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For Immediate Release – May 11, 2010 Contact: Zakeya Cartman (773) 285-1211 zcartman@blackpearl.org LITTLE BLACK PEARL WORKSHOP RECEIVES GRANT FOR RACIAL HEALING as part of the W.K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION’s $75 MILLION EFFORT TO TACKLE STRUCTURAL RACISM AND PROMOTE RACIAL HEALING America Healing Initiative will Expand Opportunities for Vulnerable Children CHICAGO, IL – Today, Little Black Pearl Workshop (LBP) was acknowledged as one of six Chicago area organizations to receive funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. The Kellogg Foundation’s grant supports LBP’s Collateral Damage project, which aims to empower youth to identify positive alternatives to teen violence. In an unprecedented effort to address the devastating impact of racial inequities on communities across the country, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation launched a five-year, $75 million initiative – America Healing – that aims to improve life outcomes for vulnerable children and their families by promoting racial healing and eliminating barriers to opportunities. This grant is one of 119 awarded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to support racial equity and healing. “The America Healing initiative is one of the most ambitious, courageous and timely efforts ever launched by a foundation addressing the destructive and damaging effects of racial inequities in this country. Little Black Pearl is really proud to have the support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for our Collateral Damage “Creating Legacies of Boundless Peace” project. We will utilize the arts to raise awareness about the issues of violence and racial inequities impacting our youth and communities” said Monica Haslip, Executive Director of Little Black Pearl Workshop. Founded in 1994, the Little Black Pearl Workshop (www.blackpearl.org) is dedicated to providing access to art and culture and educational training opportunities in the arts for youth and adults throughout the Chicago area. Since opening its doors, the mission of Little Black Pearl (LBP) has been to create an avenue for exposure to art and culture while teaching the profitable connection between art, education, and business. The Collateral Damage Project, utilizing the participatory action research model, will conduct interactive research regarding gun/gang violence, cultural/racial discrimination, boundaries and safe passage issues in urban communities. The research will result in a traveling exhibition, multi media documentary and the development of a social networking website for youth. Youth will explore the lives of youth from Chicago urban communities who lost their lives due to gun/gang violence. The project will highlight the current environmental issues presented to urban youth in communities caused by violence, discrimination and boundary barriers. Youth will utilize research practices to identify historical anti-discrimination movements and current community challenges. In doing so, the project will engage parents, students, community organizations and advocacy groups. The project’s objectives are to: educate, train, and develop parents and youth as effective advocates and leaders for social change; provide youth with hands-on research training, create cross cultural and cross generational dialog focused on peace. Youth will utilize visual, performing, and multi media arts to highlight non-violence, anti-discrimination and safe passage resolutions via art exhibitions and the development of a social networking website highlighting the historical and current research findings, art, and examples of peaceful strategies for cultural diversity and safe passage. Children of color are over-represented among the 29 million low-income children and families in this country, particularly among families living in concentrated poverty. According to data from the National Center for Children in Poverty, about 61 percent of African American, 62 percent of Latino, 57 percent of Native American, 58 percent of children with immigrant parents, 30 percent of Asian American children and 26 percent of white children live in low-income families. The goal of the America Healing initiative is to help make that vision a reality by engaging communities and supporting them in the hard work of racial healing and addressing the effects of historic and contemporary structural issues, such as residential segregation and concentrated poverty. During the first phase of America Healing, 119 organizations will receive grants totaling $14,613,709 specifically to support community-based organizations’ healing efforts among racial and ethnic groups that address historic burdens, disparities and barriers to opportunity. Their efforts will focus within local communities to increase opportunities for children in education, health and economic areas. Grantees represent 29 states and the District of Columbia and all racial and ethnic population groups. To highlight the desire of communities to work together on racial healing, the foundation created a signature video, capturing the spirit of the initiative. The video can be viewed at www.AmericaHealing.org. Moreover, the America Healing initiative complements the racial equity approach in all of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant-making directed at supporting vulnerable children, their families and communities. The new initiative will continue to focus on issues at the core of structural racism and will align with the foundation’s program areas: Education and Learning; Food, Health and Well-being; and Family Economic Security. To learn more about America Healing, please visit http://www.americahealing.org. About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Established in 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (www.wkkf.org) supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. The foundation is based in Battle Creek, Mich.
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