Carmen Graciela Díaz's Blog

The backlash against R&B singer R. Kelly following the six-part documentary Surviving R. Kelly, 20 years of accusations against him for sexually assaulting minors, and his arrest on charges of sexually abusing girls as young as 13, have sparked an uproar that seems to signal "that #MeToo has finally returned to black girls," point out Salamishah Tillet and Scheherazade Tillet, co-founders of A Long Walk Home, a nonprofit that uses art to empower young people to end violence against girls and women, in a recent opinion piece in The New York Times.

A piece on the Stanford Social Innovation Review addresses how organizations are examining their work to commit to racial equity within their institutions and impact investing practices.

A post in Medium points out "artists and governments have a future together," reflecting on how a group of residents had gathered together to brainstorm for a community garden and sculpture project following the call of artist Carolyn Lewenberg.

Understanding where our values and beliefs come from is a key drive for people committed to social change, according to a recent blog post by Julienne Kaleta and Joanna Carrasco, Living Cities coordinators.

Supporting creative aging in rural areas is the driving force behind Iowa Arts Learning in Libraries, an effort of the State Library of Iowa and the Iowa Arts Council (IAC) to offer free arts classes for adults 55 and older in rural public libraries.

"We take up space/ By being in community/ Together/ And saying that we/ Won’t tolerate this/ Anymore," writes community activist Jasmin Rogers, honoring the community of women who support her every day. Her words, published in a piece by The Miami Herald, resonate in commemoration of Women’s History Month in March.

Last year, the League of American Orchestras partnered with The Sphinx Organization and New World Symphony (NWS) launching the National Alliance for Audition Support (NAAS), an initiative to increase Latinx and Black orchestra players in the country.

Participatory grantmaking, according to an article by Inside Philanthropy, is drawing more attention these days if you consider "a growing body research, the Foundation Center’s embrace of the topic embrace of the topic, and heightened interest and field-building support from large institutions like the Ford Foundation and Open Society Foundations."

The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund awarded $1.5 million NYC Health + Hospitals and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City to launch the Arts in Medicine program, which seeks to expand programs serving health care staff, patients, and communities across the city.

The Congressional Arts Handbook, compiled annually to support the work of participants at Arts Advocacy Day, was recently released to support year-round advocacy efforts and this year's National Arts Action Summit, which brings together arts advocates and cultural and civic organizations from across the country on March 4-5 in Washington, DC.