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    Boys of color front and center in Philly educators gathering

    Published May 2, 2011 by

    DONNA FRISBY-GREEN- WOOD, PROGRAM DIREC- TOR/PHILADELPHIA When a gathering of leaders opens with them spending a day with 30 incarcerated teen boys, you know it's not gong to be just another conference. Last week, while much of the world focused on William and Kate, 300 education leaders gathered in the City of Brotherly Love to seek knowledge, share experiences, and collaborate on how to change educational outcomes for males of color.  The Knight-funded 5th Annual Gathering of Leaders, hosted by the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC), is designed for leaders to connect, share and learn.  But what made this gathering unique is that it keeps boys of color front and center.  After spending the first day with incarcerated young men, the second day nearly 80 young men from COSEBOC-affiliate schools from across the country shared their dramatic interpretations and testimonials about the power of their resiliency and why they are and will continue to focus on their education. There was not a dry eye at Temple University as we all swelled with pride.  Young men were at the forefront even during an awards dinner recognizing the efforts of seven prestigious leaders. HONOREE SHAWN DOVE,  OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE   Young men from Boys' Latin of Philadelphia High School introduced the honorees, the Young Kings, 6-12 years old, from Boston, Mass. sang and recited poetry and a jazz trio of three young men, ranging in age from 11-19 years-old and studying music after school at the Philadelphia Clef Club, had everyone on their feet asking for more.  It is the brilliance and talent of those young men highlighted throughout the weekend that lies within all males of color and that COSEBOC honoree, Shawn Dove of the Open Society Institute, reminded us that we sometimes have to pull it out. While the gathering gave leaders an opportunity to talk and listen, it went a step further by  lifting up schools that work, connecting  academics, funders, practitioners and school leaders, and inspiring everyone to return home energized and armed to support better schooling for males of color. I take my hat off to COSEBOC Executive Director Ron Walker and to Board Chairman Dr. Larry Leverett, as well as to the COSEBOC staff for organizing a community of folks, from all races, to do everything they can to take action on behalf of males of color.
  • Article

    Eric Newton: Where is press freedom headed?

    Published May 2, 2011 by

    Which way is press freedom headed globally? Eric Newton Knight Foundation’s Eric Newton asked the question today at the official celebration of World Press Freedom Day, the first time the event has been presented in the United States. “Looking at the past, you’d have to say it would be forward -- and backward,” Newton, the foundation’s senior adviser to the president, told a panel at the celebration in D.C., sponsored by Knight. We see violence and instability driving our traditional press freedom indicators downward, and digital revolution and popular uprisings pushing our hopes upward. If we can’t tell where freedom really stands, how can we help it grow? Freedom House reported today that press freedom worldwide declined to its lowest level in over a decade. Only one is six people live in a country with a free press, the report said. Trends for 2011 are unclear. Newton also called on the U.S. to increase aid for international media development programs. This wholesale reinvention of communications should cause western governments, the largest providers of media development aid, to increase support exponentially. Like the century of peace, that’s not happening, either. Media development money is a pimple on the nose of global aid. Globally, estimates put it at $500 million a year -- the price of four F22 Raptors. This makes no sense. Media development aid creates the independent journalism that tells you whether all the other aid is being stolen. Just as freedom of expression supports all other freedom, media aid supports all other aid. To help, Knight Foundation, which since 1950 has promoted freedom of expression worldwide, today announced it will support an international effort to get bloggers and online journalists legal help, through the Media Legal Defense Initiative. The effort will pay for legal representation, offer advice and legal resources to lawyers and take on some important legal test cases involving digital media. Read Newton's full speech.
  • Article

    Into the wild with Naomi Fisher

    Published May 2, 2011 by

    Some of the most memorable images from the video "Myakka," currently unspooling at the Fredric Snitzer Gallery, are of the incredible Florida light bouncing off — and dancing around — the wide variety of foliage in the state park where it was filmed. It also...
  • Article

    Almost Franco

    Published May 2, 2011 by

    A packed crowd filled the New World Center Friday, April 29 for it's first poetry event as the month-long O, Miami poetry festival wound down. The crowd for Poetry and Persona was there for the headliner, the peripatetic movie star/ poet James Franco, but just as rock trumps scissors, President...
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    O, Miami wrap up

    Published May 2, 2011 by

    The O, Miami Poetry Festival and National Poetry Month are over, but poetry lives on in South Florida. From haikus in Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden to a fierce Literary Death Match battle at Purdy Lounge, O, Miami and the Knight Foundation exposed Miami-Dade County residents and tourists alike to the...
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    Thousands experience the “greatest love story every sung”

    Published April 30, 2011 by

    By Margot Helm, Opera San Jose On Saturday, May 7th, over one thousand Bay Area residents will get their first taste of opera by attending a special performance of “the greatest love story ever sung”: Puccini’s beloved classic, La bohème. [caption id="attachment_17974" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Image by Pat Kirk Photography. L-R:...
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    Material Spaces at the Elaine Jacob Gallery

    Published April 29, 2011 by

    There's a beautiful fiber art show currently on view at Wayne State University's Elaine L. Jacob Gallery in Midtown. "Material Spaces: Veneration Through the Needle's Eye" includes work by three nationally recognized fiber artists: Carolyn Kallenborn, Beili Liu and Tom Lundberg. Kallenborn and Liu created two stunning, complementary installations that...
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    Visceral Verse: TERRA’S first poetry slam

    Published April 28, 2011 by

    Visceral spoken wordplay is in the heart and soul of any poetry slam. Slams are a competitive and fierce battle between fellow poets who rely on their voice and verses to communicate their message to the audience. On Thursday, May 19 at 7 p.m. the students at TERRAEnvironmental Research Institute,...
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    Experience sound art at the Listening Room this weekend

    Published April 28, 2011 by

    2010 Knight Arts Challenge winner the South Florida Composers Alliance was awarded $75,000 to create a publicly accessible exhibition space at ArtCenter South Florida on Lincoln Rd to "foster the appreciation and understanding of sound art" in South Florida. The resulting Listening Room, a 24-channel installation, pipes sound art outside...
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    Shining the “Spotlight” on women in motion

    Published April 28, 2011 by

    Spotlight, a series focusing on women choreographers, takes to the John S. and James L. Knight Theater stage April 28 through 30. Each performance takes place at 7:30 p.m.. This is the first time North Carolina Dance Theatre is devoting a series to women choreographers. The series features three amazing...
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    Akron’s BioInnovation Institute gets new headquarters

    Published April 28, 2011 by

    Jennifer Thomas The Austen BioInnovation Institute is making progress. The effort to create patient-centered innovation at the intersection of biomaterials and medicine will move into a new headquarters in the coming year. Leaders of the four centers for research gave updates to over 350 area leaders during an annual community update breakfast at the John S. Knight Center in Akron on April 18.  According to a report in Crain's Cleveland, President and CEO Dr. Frank L. Douglas talked about plans with city leaders to develop an incubator that will cater to startup biomedical companies. The BioInnovation Institute is preparing a proposal to submit to the Department of Commerce to help fund the project, he said. The institute also is continuing work to lead a national effort to develop quality medical devices that can be made more cost-effectively, he said. Knight provided $20 million in seed funding for the institute, in an effort to help transform Northeast Ohio's economy. Meanwhile, a new report says Akron’s University Park area has major economic potential. The study showed that major anchor institutions located in or near University Park have a direct total economic impact of $2.5 billion within the area and an indirect impact of $3.5 billion within Ohio. The  University Park Alliance will hold a lunch on May 11 detailing new strategic and master plans for the 50-block area. ''When the numbers came out, it validated what most of us knew: these pieces combined really represent some significant economic horsepower for the city of Akron and the region,'' Eric Anthony Johnson, the alliance’s executive director, told the Akron Beacon Journal. Read more in the Beacon Journal.