HomeMy WebLinkAboutRACE Matters-SLO City DEI high impact grant, 1SLO CITY HIGH IMPACT DEI GRANT
Notice: https://www.slocity.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=28075
Submission form: https://forms.slocity.org/Forms/DEI-GrantApp
Briefly describe your Organization's mission, primary activities, and operating structures.
Our Mission
To center the lived experiences of Black and other People of Color through anti-racism education
and cultural projects.
What We Do
We fulfill our mission through special events, cultural projects, and rapid response to racial and
social injustice.
Our Programming
Our contributions to an inclusive culture of belonging in SLO include:
Cultural events and arts exhibitions that center Black creative expressions
Because we originally formed in response to police killings of Black people, the extraordinarily
low Black population, and the relative dearth of Black artistic and cultural opportunities locally,
we have a particular focus on showcasing, and providing a platform for Black artistic and
cultural expressions. We organize an extensive range of programs that engage our local
community with the works of Black artists as well as Black-focused works. From visual arts
programs to performing arts events to films--including our first original short documentary film
Kut to be the Best, and free advance screenings of Hollywood films for the loc al community--our
programs utilize an expansive array of media to amplify and uplift the voices of
underrepresented Black and other POC populations in our predominantly White community.
With examples spanning a gamut that includes live storytelling events, an African drumming
event for kids, and community dialogues with featured artists, our cultural and art events
incorporate participatory elements wherever possible, inviting our community to play an active
role in the creative process of imagining and building a more just world. We have an ongoing
relationship with the Harold J Miossi Gallery at Cuesta College, SLO Motion Films, and will
launch our first partnership with SLO Museum of Modern Art (SLOMA) in January.
Racial justice educational programming
We’ve organized community dialogues, panel discussions, and workshops that contribute to a
broader culture of racial justice within our community. Our educational programming has ranged
widely, from racial justice-oriented yoga workshops, to educational workshops on White
privilege, a panel and forum focused on the subject of cultural appropriation, webinars devoted
to the racial dimensions of the COVID-19 crisis, and the challenges and possibilities of
homeschooling children of color in the pandemic, and private social spaces for parents of color
including parents raising children of color) Our soon to be released short documentary,
Restrictions Apply, uncovers SLO city and county’s racially restrictive covenants.
Creation of Black and BIPOC centered social spaces
We organize a variety of social and cultural events specifically for the local Black community,
helping to build ties among local Black residents, families, and businesses, and contributing to
the fostering of Black culture locally. Through RaiseUp SLO, we connect and build community
among families of color. Through NoireSLO, we organize social events to gather our local Black
community in enjoyable safe spaces. Through our Black Business Belongs series, we facilitate
networking and dialogue among Black business owners across the local region. We regard the
creation of these unapologetically Black and BIPOC spaces as vital to the building of community
and especially critical to welcome new residents. The existence and expansion of Black/BIPOC
social programs such as these, is crucial to making SLO a more attractive, livable, and tolerable
city for Black community members in particular.
Our Structure
R.A.C.E. Matters (RM) was founded in 2016 by a group of like-minded people, including our
Community and Cultural Engagement Chair, Courtney Haile. (at present, the acronym stands for
Responsibility, Action, Compassion, and Education. C will soon stand for “Culture”) By
engaging the public through dialogue, workshops, and direct action organizing, the group has
emerged as a publicly recognized local leader in matters of race relations. Haile and other
members of our Black-led, volunteer-run Steering Committee (Preston Allen, Stephanie Allen,
Julie Fallon, Julie Lynem, Elizabeth Sine, and Gina Whitaker) have ex tensive experience in
event organizing, public speaking, outreach, publicity, and education. We collectively make
decisions, develop initiatives, coordinate programs on behalf of our organization for our local
community. Black members make key decisions related to social and cultural programs for the
Black community, and advisors of color are sought when needed. White members offer skilled
support. Our efforts have also given rise to RaiseUp SLO, our parent- and caregiver-oriented
group, which functions as a sub-committee of RM and works to create an inclusive and
supportive environment for children of color through community building, education and
advocacy. NoireSLO is the Black centered social arm. We are supported by an expansive team of
volunteers who help to implement our programming and fulfill our mission.
Describe the community(ies) your Organization supports.
Please be specific in the population and geographic area.
R.A.C.E. Matters is a direct outgrowth of the needs and desires of a culturally marginalized and
demographically minoritized Black community on California’s Central Coast, and its mission,
vision, and programs are animated by our continual, intimate engagement with members of that
community. We also aim to amplify voices of Indigenous and other people of color in our
educational webinars, and in RaiseUp SLO programming. By focusing specifically on
amplifying the voices and uplifting the wellbeing of BIPOC, and especially Black community
members, we support the creation of a radically inclusive culture of belonging for all residents of
SLO County. While we aim and aspire to serve SLO County as a whole, our organizational
home, the focus of most of our activities, and the most direct beneficiaries of our work are within
SLO city itself.
Rather than treat the local Black community as a monolith or presume to represent or speak on
behalf of the local Black and POC community in all its diversity and multiplicity, we continually
reach out to and engage the wider Black and POC community and remain responsive to the
evolving needs and interests that characterize it. We have instituted a regular practice of inviting
guest speakers from the local Black community to join us during our monthly Steering
Committee meetings, to talk with us about their experiences as well as to highlight any concerns
or aspirations that they wish to share. This practice keeps our Steering Committee in touch with
the changing dynamics of our multifaceted local Black population, while also deepening the ties
that connect us to that population.
When specific emergencies or crises arise, we conduct focused outreach to communities directly
impacted. For example, amidst the latest racial emergency and response to the death of George
Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others, we have been in close contact with Black youth at the helm
of local Black Lives Matter protests. We have worked to widen the platform on which their
voices can be heard, connected them with seasoned activist Gina Belafonte over zoom,
organized meetings specifically devoted to learning about their needs, concerns, and visions, and
are assessing how to structure our own plans to respond to their needs as well as the needs of
others in this historic moment.
Describe your proposed project or program.
Specify what the requested funds will be used for, the need for this project, the number of
people impacted. Include a project plan, if available.
Project Description: We are seeking funds to support our second annual installment of
BELONGING, a multi-location, multimedia arts experience to be held in San Luis Obispo (SLO)
that will begin during with the start of Black History Month, February 1, 2021 and extend through
April 2021. BELONGING will center local Black creative expressions, engage participants in an
exploration of the meanings of social belonging for Black residents in the predominantly White
community of SLO, and invite all community members to take action, to make the local area more
inclusive for people of color. All of our events for this event series are being planned in accordance
with public health and COVID-19-related safety guidelines.
BELONGING 2021 includes: (1) a photographic exhibit featuring portraits of Black
community members, to be accompanied by multimedia expressions about lived experiences and
belonging. Inspired by Frederick Douglass’ use of portraiture as a means of defying racist
stereotypes and projecting dignified representations of Blackness, the photographs that comprise
the exhibit will be fashioned in the style of nineteenth-century black-and-white portraits. The
prints will be large, approximately eight feet by ten feet, and will be placed in storefront windows
in downtown SLO. Empty storefront windows, of unoccupied business properties, will be pursued
in an effort to revitalize the Downtown. Downtown SLO CEO and career arts administrator Bettina
Swigger, will advise and assist with locations and installation. We intend to feature emerging
Black photographers, local if possible, with technical guidance provided by Richard Fusillo, local
photographer and darkroom assistant at Cuesta College. Each portrait will be accompanied by a
QR code, which will give access to video of the personal stories shared by the individuals featured
in the portraits. Participants will include an aspect of structural change around DEI/Racial/Social
Justice, that they’d like to see from the City of SLO ; (2) a neighborhood art exhibit displaying
works by Black artists who either live in, or have lived in SLO City or County on yard signs
in neighborhoods across SLO. Paralleling the placement of political campaign signs in yards, and
in apartment and condominium windows. The exhibit will involve the printing of artwork images
on durable signage material and the placement of these signs in the yards of collaborating local
residents. The exhibit will feature a total of 25 unique images (images may be used more than once
in different neighborhoods across town), which will be selected from a pool of submissions
following a call to the public for artwork centering Black expression for this project. Emma
Saperstein and Harold J. Miossi Gallery at Cuesta College will coordinate the logistics involved
in the call and collection of submissions. Courtney Haile will lead the selection of images and
curation of the exhibit. SLO’s Anholm and Laguna Lake neighborhoods will be included in the
exhibit. Others might be added in addition. The public will be asked to register for Belonging 2021,
to gain access to maps to the neighborhood exhibits, and will receive prompts for engaging
neighbors in conversation about the art, and other to be developed themes ; (3) Celebrating Black
Music: local DJs, a majority of them Black and Brown, will curate playlists that ce lebrate Black
music, encompassing multiple genres and music from across the Black diaspora. Functioning as
both entertainment and education, playlists will be made available to those who register for
BELONGING 2021, and shops/establishments that play music will be encouraged to include
playlists on rotation, and display signage about the DJ, and intention of the playlist. As weather
and Covid guidelines allow, some DJs may perform live sets at local food & beverage venues, and
at selected neighborhood art exhibits. Dj Mano Gil, who has a mobile DJ bicycle, will spearhead
a musical educational experience on Black music throughout the diaspora. (4) Storytelling: Rocky
Ross of The ReBoot:Storytelling ReImagined, will coach photography subjects in shaping and
telling their stories, which will be expressed in multimedia video pieces, as part of the front
window exhibits. There will also be a live storytelling event, likely virtual, and in person if weather
and covid permit (5) Belonging beyond Black Black History month: continued creation of social
spaces for Black Community building and connection. In this application, we also request a lump
sum for the existing NoireSLO social program, to fund the rental of outdoor, covid -safe venues,
catering, and entertainment for private, Black community centered social gatherings. Due to dire
community need, previous venues have been community crowd sourced -- money scraped together
before R.A.C.E. Matters had wide community support. Private rentals are necessary for the
integrity of the space and purpose. While some venues and caterers may wish to donate, we realize
the events and hospitality industries have been severely impacted by Covid- 19 and may not be in
the position to do so.
Together, these activities place local Black creative expressions, and community building,
at the center of public conversations about what a truly inclusive community is and could be. The
program invites all SLO residents to participate in such conversations and in the work of
envisioning and building communities of belonging at the local level.
Need for the Project: This project promises to address three main needs within the City
of SLO. First, BELONGING addresses a desperate need within SLO for the amplification of
Black voices and opportunities for public self-representation by Black people. SLO’s
overwhelmingly White demographic profile and the disproportionate underrepresentation of our
local Black population within it militate against the inclusion of Black voices in most public
forums and the representation of Black people on their own terms. The brilliance, creativity, and
vision of our multifaceted local Black community not only deserve a more prominent platform
within SLO; they promise to enrich the lives of all local residents. BELONGING provides such a
platform and invites SLO residents of all backgrounds and identities to engage in a dialogue
opened up by Black creative expressions.
Second, BELONGING will build conversations about racial belonging, racial justice,
and political possibility within a community that is presently grappling with racial crisis. As
protests and counter-protests continue to sweep the nation following the police killings of George
Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others, SLO residents have been experiencing an overdue social
reckoning, intensified political polarization, and a palpable sense of racial emergency. The present
concern about racial injustice locally signifies a hunger for critical dialogue and learning about
issues of racial diversity and inequality, along with a much-needed recognition of the importance
of uplifting and listening to Black voices in our community. The immersive, creative, Black -
centered dialogue that BELONGING offers meets this demand in ways that amplify the voices of
underrepresented populations that are typically marginalized or excluded from such conversations,
while helping to undermine the racial stereotypes that perpetuate inequalities.
Third, BELONGING contributes to the building of a local infrastructure of social
relationships linking people across SLO and the broader Central Coast who are similarly
concerned about racial injustice and similarly committed to building a more inclusive and just
SLO. The BELONGING program offers rich opportunities for relationship building a mong local
residents. We regard such connections as important to the broader work of expanding public
conversations about race and addressing inequities in a collaborative, community-based manner.
Additional note: Although as a non-profit, we frequently ask for volunteer labor in our
programming, we include additional funding asks to compensate local artists --including Black and
BIPOC artists whenever possible--as the arts community has been severely struck by the economic
fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognize the critical role of art and artists within
society and are inspired by a recent move by the San Francisco Economic Recovery Task Force to
pay a basic income stipends to qualifying artists in the city. We will pay contributors in gift cards
to local businesses when possible to help contribute to the local economy.
Projected Impact:
We will track participation with web analytics, playlist plays and downloads, and other mobile
check-in” techniques.
Projected estimate:
Downtown storefront photography: 10,000 viewers of multimedia stories
Neighborhood Art Exhibits: 200
Playlists, measured by plays: 1,000
Ongoing Noire SLO Socials: 150 different people per year (many repeats)
Virtual Storytelling event: 200 zoom guests, 100 of in person
TOTAL: 11,650 people
Describe the community the project will support.
Specify the population, location of services provided, and any other identifiers your proposed
project will support.
BELONGING will serve the local Black and POC communities in SLO by actively
creating Black-centered spaces of belonging, affirmation, expression, and community-making
within an overwhelmingly White-dominant city. Such spaces are vital to the dignity and
wellbeing of our Black and POC communities and to the building of a meaningfully inclusive
SLO.
The program will serve low-income residents, residents with disabilities, and other
residents who commonly experience material and physical barriers to social and cultural
access within SLO. We aim to maximize accessibility and inclusivity in all aspects of our event
planning. All events and activities in the BELONGING program will be cost free and accessible
to all income levels. Multiple formats (from virtual special events to the storefront window
exhibit to the mobile dance party) allow access to diverse audiences with different levels of
engagement. Ongoing public access to key aspects of the program (portraiture exhibit and its
accompanying narrative recordings, for example) will maximize accessibility for people
otherwise unable to attend on a narrower time frame.
It will serve the SLO city community as a whole by engaging the broader public in a
conversation about race, difference, and the meanings and possibilities of inclusivity. By
exposing the White-majority residents of SLO to Black voices and artistic expressions, the
program is an opportunity for community-wide learning that is inherently collaborative and
potentially transformative.
Describe the equity gaps and community needs this project will address.
As described above (see “Project Need,” under Section #2: Describe your project or
program), our BELONGING 2021 program will address SLO’s need for (1) the amplification of
Black voices and opportunities for public self-representation by Black people, (2) education
about racial belonging, racial justice, and political possibility within the local region, and (3) the
building of a local infrastructure of social relationships linking local residents who are
commonly committed to building a more inclusive and just SLO.
By addressing the above needs specifically through Black art and expressive culture,
BELONGING 2021 makes a distinctive contribution to broader, systemic change that is muc h
needed within SLO. The program is built on a conviction that imagining what is possible in our
community--of envisioning a radically inclusive community of belonging in SLO--is,
fundamentally, an artistic endeavor. As a source of meaning-making, identity and community
formation, and political imagination, art contains the capacity to open up new ways of seeing,
knowing, being, and relating to one another. Going beyond band-aid solutions that aim to treat
symptoms of more deeply-rooted problems, art and culture strike at the very crux of the ways
people perceive and make sense of the world around them. It impacts people’s perceptions,
worldviews, and behavior, generating ideas that inspire action. By centering Black art in our
overwhelmingly white community, BELONGING aims to do precisely this, to enlist SLO
residents in the collaborative, creative work on which lasting systemic, structural, social change
relies.
In the table below briefly list 2-3 methods of evaluation and indicators of success or
measureable outcomes.
Methods of
Evaluationfield
type single line
Indicators of
Success /
Measurable
Outcomesfield
type single
line
QR codes will track participation in specific components of the program (portraiture exhibit,
BIPOC walking tour). Won’t be a perfect measure of participation, but will offer some
quantitative sense of public engagement with the exhibit.
Surveys All registrants who sign up to participate in BELONGING 2021 events will be
asked to complete and submit surveys online at the program’s end. Even if just a proportion of
all participants complete the surveys, they will offer a sampling of participant feedback. Surveys
will gather data regarding participants’ level of engagement with the program, their perspective
on it, its impact on them, and how it will impact their views, behavior, and actions moving
forward, among other things.
In the chart below, identify any partnerships/collaborations that are supporting this
project, and their roles.
Name of Partnerfield type single line Activity/Service they provide for this project
Emma Saperstein, Harold J. Miossi Gallery, Cuesta College Will provide logistical
support for the neighborhood art exhibition
Soul Dust Productions, lead DJ Velanche Stewart will be the point of contact for local DJs,
majority Black and Brown, who will curate the Celebration of Black Music playlists
Bettina Swigger, CEO at Downtown SLO, will help with coordination of logistics for the
downtown storefront window portraiture exhibit
Richard Fusillo, Photographer, Cuesta College Photography staff, will provide any needed
technical guidance to photographers, and provide film developing and scanning services.
The SLO County Museum of Art (SLOMA), and SLOMotion films, will partner with
R.A.C.E. Matters to host a film screening, in virtual and covid- safe in person formats, centering
on racial justice and/or protest
The Reboot Storytelling ReImagined - Story Coach Rocky Ross will coach Storytellers, in
shaping the mutli-media stories that will accompany large scale portraits, and in a live, virtual
storytelling event, or in person covid safe event, if possible.
Provide the timeline for this proposed project.
With the deliberate intention of expanding the honoring and celebration of Black history beyond
the month of February, we are organizing BELONGING 2021 as a 3-month event series. The
timeline for roll-out of various program components is as follows:
February 1: The program will launch with the start of the portraiture exhibit in Downtown SLO.
The exhibit will continue through April 30.
February 1: Celebrating Black Music will also begin in February. Mobile DJ sets may occur on
select dates (TBD) throughout the three-month period of the BELONGING program.
February: Film screening + discussion, in partnership with SLOMA and SLO Motion Films,
will occur in February. Though we are not requesting funds from the City of SLO for this
endeavor, as it will take place in February and will be included in the Belonging series.
February or March: ReBoot Storytelling ReImagined, Live Storytelling event, likely virtual, in
person if weather and covid regulations permit
March 20, Spring Solstice: Neighborhood art exhibition will begin and will run through April
30.
Describe your plan for sustainability beyond the City's one-year award funding, if
applicable.
We plan to continue organizing BELONGING as an annual event series in SLO in the years to
come. Our plans for sustaining the program involve:
continuing to seek available grant funding, not just at the city level but also state and
national levels and private sources as well. We have been awarded a California
Humanities (CH) grant in the past and will be eligible to reapply for CH funds again next
year.
continuing to grow our fundraising base. In addition to individual donations, we have
begun to build a strong base of fundraising support from local businesses and also from a
growing contingent of subscribed monthly donors. building on this foundation wi ll help
to ensure that BELONGING will become a fixture in SLO-based events and programs for
the long term.
continuing to build partnerships that support and enrich the program. Our partnership
with the Harold J. Miossi Gallery at Cuesta College, which began with our collaboration
in the Black arts-centered Laboratory Talks series and carries into BELONGING 2021,
and our partnership with Downtown SLO in BELONGING 2020 which will also carry
into 2021, are examples of the kinds of collaborations that we will continue to foster.
These relationships help to facilitate, carry out, and sustain our organizing efforts in
BELONGING and beyond.
Describe the plan for promoting this project within the City of San Luis Obispo.
Promotion will include a promotional poster, paid social media ads, newspaper magazine ads,
and radio interviews. We will ask community partners to share about our events to their mailing
lists and post on social media. We will begin promotion in January. The city of San Luis
Obispo’s logo will appear on our promotional poster, on all ads, and the city’s sponsorship will
be noted in copy on our Facebook events, and included in language describing events whenever
possible.
Funding Needs (120K max funding for all projects)
Lawn Art: $3,400
Estimate from Coastal Reprographics:
4mm corrugated plastic (weatherproof) signs: $5 per square foot.
Double sided printing = double the cost: $10
Metal stakes = $2 each
For a sign of decent size to show art -- 2 square feet, plust stakes: 12 bucks a sign
Each house w/2 signs, 10 houses in a neighborhood = 240
10 neighborhoods in SLO: $2,400
1,000: $100 gift cards to local businesses, to gift to 10 selected artists
Portraits in Downtown Storefront Windows $4,000
Large Black and white prints on vinyl with grommets - large print, around $200
10 subjects= $2,000
Photography labor, $1,000
Installation materials: $200
4 by 5 camera film $300
developing - $200
50 for chemicals to scan in each image - scanning labor donated in kind
Multimedia stories to accompany Storefront window displays $2,200
Videographer to capture participant stories : $600
Editor for stories: $1,000
Cinematographer (who shoots in film, lending to historical look) to capture photoshoots,
footage to be edited into multimedia stories: $600
Celebration of Black Music $500
100 Gift Cards to local businesses to each participating DJ
Additional promotional costs $2,500
2,500- based on spending $7,500 (awarded by the City of SLO’s promotional
coordinating committee), in promotional costs for BELONGING 2020, we are requesting
2,500 for promotional costs in this application, in addition we’ll request $2,500 from the
Promotional Coordinating Committee
BELONGING beyond Black History Month ongoing creation of Black Social Spaces
15,000
Funding for event rental, entertainment, and catering
Funding for at least 4 socials per year