Kevin Coval is the author of ALA “Book of the Year” finalist Slingshots: A Hip-Hop Poetica and Everyday People. He is co-founder and Artistic Director of Louder Than a Bomb: The Chicago Teen Poetry Festival, subject of an award-winning documentary of the same name, airing on the OWN network in Fall 2011. A regular contributor to Chicago Public Radio, and a four-time HBO Def Poet, Coval teaches at the School of the Art Institute and in high schools around Chicago. His forthcoming collection L-vis Lives will release from Haymarket Books in September of 2011 and be accompanied by a national tour of the L-vis Lives one-man show. He can be reached at kc@kevincoval.com.
The annual Louder Than A Bomb teen poetry slam engages schools and community organizations from all over the Chicago area. This friendly competition gathers the best and brightest young writers (age 13-19) from thoughout the region with the winners going on to represent Chicago at the national level. Louder Than A Bomb is a safe space that emphasizes community building, education, and youth empowerment. By carrying on the rich tradition of oral storytelling and the spoken word, this competition historically engages more than 350 youth participants representing over 40 schools and community centers to share stories, break stereotypes, and speak the truth, challenging themselves and their audience.
The Red Pump Project® raises awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls. Our mission is to promote HIV prevention through education, and open dialogue about the issues that surround sexual and reproductive health. We do work online and on the ground to motivate action and encourage dialogue about the effects of the disease.
Founded in March 2009 by Luvvie Ajayi and Karyn Watkins, Red Pump believes that if HIV affects one, it affects us all. We use the red shoe as a symbol of empowerment to represent the strength and courage of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. The incorporation of fashion into the message of HIV prevention is our contribution as we hope to show that Awareness is Always in Style!™ Every year, National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD) is March 10. To commemorate NWGHAAD in 2009, we asked bloggers to “Rock the Red Pump” out of our desire to get conversation started on the issue of HIV/AIDS and ask others to do the same. The concept was simple:
“Rock the Red Pump on your blog to represent the strength and courage of women fighting HIV/AIDS or affected by the disease. We ask that on March 10, you embed the Red Pump Widget within your post with a short snippet of its significance, or you can rock the widget on your sidebar.”
“The goal of our initial campaign was 100 bloggers, but over 125 bloggers responded and “Rocked the Red Pump” on March 10, 2009. And, in 2010, the numbers doubled to over 250 sites. 2011, we blew our goal out the water and over 1,200 blogs and sites joined us to raise awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls.”
“ I began Chicago Lost and Found in 2007 because I saw a need. As creative programs continue to disappear and budgets for the arts are cut, I feel compelled to help reverse this tragedy. With limited funds but a lot of passion, I can do my part by using the junk most people throw away. Where most people see trash, I see beauty.” ~Mitch Pennel
Chicago Lost and Found is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to creative transformation. Theyare committed to rescuing the discarded and unwanted. Through re-purposing, we create value, which in turn provides creative opportunities to build and support the community.
The centerpiece of the organization is the Creative Studio. This is where Chicago Lost and Found provides employment for artists, seamstresses, carpenters and other craftsmen to create art from junk and discarded materials found in alleys, dumpsters, construction and demolition sites or anyplace where refuse hides. Finished works are sold through exclusive retail establishments and the Chicago Lost and Found website. All proceeds fund their educational outreach.
The Maisha Collective, an initiate of Heshima Kenya empowers refugee girls and young women from DR Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Burundi with economic opportunities to rebuild their lives with peace and dignity. By managing a business collective that designs and produces a line of unique tie and dye scarves, participants gain life-long business and marketing skills that develop their confidence and prepare them for future independence. The power of purchase inspires their journey to support, empower, and ultimately protect other young refugee women.All profits are reinvested into the Maisha Collective and support the participants’ success in Heshima Kenya’s programs. Please email maisha@heshimakenya.org for ordering information or to request a product sheet.
Alisa Roadcup ( accepting award) is director of US advocacy and development at Heshima Kenya, an NGO providing case management, shelter, education, and economic empowerment for orphaned refugee girls in Nairobi, Kenya. She advises on campaign strategy and membership mobilization in support of the promotion and protection of women’s human rights as a member of Amnesty International USA’s Women Human Rights Coordination Group and serves as vice president of the board of directors of Rape Victim Advocates, Chicago’s oldest direct-service response agency for survivors of sexual assault.
Philanthropy – love of what it is to be human – has been used and implemented for decades in business and our society. Promoting philanthropy through fashion and the arts, Beau Ideal, a Chicago-based
non-profit organization, brings a new creative approach to reaching and impacting the community.
“For more than 20 years, I have been blessed to be in the business of giving back and doing charitable acts in the community,” said Ken Patrick, CEO of Beau Ideal. “Charity, when done from a compassionate
heart and a deep desire to improve the condition of others, should change the life of the giver, as well as the beneficiary.”
Beau Ideal is committed to executing charitable or benevolent actions to fundraise and increase awareness related to prostate and breast cancers, youth development initiatives, community relations and humanitarian relief. January 2012 marked the launch of Beau Ideal’s “iamPinkandBlue” campaign for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Chicago and Susan G. Komen Foundation-Chicago, using fashion, 200 models and a host of intrigued supporters to raise $10,000 in proceeds to benefit these foundations. With a series of fundraising initiatives and events leading up to its final event, The Extra Mile – Runway Walk for Cancer, Beau Ideal hopes to reshape the act of giving back and impacting the community.
“Beau Ideal’s motto is, ‘We make philanthropy fashionable,’” Patrick said. “And through the pink and blue revolution, we hope to make an impact not only on our city, but the world.”
Check out this video from Amour Genesis recapping FAHF 2012
