Found a site, called the Free Child Project, which has a bunch of links and resources for Youth-Led Social Activism. (I’m hoping I can find a similar site for adults.) I love the fact that this site has a section on Youth-Led Art for Social Change. This site also has good related quotes by famous people sprinkled in here and there. And, at the bottom of the homepage is an icon that states that this is a “Leading Site for Social Entrepreneurs” as per Changemakers.net (with more activism links and resources there).
I think I’ve found a kindred spirit. Check out: the Craftivism blog (word defined as activism + craft). I love finding new words to describe concepts that I have a hard time putting a finger on myself…just having a word to describe something definitely makes it feel more like it really exists.
And so, it seems that I’m not the only one who’s been thinking about how best to mix a hobby in crafts with being socially conscious. Here’s how I’m trying to do it, check out my new site-it-progress…also using the Figmentations heading…to be hosted through Catgen.com (found through bestcommercetools.com).
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My link trail which led me to find craftivism above, was as follows:
1) Confessions of a Craft Addict Blog, has a right-side column with a bunch of blog links, one of which is…
2) Portland City Crafty site, which has links to social craft action and activism, which led me to:
3) Craftivism.com. And, I just looked it up and found that this word already even has a Wikipedia entry.
On the site for the Social Enterprise Alliance (with the tagline: “Leading a community for sustainable nonprofits”), there is a link to a Wall Street Journal Article by Steve Case, entitled “Purpose and Profit Go Together“. Steve Case talks about integrating the missions of the private and the social sector. Two excerpts, from this article, that I’d like to highlight, follow below:
“Too many people still act as if the private sector and the social sector should operate on different axes, where one is all about making money and the other about serving society. A better approach is to integrate these missions, with businesses that are “not-only-for-profit” and social service groups with their own earned income all contributing to positive, durable, significant social change.
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The real strength of organizations in this “sector-blending” space is that they don’t just balance competing goals — they try to maximize both. Whether you’re running a business that also serves a valuable social objective, or running a nonprofit that earns part of its income through viable commercial activity, purpose and profit aren’t zero-sum, they’re mutually reinforcing. And together, these investments pay dividends to the community as a whole — because everyone, after all, has a stake in a more hopeful, supportive and just society.”
From a Google search on top charity stats, a Google sponsored link took me to Charity Navigator. This site evaluates top charities with the aim to help Americans with their charitable giving decisions.
And I was happy to find that their executive director, Trent Stamp, has a blog (hosted by Blogger). He has recently been on FoxNews with Bill O’Reilly adding his thoughts on the upcoming Live8 concerts which I’ve recently blogged about, too.
Blogs definitely give a true voice and add life to even the well organized web sites.
As was pointed out in last night’s PrimeTime Live with Diane Sawyer “Brad Pitt, The Interview”, it’s great when there is a cause that both liberals and conservatives as well as people of all faiths can agreee on. One.org is a just that, a “coalition of faith-based and anti-poverty organizers” which is working to rally Americans to contribute (in this case not necessarily money, but a signature) in order to help end Aids, Starvation, and Poverty in Africa and the poorest countries in the world. According to the one.org website, “1% more of the US federal budget would help save millions of lives and be a major commitment towards achieving the internationally agreed upon United Nations Millennium Development Goals.”
It’s amazing that so many people with so much money as well as all the coalitions that are working together, and for how long this has been an issue that people have been working towards, that a satisfactory resolution is still highly at risk.
I guess that once one becomes a celebrity, that if one also has some other artistic talents, such as being able to paint, one can sell such works and people will want to buy them. Why not use celebrity to raise money for a worthy cause. How one judges the artistic value of a celebrity’s paintings is another thing. Either way, artistic value is in the eye of the beholder, and is generally irrelevant to the benefit it can bring to a worthy cause.
Hollywood’s Helping Hands is one such celebrity silent art auction raising money to benefit UCLA’s Pediatric Epilepsy Project. This auction (at just $175 per ticket, if purchased in advance) includes…”over one hundred works of original celebrity art, including paintings by Jennifer Garner, Sylvester Stallone and David Schwimmer.”
Helping others is always a good thing. Everyone does it in the best way they know how.
Two organizations referenced on the Montel Williams Show this week are worth mentioning.
Voices, with the tagline “one voice can lead to a chorus for change”, is looking to “honor five extraordinary women for their passion, leadership and achievements as everyday women who raise their voices to make a difference in their communities.” Deadlines for 2005 nominations is August 31, 2005. Last year’s winners are all extraordinary in their success and passion to help others in their own communities without a national spotlight and/or major financial donors. I hope that I, too, in my lifetime will be able to do something meaningful to help others on some scale.
And The California Innocence Project profiles one University’s success in helping four men who had been falsely accused of crimes they didn’t commit by eventually getting their sentences overturned. Three of these four men had already served over a dozen years in prison. Makes me look at my perceived problems in life in a whole different light.
Well, after not having updated this blog for over one month, I do apologize. But, rest assured, I am back again. I’ve changed my full-time job which I’m expecting will leave me more fulfilled in my time spent making the money I need to live off of while I dabble in my hobbies and dreams part-time.
I’ve come back with a clearer focus on what I think I want my part-time endeavors to be focused on. In addition to my pursuit of hobbies such as ballroom dance and doll crafts, as you’ll see by my posts, I will also be taking on a more socially-conscious focus…with the aim to highlight inspirational people and businesses in that arena. Two of which are as follows:
(1) in searching for a cost-effective self-employment web-ecommerce solution, I came across bestcommercetools.com, which under their Template Gallery had an interesting non-profit site, see BENETECH. This company has many projects which aim to find ways to apply technology to human rights causes and developing country needs. One example is: “Bookaccess is an initiative delivering on the promise of digital books to improve access to information for poor and illiterate populations in the developing world.” This one in particular caught my attention since I remember hearing about similar governmnent- and private-sector digitizing initiatives through C-Span’s Digital Future Series.
and recently in the news….
(2) Bob Geldof is launching a Live 8 concert similar to the one he did 20 years ago this time hoping that: “By doubling aid, fully cancelling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children”.
Trying to make a difference is always a good thing.
