Social Justice

Join Define American for their webinar, Creativity is Boundless: An Inclusive Guide for Supporting Immigrant, Migrant, and Undocumented Artists with Fellowships, Grants, and Residencies, on Wednesday, May 24 at 2pm PT/5pm ET. Interest in the stories of immigrants, migrants, and undocumented individuals continues to grow in the U.S. art and media landscape. Unfortunately, immigrant artists, especially those who are undocumented, have far less access to both paid and unpaid fellowships, residencies, and project funding due to unnecessary eligibility requirements.

"How do we ensure that global philanthropy is not causing more harm?" said Kendra Nicolai, Director of Operations at Shadhika, for Community Centric Fundraising. "As a white woman in the US, working for gender justice in India, the key was discovering how my own power and privilege were getting in the way of our path to decolonization."

From Arts Education Partnership: Arts Education Partnership is hosting our first virtual conversation bringing together arts, juvenile justice and education-based organizations! This event is for those interested in or currently doing work at the intersection of arts, education and juvenile justice across the country. We invite you to join a national conversation focused on fostering collaborations and information sharing among attendees. Together we will discuss several topic areas that can be leveraged to support youth involved in the justice system such as funding, community partnerships, family and custodial supports, engagement, and data collection and reporting.

"The Creativity Pioneers Fund (CPF) catalyzes transformational social change by investing in, connecting, and championing cultural and creative organizations that advance bold and unconventional practices for building a more just, inclusive, and equitable world. Working with and alongside organizations, donors and other stakeholders across the creative ecosystem, the Creativity Pioneers Fund aims to mobilize a collective effort to advance Creativity for Social Change."

From National Endowment for the Humanities: The Department of the Interior and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) today announced a new inter-agency partnership to expand the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative through the collection of oral histories and digitization of records documenting the experiences of survivors and descendants of federal Indian boarding school policies. NEH has committed $4 million to support the digitization of records from the United States’ system of 408 federal Indian boarding schools and the creation of a permanent oral history collection, documenting the experiences of the generations of Indigenous students who passed through the federal boarding school system.

From Arts Engines with Aaron Dworkin: Welcome to this week's episode of Arts Engines which now reaches over 100,000 weekly viewers in partnership with Detroit Public Television, Ovation TV, The Violin Channel and American Public Media including Performance Today and YourClassical. Arts Engines seeks to share the most valuable advice and input from arts administrators who tell their stories of creative problem-solving, policy, economic impact, crisis management and empowering the future of our field.

From Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees: Earlier this year, GCIR released our 2023 Public Policy Agenda, a set of federal and state reforms that would advance immigrant justice and power across the country. From calling for pathways to naturalization for Afghan arrivals and DACA holders to opposing policies that increase immigrant detention, GCIR stands with community leaders and coalitions leading the charge on these critical issues. In this learning session, we will dive into three top priority issues for immigrant justice advocates:

• 287(g): a program that empowers local law enforcement to act as ICE agents.
• The “Asylum Ban”: President Biden’s new proposal limiting access to asylum.
• Prison transfers: state and local prisons in California transferring individuals to ICE custody.

GCIR and members of our network recently advocated on several of these issues in Washington, D.C. as part of Foundations on the Hill.

From Funders for LGBTQ Issues:

Last week, the governors of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas signed into law bills attacking the rights of LGBTQ communities:

➤ Arkansas restricted drag performances in public spaces.

➤ Mississippi banned gender-affirming health care for youth under the age of eighteen.

➤ Tennessee restricted drag performances in public spaces and banned gender-affirming healthcare for youth under the age of eighteen.

These bills are only four of three hundred and ninety-one anti-LGBTQ bills proposed in state legislatures across the country since the start of the 2023 legislative session and they join bills in Utah and South Dakota also signed into law in these first three months of the year. Republican controlled state houses and governors in the South and Midwest have ramped up their efforts to codify transphobia into state law. Throughout these two regions, lawmakers have signed bills that target trans people, our families, and trans youth in particular.

"'If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.' This Zora Neale Hurston quote was what started to rattle around my head this morning, after waking up to the news that Angela Bassett’s visible heartbreak - for not winning Best Supporting Actress at last night’s Oscars - was already being critiqued by the talking heads of Twitter for its lack of ‘graciousness’," said author Ella McCann-Tomlin for Ardent.

"Ahh, graciousness. A term that we Black women know all too well. A term that’s lobbed our way anytime we do not show the required level of civility and gratitude for the crumbs that white institutions deign to throw our way. When the facade that we so lovingly craft of agreeability and likeability and ‘grateful just to be here’ is cracked, even for a moment, the condemnation is always swift."

"But imagine being a Black actor that’s been at the very top of her game for over 30 years; someone who should arguably have won multiple Oscars already, but who has only ever been nominated twice. Imagine working in an industry known for its anti-blackness, known for its snubs, and its disrespect - but holding out hope that this could finally be your night. And then being criticised for your authentic reaction to the news that you probably knew was coming, because history has taught you what to expect."

From Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors: Think of this guide as an experienced friend—a partner who can guide you in investigating, learning and maybe even getting inspired by how women give. Think of it as a companion as you explore how philanthropy can add to your life and the life of your loved ones.
Because philanthropy can help organizations take calculated risks, not all philanthropy achieves its goals. However, when successful, philanthropic and personal investments can pay dividends in the form of meaningful connection and even joy.

Why does women’s philanthropy matter?