Women’s Foundation California staff are out of the office today in observation of Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the end of slavery and honors Black freedom and Black resistance.
Through arts, culture, and storytelling, we celebrate Juneteenth and the victories, the progress, the resistance, the beauty, the joys, and the day signifying “freedom” for African Americans.
Our Culture Change Fund is a part of our commitment to value and uphold Black lives by supporting our amazing grant partners like Artists As First Responder. Based in Oakland and led by Ashara Ekundayo, a Black feminist artist and cultural theologian, the organization is advancing liberation through creative arts practices that heal communities and save lives.
Their latest project, AfroPortals, animates the visions of Black artists and changemakers to address racial inequity and gender justice through trauma-and-joy-informed art practices, including digital archives, augmented and virtual reality, and new media.
Donate to the Culture Change Fund
The Culture Change Fund supports the longer-term vision of AfroPortals Project for a site-specific installation. At full scale, AfroPortals will transform three retrofitted shipping container structures into a beautiful, interactive public art media space equipped with immersive audio/visual technology at Liberation Park in East Oakland.
Supporting our culture change partners on Juneteenth and year-round is one step of an ongoing journey to collective freedom. Women’s Foundation California recognizes and supports Black-led organizations, Black women and gender expansive folks, and people of color who have always been central to the struggle for freedom and equality.
Coretta Scott King said, “Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.” Let the momentum of this day move us closer toward healing, dismantling white supremacy, building our bodily freedom, and collective safety.
