COOL CAUSES
Here are some organizations doing exceptional work to heal our society and to bridge our cultural differences. I fully endorse, support, and help them in the work they do for their communities. Check back to learn more about the other great causes that I’d love for you to know about.
Founded 100 years ago by Gertrude Field, SFCMC’s goal is to provide free and affordable music classes and programs to the arts community of San Francisco regardless of economic means. They inspire all of us to reach back to our youth to remember our days in the band and choir. Introducing youth to music and teaching them a new language for expression, is one of the greatest gifts we can provide to future generations. I proudly serve as SFCMC’s Board President.
In the most trying of times, writers help us make sense of our chaotic world. From Shakespeare to Lorraine Hansberry, David Henry Hwang, Octavio Solis, Lauren Gunderson, Tony Kushner and a new generation of voices, they give lift to hope and illuminate the pathways of danger. It is imperative to bear witness to all voices - including writers who represent the marginalized communities - those who have historically been excluded from our communal tables. Thus we must provide support to the playwrights who will memorialize this specific juncture of history. I was honored to have been nominated to the Board of Directors in January, 2022.
Founded in 1971, the SPLC has a singular vision: to promote racial justice and advance human rights. With the rise in hate crimes against people of color, the LGBTQ community, women, the disabled, and immigrants, the work of the SPLC could not be more crucial. Civil rights belongs to us all and the Southern Poverty Law Center is doing the work to assure those rights remain.
I’ve gotten to know about the Yurok Tribe via my work with Anna Deavere Smith. The Yurok Indian Reservation is located in rural parts of Del Norte and Humboldt counties, in Northern California. The Reservation is located on a one-mile corridor on a 44-mile stretch of the Klamath River from the mouth of the River which empties into the Pacific Ocean to the upriver boundary. The Tribe has purchased additional ancestorial lands to augment the Reservation lands.
The Yurok Tribe is California's largest surviving Native American Tribe. According to www.yuroktribe.org, their mission is to exercise the aboriginal and sovereign rights of the Yurok People to continue forever the Tribal traditions of self-governance, cultural and spiritual preservation, stewardship of Yurok lands, waters and other natural endowments, balanced social and economic development, peace and reciprocity, and respect for the dignity and individual rights of all persons living within the jurisdiction of the Yurok Tribe.
Their spiritual center is the Klamath River which had, at one time, an abundance of salmon and sturgeon. Now, with global warming, the River is dying, and extinction of salmon is a real possibility within just several years.
I urge you to learn more about the Yuroks, spend time on this sacred place on earth, and support their work.
Established in 1920 as an outgrowth of the movement to give women the right to vote following the passage of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the League has expanded its mission to support environmental issues, the fight against poverty and discrimination, the civil rights movement, reproductive freedom, health care reform and became a major advocate for campaign finance reform.