Doing ‘The Work’: Advocacy through the Arts

Creating art and creating ourselves are the same act; art, world, ourselves – these are continuous with one another. -Deena Metzger

This week, we kick of our introductions of our grant awardees with a group of organizations that are making an impact on young people by giving them the opportunity to create and experience the world through art. As the quote above states, when we create art, we are creating ourselves and the world around us. These organizations understand the power of art to break down barriers and open worlds of understanding and transformation for young people. In their own words, here is how they make an impact:

The Akoben Foundation

The Akoben Foundation ensures that early learners from low-income families in Baltimore City are fully equipped with the literacy skills necessary to read at, or above, grade level by the end of third grade. Early literacy attainment specifically is a predictor of high school graduation. Nationally, 31% of Black students and 33% of Hispanic students from low-income families who were not reading at grade level at the end of third grade did not graduate on time. Our Reading, Rhythm, and the Arts program provides small group literacy instruction that incorporates technology education and arts enrichment, including drama and music. This culturally responsive program utilizes evidence-based instruction strategies and dynamic arts programming to build reading fluency, comprehension and vocabulary development while fostering creative thinking.

Of the 40% of students who started below or far below grade level in 2015 or 2016, all students but one moved up to reading at or above grade level.

RRA impacts not only the students but transcends into the homes of students. In addition to ensuring grade level reading attainment, RRA staff support parents to create literacy rich environments at home. Parents receive tools and tips to read with their children. This engagement not only improves reading ability but also establishes relational ties and memories between the parent and the child.

Critical Exposure:

Critical Exposure teaches and inspires DC youth to harness the power of photography and their own voices to become effective organizers for positive changes in their schools and communities. The organization specifically works to address educational inequity by empowering underserved D.C. youth to identify and fight for the education they deserve through our Fellowship Program. During the Fellowship, our staff works intensively with youth to apply their visual storytelling skills by running a collective, youth-led, citywide campaign aimed at securing the implementation of a positive solution to an issue they select. To prepare Fellows to run effective campaigns, participants first undergo intensive skill development, by which they are introduced to historical examples of documentary photography projects that have improved the lives of those in underserved communities, as well as organizing projects led by youth in D.C. and elsewhere.

Youth learn how to take compelling photos that effectively tell a story and can be used to inspire others to act, as well as how to write artist statements and captions, using prose or poetry, that explain the context of their photographs. Youth also analyze the way the mainstream media portrays youth of color and create new “counter narratives” that more accurately represent their own experiences.

As youth develop advanced-level skills in photography and organizing, Critical Exposure youth work collectively to identify an issue they want to address through their campaign and develop a strategy for implementation. Youth discuss the forms of oppression that impact their lives and create photo-stories that generate discussion around these topics. Youth learn about the people and institutions in D.C. that have the power to set policies that directly impact their lives, as well as community organizing strategies that can be used to build power and achieve systemic change. They then meet with various stakeholders to share their photo-stories as part of their efforts to garner support for their campaigns and demand change.

The Ragbaby Exchange

The Ragbaby Exchange is a nonprofit organization committed to building self-esteem in women and children through doll making. Our therapeutic approach inspires participants to embrace self-love, while celebrating diversity among people and cultures. We are driven by the mission that self-affirmation empowers and unlocks one’s full potential.

Our mission is to inspire participants to embrace inner love for themselves through doll making. Our approach celebrates both the differences and similarities of diverse people and cultures. We strongly promote the idea of giving, which we believe creates a two-fold effect: empowerment enjoyed by the giver and the energy of love and compassion felt by the receiver.

Our goal is to affect change in the negative self-defeating talk prevalent in women of color and to encourage change in the mindset of the way the world views them and their cultures, not only in media, but also in the long-held misconceptions of their beauty and abilities.

Our program’s core service is to host workshops and programs to educate women and children on self-esteem at a variety of social and community facilities as well as for incarcerated women and juvenile girls. Through a process of self-discovery, our workshop brings about a sense of acceptance, affirmation, forgiveness and peace within the individual and in our communities. Since its inception, RBE has been successful in reaching many women and girls as well as boys. Our organization has taught them to build up their self-esteem and embrace their inner greatness.

Share this video to share the work these organizations are doing to advocate through the arts:

As you can tell, these organizations, though different, are working towards the same goal of breaking down systemic barriers for women and youth of color. They are opening opportunities for them to create and be creative in their own understanding of themselves and the world around them and in their ability to transform that world.

We all can create and transform and use art to see ourselves and our communities in new ways. Sometimes, what our communities or what the world needs hasn’t been created yet. These young people and the organizations that empower and support them know that, and they are willing to do ‘the work’. Are you?

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