics for a dissertation entitled “The Ethics of Solidarity.” In 2011, she joined the Occupy Wall Street movement, and since then, has founded three separate activist groups: Solidaire, Way to Win, and Emergent Fund. Solidaire channels resources to social justice movements, such as the Black Feminist Fund and Equality Labs. Way to Win supports progressive political candidates, particularly in the American South and Southwest. The Emergent Fund is a “rapid response” organization that supports Black and Indigenous social movements such as Medicine Bowl and HEARD.
At present, Hunt-Hendrix is also writing a book called Solidarity (due in Mach), which will examine the historical context of the concept. Furthermore, all three of her organizations are actively funding dozens of initiatives, sometimes contributing tens of millions of dollars in the process. Hunt-Hendrix demonstrates that, when it comes to activism, our actions are more important than our backgrounds, and that each of us can contribute something unique to the effort.
