DIVERSITY & INCLUSION COMMITTEE

JUNE 2021 EDITION

JUNETEENTH: BLACK AMERICANS’ TRUE INDEPENDENCE DAY

Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) is the oldest nationally How To Celebrate Juneteenth: celebrated commemoration of the end of racial slavery in the • Find an event in your United States. It was on June 19, 1965 that Union Army general neighborhood. Gordon Grander proclaimed freedom from slavery in Texas, • Support Black-owned businesses two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed in your community. the Emancipation Proclamation. • Listen to Black musicians. The celebration that once started as a small community • Read works by Black authors and gathering in Texas quickly spread across the South. During the poets. Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the commemoration grew • Watch Black TV shows and in popularity with a focus in postwar civil rights. movies. • Visit an exhibit or museum Juneteenth is now widely celebrated as a holiday of hope and dedicated to Black culture. a day to celebrate the end of racial slavery in the United States. • Donate to organizations and It is also a time to reflect on what freedom means today and charities. a time of joy to ease the pain, anger and sadness around the continued racial injustice in the United States. • Cook some traditional foods. CENTENNIAL OF THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE What the Juneteenth 100 years ago, America was shaken by one of its deadliest acts colors represent: of racial violence. The Tulsa Race Massacre took place on May • Red: the blood that 31 and June 1, 1921 when White citizens (many given weapons unites all people of by city officials) attacked Black citizens and destroyed homes Black African ancestry, and businesses in Tulsa, Oklahoma. and shed for liberation. Many survivors left Tulsa, while Black and White residents • Green: the abundant who stayed in the city kept silent about the terror, violence and natural wealth of Africa. resulting losses for decades. The massacre was largely omitted • Black: the Black race. from local, state and national histories.

UNDERSTANDING THE RACIAL WEALTH GAP Race - The Power of an Illusion is a documentary that questions the very idea of race as innate biology, suggesting that a belief in inborn racial difference is no more sound than believing that the sun revolves around the earth.

> CLICK HERE TO VIEW RACE – THE POWER OF AN ILLUSION: HOW THE RACIAL WEALTH GAP WAS CREATED JUNE IS PRIDE MONTH Pride Month is celebrated every June as a tribute to those who were involved in the . On June 28, 1969 police raided the , a Celebrate Around The World: club in New York, which resulted in bar patrons, staff and neighborhood residents rioting on Christopher Street outside. LGBTQ+ activists have been organizing The celebration is the biggest of since at least the 1920s, but the rage and fervor the LGBTQ+ community in the Middle East. caused by the Stonewall riots helped catapult the London movement to a new level. Protestors demanded the Visit the stomping ground of Oscar Wilde and establishment of places where LGBTQ+ people could Boy George, where the parade will take you on be open about their without fear of a tour around Piccadilly Circus, Lower Regent arrest. Street and Trafalgar Square. Tapei Taipei is billed as Asia’s biggest LGBTQ+ event PRIDE MONTH TRADITIONS — even more of a celebration now since Taiwan’s parliament recently passed a bill Pride month is celebrated by massive rallies, pride endorsing same sex marriage. parades, parties, workshops, concerts, and countless other events. The LGBTQ+ community takes huge pride in their movement, going all out for the festivities The German capital’s Pride — technically called with elaborate costumes and makeup. Day to pay homage to the Stonewall Riots and ’s key role in the gay rights movement — attracts up to half Commemorations and memorials are also held for a million people. members of the community who have lost their lives to hate crimes and HIV/AIDS. Campaigns and rallies aim to promote and preserve the history and well- > WAYS TO CELEBRATE IN YOUR CITY being of the LGBTQ+ community. Non-Profit Spotlight: Diversity & Inclusion Calendar

Inner-City Arts JANUARY Inner-City Arts, regarded as one of the nation’s most • International Holocaust Remembrance effective arts education providers, is an oasis of • Poverty in America Awareness Month learning, achievement and creativity in the heart of Skid FEBRUARY Row, and a vital partner in the work of transforming the • Black History Month lives of young people in Los Angeles and beyond. MARCH • National Women’s History Month During the school day, after school and on weekends, APRIL elementary, middle and high school students come • Arab American Heritage Month to Inner-City Arts to work with professional teaching • Autism Awareness Month artists in well-equipped studios, receiving hands-on MAY instruction in a range of subject areas within the visual, • Jewish American Heritage Month performing and media arts. • National Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month Equality is essential to Inner-City Arts’ mission, the JUNE Inner-City Arts Professional Development Institute • LGBT Pride Month provides experiential training for educators, university • Juneteeth students, school administrators, and others dedicated JULY to bringing high-quality arts education to students of all • French American Heritage Month ages and backgrounds. AUGUST • National Civility Month Inner-City Arts also supports student achievement and community growth by engaging families and members SEPTEMBER of the community through programs, performances, • Hispanic Heritage Month and events hosted in the state-of-the-art Rosenthal Theater. Diversity & Inclusion Committee Members > VISIT THE INNER-CITY ARTS WEBSITE Rodney Nubin, Chair > VISIT THE SOCIUS FOUNDATION WEBSITE Socius

Artavia Clay Socius

Eric DeRose Socius

Rick Grimes Professional Risk Solutions

Patrick Hanley Socius

Hayley Philips Socius

Eric Shapiro Socius

Nichole Ward Socius