The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture presented We Decide: Arts, Culture and Voting Power livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 14 September at 1 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 3 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 4 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).
Join Arts & Democracy and The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture to learn about inspiring nonpartisan programs in both urban and rural communities related to the election and census, with a focus on historically disenfranchised communities. We will hear from artists and cultural organizers working in Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Wisconsin as well as those working nationally. We look forward to sharing a space to hear more about what you are engaged in and to support connections between artists and activists working to build voting power and be counted. Together, we will ask what work will continue after the election to ensure that change for the better actually takes place.
The call will feature presentations from Andrea Assaf, Dr. Rob “Biko” Baker, Trupania “Trap” Bonner, amalia deloney, and Savannah Romero, highlighting the following work:
#HTownVotes, artist and cultural practitioner projects that will motivate youth and people of color in the Houston area to mobilize to vote
#LouisianaCounts2020, a census education initiative providing Louisiana residents with information, trainings and a direct line to unheard voices
Disinfo Defense League (DDL), a real-time, rapid response network to disrupt and dismantle manipulation and disinformation efforts targeting Black, Afro Latinx, and Latinx communities. DDL works across geography, generation, and gender to equip communities with tools, training, and tactics needed to combat racialized disinformation and win.
IllumiNative’s Natives Vote, a campaign utilizing narrative and culture change strategies to mobilize Native American voters nationwide, as well as their partnership with Culture Surge to activate artists and create and distribute content to mobilize the vote
Sign up here if you want to share your nonpartisan civic engagement related to the elections or census on the call. We’ll reserve you a 2 minute slot.
It is important to us that the virtual event is accessible to all. To make a specific access request, please email info[at]artsandemocracy.org
About the presenters:
Andrea Assaf is a performer, writer, director and cultural organizer. She is the founding Artistic Director of Art2Action Inc., and National Coordinator for the National Institute for Directing & Ensemble Creation (a partnership with Pangea World Theater). Andrea is also a Trainer with Equity Quotient (EQ), and Houston in Action, partnering on the #HTownVotes Artists initiative. In Fall 2020, Andrea is guest faculty at the University of South Florida (USF), where she is co-teaching a new course on Community-based Arts Practice.
After nearly 10 years as the Executive Director with the League of Young Voters, Dr. Rob "Biko" Baker spent the last 2 years immersed in the technology sector working with ThoughtWorks, a leading custom software agency. There he helped develop tech strategies at scale for social cause organizations. As Founder of Render, it is his goal to bring agile project management and continuous delivery approaches to social cause and public sector through digital storytelling. His past experience leading and producing digital activations like #BarackTalk and #NoGunsAllowed with artist/philanthropist Snoop Dogg sees him uniquely positioned to offer important services to clients seeking new ways to engage their audiences.
Trupania "Trap" Bonner is a filmmaker, demographer, community advocate and native son of New Orleans, LA working at the nexus of census, redistricting and electoral engagement. From 2008-2012, he served as Executive Director of Moving Forward Gulf Coast, Inc. (MFGC) and was responsible for developing and coordinating post-Katrina census and redistricting community-based campaigns in communities of color. He is founder of the advocacy & media company Crescent City Media Group (CCMG) and creator and facilitator of the Democracy & Power Civic Engagement Institute. CCMG currently anchors the South Counts 2020 decennial Census education campaign with initiatives in Louisiana, Atlanta, Mobile and Dallas.
Trained as a human rights attorney, amalia deloney has over 20 years of experience working in the areas of media justice, social change and movement building. Before joining Media Democracy Fund, amalia was the Policy Director at MediaJustice, using her extensive experience for field-building, community-building, and policy advocacy. Prior to her work at MJ, amalia served as the Co-Director for a nationally recognized rural Latino capacity-building initiative called The Raíces Project. amalia brings a unique mixture of legal analysis, policy advocacy and racial justice to her work and is known as a perceptive and trusted leader. amalia holds a BA in History and Urban Studies and a JD with a concentration in social justice.
Savannah Romero is Manager of Partnerships and Programs at IllumiNative. IllumiNative is a national, Native-led racial justice organization. Their mission is to amplify contemporary Native voices, stories and issues to build power for Native peoples to advance justice, equity, and self- determination. IllumiNative uses research, narrative and culture change strategies to disrupt and interrupt invisibility and toxic misconceptions, to educate, engage and move hearts and minds within diverse sectors of American society about Native peoples and issues central to advancing justice and equity.
Thank you to The Puffin Foundation for your support of this event.
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