The Astraea Foundation and our Host Committee invite you to a powerful night of art, music, cocktails, food, and friends. Join us Thursday, May 25 at Ace Museum in Los Angeles, California.
The Astraea Foundation and our Host Committee invite you to a powerful night of art, music, cocktails, food, and friends. Join us Thursday, May 25, from 6:30 to 9:40 pm PST at Ace Museum in Los Angeles, California as we honor the frontline activists and cultural changemakers who are leading the new era of #resistance. This year’s luminary honorees include:
- #BlackLivesMatter co-founder, executive director of the LA-based organization Dignity and Power Now, and queer author Patrisse Cullors. Patrisse resists by demanding a world where Black bodies and dreams can thrive and where state-sanctioned violence against Black people is abolished;
- Activist and founding member of Astraea grantee partner Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, Jennicet Gutiérrez. Jennicet resists by fearlessly challenging authority on the status of queer and trans immigrants and actively organizing to end the deportation, incarceration, and criminalization of our communities;
- Univision anchor and critically-acclaimed journalist Jorge Ramos. Jorge resists through his intrepid, in-depth reporting and forthright commentary on human rights, immigration, white supremacy, and other issues that directly impact our LGBTQI communities;
- New York City Council Spokesperson Paola Ramos. Paola resists by fighting for the sanctuary and equity of immigrants in NYC. Previously, Paola worked as Deputy Director of Hispanic Media for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential Campaign to ensure that migrant voices were heard.
Together we will celebrate these leaders whose commitment, passion, and work inspire others and meaningfully advance LGBTQI justice in our communities and around the world. Read more about the honorees and buy tickets on our website. Don’t miss these inspiring movement leaders. Get your tickets now! Your purchase supports Astraea’s endeavors to provide critical resources to LGBTQI grassroots activists and organizations across the globe. Can’t make it to Fueling the Frontlines? Still want to play a critical part? Sponsor a ticket so that a community member can attend. Be the first to know about Fueling the Frontlines developments! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest on our current and forthcoming honorees and performers. Thank you for fueling our movements! Warmly, The 2017 Fueling the Frontlines Host Comittee (in formation as of April 12, 2017) Alice Y. Hom, co-chair Mónica Taher, co-chair Lynn Harris Ballen Casey Bloys Kelly Bush Ilene Chaiken Ryan Li Dahlstrom Maria De La Cruz and Shawn Hogedorn Melissa Etheridge dream hampton Jamison Herbert Seana Johnson Moez Kaba and Bjorn Lundberg Mahdis Keshavarz Isis King Eric Kranzler Robin Coste Lewis Alec Mapa Elliot Page Paulette Pantoja Katina Parker Leanne Pittsford Jenny Pizer Alan Poul Katrina Schaffer Maria Shtabskaya Mitchell Singer Naomi Sobel and Rabbi Becky Silverstein Corece A. Sparks Chip Sullivan Tristan Taormino Marquita Thomas Jacob Tobia Melanie Torbert Christine Vachon Linda Wallem Doreena Wong
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Thanks to everyone who attended the event! We were grateful to have everyone in the room.
Blackbird believes in the power of everyday people to organize and solve their own problems given the adequate space, resources, and tools.
Blackbird believes in the power of everyday people to organize and solve their own problems given the adequate space, resources, and tools. Blackbird’s mission is to work with Black organizers, organizations, and Black people interested in organizing and social justice work to build durable, sustainable movement infrastructure, and identify best practices in moments of crises. They aim to facilitate national interventions on criminalization, incarceration, state violence, and the inability of Black communities to access their fundamental human rights. Blackbird’s strategy centers collaboration throughout local, national, and international communities. Locally, they provide rapid response and capacity-building support; nationally, they work to foster strong networks between Black-led, indigenous, and people of color movements; and internationally, they connect leaders within the Movement for Black Lives to leaders of Black movements in locations outside the U.S. such as Brazil and South Africa in order to learn and strategize with each other.
With a base of incarcerated people, formerly incarcerated people, and their loved ones, the Ella Baker Center distinctly uses their membership program as a way for anyone anywhere – but especially those who have been harmed by the justice system – to join the movement to create a safe and just nation.
Since 1996, the Ella Baker Center has fought to challenge police violence and advance a human agenda in the U.S. With a base of incarcerated people, formerly incarcerated people, and their loved ones, the Ella Baker Center distinctly uses their membership program as a way for anyone anywhere – but especially those who have been harmed by the justice system – to join the movement to create a safe and just nation. Members organize through a process of Truth and Reinvestment: telling the truth about the impact of our country’s long history of racial injustice, building the power of those who have been harmed, and engaging them as leaders to redirect the country’s criminal justice approach from punishment and prisons to the investment of resources in redemption, growth, and support for individuals and communities. The Ella Baker Center works at the local, regional, and state level in California to end mass incarceration and push for the investment in healing over punishment; increase policymaker commitment to re-allocating public criminal justice resources towards community-based prevention, treatment, and reentry services; and engage families and communities in building new models of community safety grounded in economic opportunity and alternatives to incarceration.
India Davis, a choreographer, trained acrobat, aerialist and pole dancer, combines physical feats with multidisciplinary art forms to illustrate the breadth of her inspirations.
India Davis, a choreographer, trained acrobat, aerialist and pole dancer, combines physical feats with multidisciplinary art forms to illustrate the breadth of her inspirations. Skilled in moving image and writing, her visionary work has been shown both nationwide and internationally and is guided by themes of multi-dimensionality, spirit, and the link between legacy, timelessness and the body. India Davis is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Topsy-Turvy Queer Circus; the company’s sold-out shows have been annually featured in the National Queer Arts Festival since 2013. In February 2016, Davis completed a month-long solo exhibition of performance and visual art entitled From a Place with no Space or Time shown at two Oakland venues: Qulture Collective and The Flight Deck and featured in Bust magazine. In June 2016, she conceived, directed and starred in PARADISE, Topsy-Turvy’s first full-length narrative production that featured an all LGBTQ of color cast. Davis teaches aerial, pole and acrobatic classes throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She recently co-designed Destiny Arts Center’s groundbreaking new Queer Emerging Artist Residency program.
