| Taking Action
What does activism have to do with
art? For me, everything. I’m a political creature, and that necessarily comes through in
my work. We all make choices about what we support in this world – make
yours consciously, not tacitly.
Here are a few of the causes close to my heart:
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Horizons Foundation
(www.horizonsfoundation.org)
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Horizons Foundation was the first LGBT community foundation in the world. Some of its programs include grantmaking, leadership development, donor education, advocacy within mainstream philanthropy, and more. |
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Walk San Francisco
(www.walksf.org)
Walk San Francisco is a pedestrian advocacy organization that works to make the city safer and more enjoyable for walking. After all, whether you ride a bike, take transit, or drive a car, everyone is a pedestrian at some point in the day. |
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Committee to Free Lori Berenson
(www.freelori.org)
Lori is an American political prisoner in Peru, arrested in 1995 while working as a
journalist. I first became involved in her case because we were housemates our first year
in college. Since then, I’ve learned quite a lot about Peru, their judicial system, and
the ways in which the media can distort the truth. |
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San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
(www.sfbike.org)
The SFBC is a grassroots organization dedicated to “promoting the bike for every
day transportation.” They advocate for bicycle and pedestrian safety, help get bike
lanes striped, and see biking as an integral part of making our cities livable. |
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San Francisco Mime Troupe
(www.sfmt.org)
This isn’t your tired street-fair kinda mime – this is brilliant
political satire and musical theater, free in Bay Area parks every summer. For example, the
hilarious show “1600 Transylvania Avenue” gave an alternate view of the
scary folks inhabiting the White House (of Horrors). |
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School of the Americas Watch
(www.soaw.org)
Although the training facility at Ft. Benning, Georgia, now goes by the name Western
Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, the basics are the same: soldiers from
Latin American countries are trained in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics.
Graduates of the school are responsible for
some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. |
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Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
(www.freemumia.org)
If you haven’t heard of this African American journalist who sits on death row,
framed for a murder he didn’t commit, you need to find out. Now. (For a truly eerie
experience, listen to the confession of the guy who did do it.)
Abolishing the death penalty
(www.derechos.org/dp/ has links to many sites)
Executions are cruel and unusual punishment. Period. I do not want the government
killing in my name, especially with a judicial system as racist as the one in this
country. |
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Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
(www.fair.org)
This national group “offers well-documented criticism of media bias and
censorship.” My experience with Lori’s case – where I knew the truth
and could tell how badly the mainstream media was butchering the facts –
puts this organization on any list of important resources. The more I find out about media
conglomeration, the more scared I get. |
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