It was a beautiful night last night celebrating our partners @libertyhillfoundation 50th anniversary!
Thank you @libertyhillfoundation for all your support and for changing the landscape with your work. Liberty Hill was a our first fiscal sponsor, we are so grateful for them understanding the power of the arts.
Our Executive Director @isaacgonzales55 and our Director of Engagement @sabrawilliamsacts represented Creative Acts last night. It was a unforgettable night celebrating with partners near and far in the work!
Last week was a busy one!
Last Friday our Executive Director @isaacgonzales55 and our Art Attacks! Program Manager, Star Van Pool, attended the Ready 2 Rise spring convening at Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.
The purpose of the convening was to deepen relationships and strengthen our sense of ourselves as a network in order to support our work with young people.
This event led us to fully emerge ourselves in wellness and connection. It was an opportunity to engage with our peers, and strategize as a community to better serve our youth.
Thank you Ready 2 Rise @ready_2_rise_la for all your support and for our time together last week!
Last Thursday our Board Director @eemeleeano presented at the “Social Justice Partners Los Angeles.” He just completed a 9 month fellowship, and presented his story for the (SPJLA) Story of Us LA.
Story of Us LA is a 10-week communication skills training program for early-stage nonprofit initiatives in a systems change fellowship that are creating lasting social change in greater Los Angeles. The program trains them to communicate their story and connects them with leaders in the business, philanthropic, and nonprofit communities.
Congrats on a wonderful presentation @eemeleeano and thank you for sharing your work and stories! We are so grateful to have a Board President that is so involved and dedicated to this work.
In May, and everyday, we celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage.
Creative Acts wants to celebrate and acknowledge the expansiveness and invaluable impact and contributions of our AANHPI members close and far.
AANHPI people are among the fastest growing racial/ethnic groups in
United State prisons.
However, these experiences are often underrepresented and unheard. AANHPI people are categorized under “other” and often are erased from the larger conversation of prison populations.
Please take some time to see how the AANHPI community is impacted by incarceration, especially in regards to cultural context and immigration, which is all information that is often overlooked and underrepresented.
In this time of exceptional immigration restrictions and enforcement, the information we share is more important than ever to consider.
Our Art Attacks Spring Program just wrapped up!
We had another great program across two different camps, Rockey and Afflerbaugh.
Our youth were able to play, create and explore with each other and our Teaching Artists through civic engagement and art.
Thank you to everyone involved, as always, and we are looking forward to our summer sessions soon to come!
If you would like to support this one of a kind work, please consider being a donor. Your support makes all this possible.
Link in bio
#art #youth #artinprisons #civicengagement #freethemall
Creative Acts is deeply disturbed and enraged by the recent Supreme Court decision to destroy Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
In the decision of Louisiana v. Callais, voters of color could face the elimination of districts across the country that have provided fair representation.
Historically Black, Latino, Native and other voters of color have faced barriers to equal and fair voting representation due to discriminatory districting and election systems. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has been the primary legal tool — and one of the last remaining — that voters of color rely on to challenge discriminatory mapping. With this section shrunk, more legal barriers will occur for voters who are challenging racially discriminatory maps.
As an organization that has a specific civic engagement program focusing on voting rights, we are even more determined to continue our work and push back against this unlawful and racist ruling.
We work with incarcerated youth to empower their right to vote and participate in their community through civic engagement and organizing. Their voice matters, and we will make sure it continues to.
Our youth inside have had a 100% voter turn out during our programming. Take a look at protest signs they have made in the past about their voting rights in the slides above.
If you are able, please speak up about this. This is a huge setback following years of civil rights organizing and hard work for fair representation. We cannot let it be taken away, the people have the power!
Repost from @prisonpolicy
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Happy May Day. Incarcerated people can’t get left behind in the fight to end exploitation.
#incarceration #criminaljustice #mayday
This past weekend our amazing Executive Director @isaacgonzales55 was honored by his former home @homeboyindustries
He was joined by some of the Creative Acts team too, our Board Chair @eemeleeano , our Alumni Lab Manager @russellcamilla and our VR Project Manager @ivmister . What a beautiful night of celebration!
We are so proud to have Isaac as our new ED and to see how celebrated and valued he is in this community and line of work. Congrats Isaac!
From Isaac:
“Lo Máximo is Homeboy Industries’ biggest fundraiser and award event of the year, what many of us lovingly call it the “Homeboy Prom.” It’s a special night where homeboys and homegirls show up in their Sunday best, celebrating how far they’ve come and the community that helped them get there.
Throughout the evening, donors and supporters who have stood behind Homeboy Industries’ mission are recognized and honored. One of the most meaningful moments of the night is when a Homegirl and a Homeboy are each presented with the “Homegirl Hero” and “Homeboy Hero” awards.
For me, the Homeboy Hero represents someone who fully embraced every opportunity placed in front of them, someone who committed to the 18-month program and did the hard work of transforming their life. It’s a person who didn’t just change for themselves, but became a pillar in their community.
A Homeboy Hero is a beacon of hope… living proof that change is real, and that it’s possible.”
Repost from @reimagine_la
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We’re spending more to cage people than to educate them.
In L.A. County, it costs $342.63 per day to incarcerate one person — that’s over $123,000 per year.
Meanwhile, we spend just $27,000 a year to educate a K–12 student.
These numbers tell a clear story about priorities.
Imagine what would be possible if we invested in education, care, and opportunity at the same scale as incarceration.
📊 Join us TOMORROW as we break down where our public dollars are really going and how we can fight for a budget that invests in our communities.
🗓 Wednesday, April 29th
🕕 6:00 PM
Comment REGISTER and we’ll DM you the link to join.
#CareNotCages #BudgetJustice #ReImagineLA
This month is National Arab American Heritage Month.
This month we acknowledge and celebrate the contributions and achievements of the Arab community to our everyday lives and to our work across the US.
NAAHM honors Arab Americans' impact on medicine, technology, and culture, with official recognition from the White House, state governments, and orgs like the LA County Library.
Although we know the Arab American population makes up about 3.7 million, according to data from the Arab American Institute, this is also disputed due to the census not having accurate Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) identifying categories until recently.
Unfortunately, retrieving data on the
the Arab American population and incarceration in the US is challenging.
We regret not being able to share as much as we would like about the Arab American community and incarceration in the US, but nonetheless, it is important to celebrate the AA community today and everyday for all they bring to the culture and life of our community and beyond.
And perhaps, further, to question why we do not have more data for this community. Everyone must be represented and heard within the justice space.
California Men’s Colony prison, day one! Amazing first day. Our guys are so curious and vulnerable in the worst place- mental health solitary (Restricted Housing Unit) We (and they) are supported by some amazing mental health professionals- all women! Excited to see what this week brings. I needed this joy. #powerofthearts #mentalhealth #virtualreality #reentry Thank you to @calartscouncil for the Arts in Corrections grant 🙏🏽
Repost from @so.informed
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Many of us have heard about the U.S. prison industry, but it is important for us to truly understand the insidious nature of the industry in order for us to dismantle it.
