“Just a few days into the 118th Congress, it feels like our nation is trapped in a cycle of vitriol and discord. Thousands of (reported) hate crimes, increases in antisemitism, racist election campaigns and our enduring partisan political divide make the goal of unity under a set of universally supportive values seem farther away than ever,” said La June Montgomery Tabron for MSNBC. “Meanwhile, our collective, annual celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which occurred yesterday, is a time when many of us participate in service projects and reflect on what it would take to achieve racial equity in the current environment.”

“As we discuss the most effective ways to bring about racial equity, we need to make space for something else: racial healing. This is not because racial equity has been realized — far from it. It’s because it is clear that we can’t have one without the other. Racial equity, imposed from above, mandated by a court or lawmakers, will never stick unless there is also racial healing, grown from within and nurtured carefully.”

“Racial healing is what’s needed for a country that has been poisoned by racism for centuries. It is an authentic acknowledgment of and open grappling with the generations of trauma that have been visited on all of us — Indigenous, Black, Latinx, White, Asian — since long before our founding as a nation. It is a process for connecting, telling the truth, building relationships and bridging divides so that communities can develop the trust to work together toward a more equitable future, and a world in which all our children can thrive. Racial healing begins with affirming everyone’s humanity, not ‘blaming and shaming.’ It’s about communities having the difficult, often uncomfortable conversations needed to build trust and discover a new sense of wholeness.”

“The research here is clear. The Pew Research Center found broad public agreement that the country has made advances in racial equity, but Americans do not all agree that increasing cultural awareness of racial issues is a good thing. Only 46% of white Americans said the increased focus on racial inequity was a positive development. That’s compared to 75% of Black Americans, 64% of Asian Americans and 59% of Latinos.”

“To be clear, this is not just about the work white Americans need to do. As CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, I’ve worked with incredible organizations around the world confronting the effects of racial trauma. These experiences have taught me that this is not just about white people listening to Black, brown and Indigenous people, or vice versa, but about building honest, trust-based relationships and holding authentic conversations with one another so we can all heal from the damage of systemic racism.”

“This is why, as part of our recent Racial Equity 2030 challenge, our foundation is supporting organizations like Communities United in Chicago. This intergenerational, community-led organization sees how deeply so many Chicago youth are suffering from systems of racial injustice: schools being closed in already under-resourced neighborhoods, communities with no economic opportunity plagued by violence that comes from trying to survive, and poor access to housing and health care. Their partnership with the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital demonstrates what can happen when a major institution supports youth who have a wealth of lived experience in developing their leadership skills with a focus on healing. These youth learned that the deep exploration and validation of their own experiences could have profound benefits for their physical and mental health. This is healing work led by and for Black youth, to benefit their own communities.”

“It’s also why we are working to make sure our own field of philanthropy, as well as others with the power to influence larger ecosystems, heed this same call to action. Changemakers and community leaders have been running full tilt for years, with many staff and volunteers burnt out and eager for stronger solidarity. Many communities of color working for justice are carrying the dual burdens of waging the fight against systemic racism while also surviving its effects. They deserve time, rest, and the space to heal, too — and it’s on all of us to help make sure they meet their needs.”

Read the full article here.

Claire Riley recapped Flannel and Blade’s webinar “Meta, Musk and MAGA,” which gathered nearly 200 people involved with nonprofit communications. “…Our session was a response to the massive shake-ups happening in social media,” said Claire. “Capitalism is cracking all over the world: people are rising up here and quiet-quitting there. AI and other technology is exploding into a cultural Renaissance, with an ever expanding division of audiences and growth of niche sub-subcultures.”

“That leads us to ask: what are the biggest risks of social media, for organizations in the world today, who are trying to do good? We hope that you’ll see by the end of our report-out, that sometimes even these kinds of big shake-ups can lead to silver linings.”

“The world is increasingly polarized on every – single – thing. And every communication that an organization puts out has the possibility of being questioned or pushed back on. For nonprofits, it’s so easy to get put off by the negativity, and sometimes outright aggression, that can come back at you. We’re all individuals who process and understand information differently, and it’s hard for non profits who are trying to reach as broad an audience as possible with their messaging—the reality is, you can’t please everyone.”

“But, where the light comes in is that nonprofits can (and do) model a better kind of public discourse than the aggression we sometimes sadly see from other people online. Orgs who have the opportunity to go out to people that support them through social media have the opportunity to change the narrative on polarization every single day, over and over, and on every single platform, by posting as a force for good.”

“It also presents the opportunity to take stock of our audiences on our platforms, and learn how to have healthier relationships with more social platforms, so we are not dependent on any one of them.”

How to handle tech risks:

Put security at the forefront. The security situation has deteriorated faster than most expected. Staffing shortages across Twitter mean that the site is a considerably less safe and less responsive platform than before.
Practice digital hygiene. Prepare for anything associated with your account to get into the wrong hands or become public. Clearly map out who has access to your accounts. Avoid linking your bank account or critical information. Clean out your DMs. And clearly document and limit who has access to your organization’s Twitter credentials.
Don’t leave just yet. Threat experts are concerned that the turmoil at Twitter, including the sudden lack of cybersecurity leaders and many community moderators, will cause parts of the site to stop working and, at worst, that security holes might lead to compromised accounts. But deactivating a Twitter account also poses risks because an impersonator could then more easily manipulate a person’s followers.

“There are real people with real life issues, and sometimes life threatening problems, that rely on nonprofit social channels for support and information. If you are a nonprofit that has service based users that connect with you on Twitter, if you decide to exit the platform, you need to sign post people to where you’re going and leave information so people know how to find you.”

“And remember: even if the platforms lose their safeguarding teams or requirements, you still have the power to safeguard your nonprofit through community management. You can pick and choose which comments are seen, which comments are deleted, which comments you respond to, how you phrase the language that you use in your own little pocket of good. So if you’re still showing up in that community, there’s no reason why you have to lose that community. “

Read the full report here.

From Stitcher: On Aug. 1, 1942, the nation’s recording studios went silent. Musicians were fed up with the new technologies threatening their livelihoods, so they refused to record until they got their fair share. This week, Evan Chung explores one of the most consequential labor actions of the 20th century, and how it coincided with an underground revolution in music led by artists like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

One Year is produced by Evan Chung, Sophie Summergrad, Sam Kim, and Josh Levin. Listen to the episode here.

“I didn’t see it coming, but maybe I should have,” said Salamisha Tillet for the New York Times. “That refrain has been popping into my head repeatedly since learning that neither Viola Davis (“The Woman King”) nor Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”) was nominated for the best actress Oscar and that Andrea Riseborough and Ana de Armas had emerged as this year’s spoilers.”

“It came to mind again Sunday night when the Grammys awarded Harry Styles’ ‘Harry’s House’ album of the year, not Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance.’ Although she made history that night as the most Grammy-winning artist of all time, this was Beyoncé’s fourth shutout from the industry’s most coveted category and another stark reminder that the last Black woman to take home that award was Lauryn Hill — 24 years ago. This time the message was loud and clear: Beyoncé, one of the most prolific and transformative artists of the 21st century, can win only in niche categories. Her music — a continually evolving and genre-defying sound — still can’t be seen as the standard-bearer for the universal.”

“The music and movie industries differ in many ways, but their prizes are similarly determined by the predominantly older white male members of the movie and recording academies. Although both organizations have made concerted efforts in recent years to diversify their voting bodies in terms of age, race and gender, Black women artists, despite their ingenuity, influence and, in Beyoncé’s case, unparalleled innovation, continue to be denied their highest honors.”

“This trend is no indication of the quality of their work but rather a reflection of something else: the false myth of meritocracy upon which these institutions, their ceremonies and their gatekeepers thrive.”

It’s been over 20 years since Halle Berry won the best actress Oscar for her ‘Monster’s Ball’ performance as a Black mother who grieves the loss of her son through alcohol and sex. The fact that she remains the only Black woman to have won this award is ridiculous. ‘I do feel completely heartbroken that there’s no other woman standing next to me in 20 years,’ Berry reflected in the run-up to the Oscars last year. ‘I thought, like everybody else, that night meant a lot of things would change.'”

“The difference between then and now is that there are far more Black women directors and complex Black women characters on the big screen than ever before. Maybe, next year, the academy members will get behind one of those actors. Then again, maybe I should know better.”

Read the full article here.

“Ahead of the 2022–2023 school year, the College Board rolled out a pilot version of its new Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies course. The class had been in the works for over a decade, and this pilot version is currently offered to students at only 60 high schools across the country,” said Elaine Velie for Hyperallergic. “Last week, the College Board announced an updated official curriculum framework in advance of the course’s expansion into hundreds more schools that some critics say is missing a host of important artists, writers, and concepts.”

Kelli Morgan, the director of curatorial studies at Tufts University, whose work focuses on anti-Blackness and anti-racism in the museum field, pointed to a handful of successful living Black artists whose work is not — and she says should be — included in the framework: Firelei Báez, Titus Kaphar, Harmonia Rosales, Alison Saar, and Renée Green among them. (Morgan is a recipient of Hyperallergic’s 2022–23 Emily Hall Tremaine Fellowship for Curators.)

Morgan, however, told Hyperallergic she was not surprised at the College Board’s amendments.

“I feel like we’re in this moment where White, capitalist, patriarchal supremacy is on its last legs — it kind of sees its own demise,” Morgan said. “So anything or anybody — Black scholars, Black authors, Black artists — who are producing work that not only demonstrates the dysfunctionality of White supremacist patriarchal capitalism but offers other options … There’s no way that’s gonna be handed to Black teenagers in high school.”

Morgan also spoke to the histories of African American Studies and Art Histories, stating that part of the reason she entered her line of work (which lies at the intersection of the two fields) is that Art History was behind the curve when it came to examining Black and African diaspora work, and African American Studies lagged behind in examining visual art at all.

“Music’s there, history and politics are there, but in terms of visual art, it was really small,” Morgan said.

“One thing I love about art is how wonderful it can be to have a mind that literally is trying to create something that doesn’t exist,” Morgan said. “We have to be able to see the possibility of beginning to be able to do what we want to do – being able to create the things we love or that we think of or that we conceptualize, within a system that is designed literally for us to die.”

“Seeing Black artists, especially these days at the level that is being done, is vital,” Morgan continued. “It’s beyond critical. It’s so vital to put that there.”

Read the full article here.

From Next City: “The global #LandBack movement, with its powerful demand to go beyond claims of “decolonization” and “reconciliation” by returning land to the stewardship Indigenous people, may seem like a fantasy. But U.S. cities are beginning to act upon their values – and indeed, their promises of climate action – by working to return land to the Indigenous communities to whom it rightfully belongs.”

“In 2004 and 2009, the city of Eureka, California, returned hundreds of acres on Tuluwat Island to the Wiyot Tribe in two land transfers. And last fall, the city of Oakland, California, announced a plan to grant an easement over five acres to local Indigenous organizations: the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, the East Bay Ohlone tribe and the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation.”

“In this session, we’ll hear from organizers with the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust about their work in Oakland, their model of land rematriation and their plans for the future. You’ll learn about what the urban #LandBack movement looks like today, and how other cities and communities can engage in land rematriation.”

“This session is part of Next City’s Solutions of the Year, a multi-day virtual convening of seven sessions that will frame the conversation for 2023. Purchase a single ticket now to all of the events for just $50, or pay what you wish by registering for each event individually. Everyone who donates will receive a copy of our annual Solutions of the Year special issue magazine.”

Watch the webinar here.

From Springboard for the Arts: This innovative pilot and narrative change strategy was designed in partnership with the City of St. Paul’s People’s Prosperity Pilot guaranteed income program. The City of St. Paul is a leader in the national Mayors for Guaranteed Income network, which works to incorporate learning and research from local pilots into state and federal policy recommendations.

Springboard undertook this work to demonstrate that artists should be recipients of economic system change and that they are powerful allies in movements for economic justice.

There is little to no safety net for most individual artists. This creates a pressing emergency of equity in economic opportunity and
representation in our field, especially for artists who are Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color, artists in rural places and underinvested urban neighborhoods, and artists identifying as LGBTQ+ or from the disability community. In 2022, the National Endowment for the Arts reported that the overall unemployment rate for artists was still twice what it was pre-pandemic.

Springboard’s guaranteed income pilot is the result of our work to transition from providing emergency relief for artists to laying the groundwork for larger systems change. This report provides a summary of the impact we are seeing and the steps we are taking to extend the impact of this work.

The goals of Springboard’s GI original pilot were:

Provide 25 artists and creative workers located in the Frogtown and Rondo neighborhoods of St. Paul, MN with $500 monthly payments for 18 months.

Support a cohort of artists to lead narrative change projects to build understanding about the need for economic justice in our community.

Develop research and inform policy by specifically demonstrating the impact that guaranteed income has on artist communities and the ways in which artists can contribute their skills to movements around economic justice.

Read the full report here.

From Nonprofit Quarterly: The cultural sector is seeking alternatives to business-as-usual. This article is the second in the series, “Remember the Future: Culture and Systems Change,” co-produced by Art.coop and NPQ. In this series, queer, trans, and BIPOC artists and cultural bearers reflect upon the unique role that culture has played and can play in activating and enacting structural change—and in building a solidarity economy.

“Another term for the systems we practice as a company and have represented through our art is solidarity economy. We at Applied Mechanics didn’t know we were moving and dreaming into solidarity economy until recent connections reflected this back to us.”

“The idea of a solidarity economy resonates with our vision of liberation. Like many artists, our collective members face tensions between our dreams and economic pressures. To pay the bills, we are fiscally sponsored by Headlong Dance Theater, a Philadelphia nonprofit with an aligned mission, and Fractured Atlas, a New York City nonprofit that supports artists nationally. In Practicing Cooperation: Mutual Aid Beyond Capitalism, published last year, Andrew Zitcer of Drexel University documents the tensions between ideals and monetary pressures at Headlong, but emphasizes too the ‘urban possibility of creative democracy’ (203) that is core to Headlong—and to us.”

“Our collective welcomes this opportunity to deepen intention. Our work is never finished. We celebrate that. We are always learning, using our hearts as our compass, our truth as swords. (Thank you, Assata Shakur). To center our value of mutual thriving for all, we must believe that “No one is free until we are all free” (Thank you, Fannie Lou Hamer). Our group’s intention, while remaining flexible and humble, is to keep moving the needle of change towards collective liberation in the imaginations of our audiences. However small that movement may be, its ripples are cosmic; it is enough, and it never stops.”

“This struggle towards the next world is a work of art, one in which it is important to remain brave and vulnerable. At every step on the journey to creating this new world, there is compost—critical to building soil. Every offering—kindness, presence, art, patience—is valuable. There is no such thing as wrong or unfinished.”

“Each mistake—erasure, self-criticism, tension—is an opportunity to grow closer to each other and our highest selves. Every creation is a seed. The process is the soil. The sun and rain are our joy and conflict. They are inextricable from each other and equally indispensable.”

“Artists—and we are all artists—are microorganisms that nurture seeds. Whatever is harvested will be honored, and every hand that was a part of it thanked, including the Earth from which the harvest was born. This is how we find our way, together.”

Read the full article here.

From National Coalition for Arts’ Preparedness: “Following the recent tornadoes, a major disaster declaration for Alabama was declared on January 15. All categories of Public Assistance (PA) have just opened up for 9 AL counties: Autauga, Barbour, Chambers, Conecuh, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore, Hale, and Tallapoosa. Private non-profit cultural institutions and arts organizations in these counties are now eligible to apply for repair of their facility as well as of any damaged collections materials.”

For Artists:
The Entertainment Community Fund – https://entertainmentcommunity.org/
MusiCares – https://www.musicares.org/
CERF+/The Artists Safety Net – https://cerfplus.org/
NYFA/New York Foundation for the Arts – https://www.nyfa.org/online-resources/emergency-resources/

For Organizations:
Cultural institutions and arts organizations can call the National Heritage Responders hotline: 202.661.8068. The National Heritage Responders, a team of trained conservators and collections care professionals administered by the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation, are available 24/7 to provide phone advice and guidance.
Museums with damage to their collections may be eligible for FAIC funding/assistance for an assessment: https://www.culturalheritage.org/resources/collections-care/cap/emergency-cap.

For Funders:
Funders and service organizations can learn ways to streamline and expedite assistance to artists and organizations through The Essential Guidelines for Arts Responders Organizing in the Aftermath of Disaster – https://www.ncaper.org/post/essential-guidelines-for-arts-responders-organizing-in-the-aftermath-of-disaster.

For Everyone:
For questions about salvaging heirlooms and other objects/artifacts can email the National Heritage Responders at NHRpublichelpline@culturalheritage.org, and HENTF’s (the Heritage Emergency National Task Force) Save Your Family Treasures guidance is available at https://www.fema.gov/assistance/save-family-treasures. Here you can find the downloadable FEMA fact sheets After the Flood: Advice for Salvaging Damaged Family Treasures and Salvaging Water-Damaged Family Valuables and Heirlooms, available in multiple languages.

You and/or your organization may be eligible for FEMA assistance if you are in an area designated under a presidentially-declared disaster. To help demystify federal disaster relief, read An Arts Field Guide to Federal Disaster Relief, available free online in English and Spanish: https://www.ncaper.org/general-8-1.

Preparedness Resources:
If you have not been affected, we encourage you to take some time to begin or update your Readiness Plan for your own organization or practice; resources include www.artsready.org and www.performingartsreadiness.org for organizations, and www.cerfplus.org for artists.