Artist Appreciation Month: The Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI)

What is leadership?

Written By Roy Hirabayashi

“Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes others’ efforts towards achieving a goal.”

There are many paths to become a leader, and I believe that learning to be a better leader never ends.

It is an ongoing journey that requires a beginner's mind to understand how to use what you learn to face today. It is essential to understand that to be a better nonprofit arts leader is not just about learning to write a grant, financial report, or budget. Those are all skills that are required to help you manage and sustain your organization. Leadership skills go beyond management skills.

A good leader inspires others and is not there to impress others. In leadership, there is no room for ego. It is essential to focus on what is best for the entire group or team, not yourself or part of the group. An admired leader does not boss everyone else around while sitting back and not helping. A respected leader is working side by side to help finish the work. A leader does not mean you are the one that is always out in front. Shared leadership creates a solid foundation for the organization. 

Compassion and empathy are foundational points to become a better leader. Patience and listening lead to understanding and empathy to guide your decisions. Easy to say but challenging to do.

We combine our shared experiences and many respected arts leaders in our community as guest speakers and mentors to examine leadership styles and challenges we face to help us become better leaders. As a result, better leaders will create more efficient organizations and a stronger multicultural arts community.

The Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI) is an opportunity for arts leaders of color to share experiences and learn from other seasoned experts in the local multicultural arts community. If you are interested in learning more about applying for a future class, please contact us.

For more information on MALI, please visit https://www.schoolofartsandculture.org/leadership-development

In Solidarity With Our Black Brothers & Sisters

The School of Arts and Culture at MHP is a member of the Si Se Puede! Collective. In solidarity with our Black brothers and sisters, we are putting out this joint statement:

We are outraged at the senseless death of George Floyd and mourn with his family, Minneapolis, and the Black community across the country. We condemn ALL racism, white supremacy, police brutality, and the decades of oppression that caused this needless death. We lift up the voices of those calling for justice.

Our own community has a long history of being impacted by police misconduct and immigration enforcement.  Every day we support each other to exist in a world that tells us that we are not deserving of justice and humanity.  Today, we grieve and are enraged by the murder of George Floyd and many others that have lost their lives at the hands of law enforcement and ICE. 

The murder of George Floyd highlights the systemic inequities, the generations of economic looting by corporations, and the use of racism to target and divide poor Black, Asian, and Brown communities.

We must be guided by the deep belief that, “all Black lives, regardless of actual or perceived sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, economic status, ability, disability, religious beliefs or disbeliefs, immigration status or location matter.” – Black Lives Matter

We urge everyone not to vilify our brothers and sisters fighting for justice across the nation. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. eloquently stated:

...a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality and humanity.

Let’s organize for a more just society that builds systems of community care, challenges racism and classism directly and unfiltered, dismantles the police state and immigration enforcement, and builds cross racial solidarity for a world where everyone can live free of fear and reach their fullest potential. 

Our call to action:

1. Talk to your children about race. For families, we offer the following resources:

   • In Spanish or in English:

2. Take concrete actions to donate and support on the ground organizations like:

   • Minnesota Freedom Fund: https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/

   • Reclaim the Block: https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/home

   • Black visions collective: https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/

3. Organize and attend a rally. Here are some suggestions for anyone thinking of attending a demonstration:

• Bring extra masks and hand sanitizer for others at the protest that don’t have them.

• Maintain and encourage 6 feet of social distancing at all times.

• Attend with a protest buddy. Stay together and have the National Lawyers Guild Legal Hotline 415-285-1011 written on your arm in case you are arrested.

• Let someone know who to contact if you are taken into custody.

• Know your rights about Shelter in Place and communicate the health implications associated with being arrested in Santa Clara County.

• Share bail out information with all attendees.

The Si Se Puede! Collective is made up of five community-based organizations in East San Jose: SOMOS Mayfair, Amigos de Guadalupe, School of Art and Culture at MHP, Veggielution, and Grail Family Services. Together we are committed to building community power, advancing justice, and standing in solidarity with those working to dismantle oppressive systems. We remain guided by our vision to build a world where racial and economic justice exists for all families, children, and communities.

The Pink Elephant “We are Open”

Written by: Vanessa Palafox 

“We Are Open” a simple sign hand painted and posted in front of the Pink Elephant Bakery. 

This sign was partnered with another hand painted sign next door on the corner of King and Virginia in front of Jalisco Taqueria. These signs in an uncanny way gave me a breath of fresh air during the development of the pandemic. I could not imagine a world without burritos, or pan dulce y cafe. I was in a sentimental state and I needed comfort to get through this. 

I am grateful to Pink Elephant’s staff and owners for showing up as an essential business for East San Jose -- a community that is predominantly Latino. This is especially meaningful considering that Latinos are disproportionately over-represented in COVID-19 deaths. Many conversations with friends leading up to my pan voyage touched upon how to navigate through no sports, Resurrection Sunday, virtual funerals, and Zoom. The future feels robotic.

The Pink Elephant Bakery being open during “the shelter-in place” was refreshing. It is familiar, it is costumbre. We eat pan dulce during family gatherings and celebrations of life and death. Conchas y empanadas served with atole or cafecito are the best way to put a smile on my face in the morning. I felt like a fool waiting outside, but as soon as the black screen door swung open and it was my turn to enter. Everything felt fine. 

All I saw were the little brown puerquitos and I forgot about COVID-19. All these smells and colors partnered with their warm staff, ready to serve provided a sense of comfort. I remembered visiting panaderias with my mom as a kid and just pointing at them through glass.  I wasn’t worried, I was too busy deciding what empanada flavor I wanted.

Now more than ever it is important to support our small businesses to keep our local economy healthy. Order your cakes and pan dulce online by visiting thepinkelephantbakery.com

The Pink Elephant Bakery is located at 415 South King Road San Jose, CA. 95116. The Bakery is Open Daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. stop by and come see what I’m talking about, remember to bring cash.
#shoplocal #thepinkelephantbakery #eastsanjose #supportlocalbusiness #eastsidemagazine #essj

Originally published at kooltura.com for EASTSIDE Magazine

CACACF Is Open For Applications

California Arts Council Administrators of Color Fellowship, or “CAC ACF” for short, will provide a $50K stipend to Fellows and will re-grant Host Organizations $35K for a nine-to 12-month fellowship. Fellows and Host Organizations will represent the geographic diversity of California across nine regions. “As a creative and cultural home for many, we have to navigate the responsiveness to our communities and acknowledge that cultural diversity is a vital necessity for democratic participation and the creative sector at large,” said Jessica Paz-Cedillos, Executive Director of SOAC.

While the current state of affairs is in flux, this statewide pilot program is vital at a time when the sector is canceling events, and artists and independent contractors are having a hard time finding work, which is further compounded by the culture of unpaid internships within the arts. So yes, asour creative sector grapples with a new reality within the larger context of a global epidemic, it also holds true that this program is uniquely taking a step in the right direction for organizations that do not want DEAI work to slip through the cracks. Applications for Fellows and Host Organizations are available now, and thedeadline to apply for CAC ACF is Friday, July 31st 11:59 (PT).

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PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The School of Arts and Culture (SOAC), in partnership with the California Arts Council (CAC) and SVCreates, is administering a pilot program with the goal of uplifting an inclusive workforce and supporting the vibrancy of organizations that create and preserve the cultural identities of all California communities.The California Arts Council Administrators of Color Fellowship (CAC ACF) seeks to address the dearth of opportunities for people of color in arts administration, with the intention of creating a pipeline for people of color across and throughout the arts sector. CAC ACF programming is made possible in part by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation and a one-time increase in state arts funding.

Stipend and Re-grant Amounts: CAC ACF will pay fellows a $50,000 stipend and will re-grant host organizations $35,000 to help cover administrative costs associated with hosting the fellowship. There is no application fee for either individuals or organizations.

Program Timeline: California Arts Council Administrators of Color Fellowship (CAC ACF) opened the application for Fellows and Host Organizations in April. Selections will be announced as early as September 2020 followed by a nine to 12-month placement beginning in October. For full program details visit the Fellowship page.

Sacred Heart Community Service Gains a Strong Advocate as Demone Carter Departs the School of Arts and Culture at MHP

San José, Calif. --- Demone Carter announced today that he will leave the School of Arts and Culture at MHP (the School) next month to become the Director of Community Engagement at the San Jose-based Sacred Heart Community Service. Serving in a variety of program management roles within the School since 2012, Demone departs the School as the Senior Program Manager for the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI).  Download full press release.

Now in its 11th year of existence, MALI is a leadership development program for people of color deeply engaged in the Silicon Valley’s arts, culture, and entertainment sectors. The School’s executive leadership team is currently looking to recruit a member of MALI’s alumni network to fill this position. 

“As a graduate of MALI, it has been an honor and a privilege to lead the program for the last six years. I’m eager to apply all the lessons I have learned about creating authentic diversity, equity, and inclusion in my new role with Sacred Heart,” said Carter. 

He added, “my departure creates an opportunity for a member of our dynamic network to step into a role of leadership and push MALI forward into the next decade.” 

The MALI program was founded in 2006 by a visionary trio of multicultural arts leaders: Tamara Alvarado, Roy Hirabayahsi, and Raul Lozano. They sought to address the lack of diversity in spaces where decisions are made about the creative life of Silicon Valley. From their initial idea, MALI has grown over the past decade and now boasts 119 alumni, many of which are in director level leadership positions across the valley and beyond. In 2018, acclaimed folk life scholar and professor at the University of Arizona, Dr. Maribel Alvarez, was commissioned to write a “brown paper.” We Are Enough: Equity, Inclusion, and Emergent Leadership in Silicon Valley’s Multicultural Arts Community (read it  here) traces MALI’s origin story and describes the impact of the program. 

In addition to managing MALI, Demone served as lead for a Knight and Irvine Foundation funded creative placemaking project, Celebrate Mayfair. This two-year project celebrated the talent, beauty, and history of East San Jose’s Mayfair neighborhood where the School is located. Although this project sunset in 2018, the School has incorporated aspects of Celebrate Mayfair into its Community Engagement Program. This includes the Cafecito series, Avenida de Altares (our Day of the Dead celebration), and the Voices of the Mayfair community art project. 

“The School of Arts and Culture is excited about Demone’s continued leadership in the non-profit sector. Sacred Heart is gaining a committed leader who will keep advancing the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda locally. We look forward to our continued partnership with Demone and now Sacred Heart as we fight for equity in this region,”  said Jessica Paz-Cedillos, Executive Director for the School of Arts and Culture at MHP. 

Jessica said the School is already in the process of finding a candidate from within the MALI network to take over the management and facilitation duties of the program. 

“Part of the strength of the MALI network is we identify arts leaders of color in our community who have a wealth of knowledge and leadership skills. While we are sad to lose a talent like Demone we are confident there are other members of the network who are ready to step up,” said MALI co-founder and former School of Arts and Culture Executive Director Tamara Alvarado.

Under Demone’s leadership, recognition of MALI as an effective model for addressing racial inequities within the local arts sector grew. With the publishing of We Are Enough, MALI has begun to be seen on a state and national level. Most recently, MALI was showcased at national conferences such as American for the Arts. 

“Sacred Heart Community Service is thrilled to welcome Demone to lead its efforts to transform the public narrative about economic and racial injustice in the valley and move people to action. Demone’s creativity, unique voice, and proven leadership is needed to push our community to wrestle with our complacency on widening social and economic inequality that demeans us all,” said Poncho Guevarra, Executive Director of Sacred Heart Community Service. 

Open Letter to Team San Jose

“The Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI) is comprised of 200 people, including local artists and small business owners of color. We want to highlight our collective disappointment and indignation about this latest Visit San Jose video.”

“Cultural and artistic expression are often the first forms of resistance.” - Demone Carter

Lorenz Dumuk at Art/Life Forum - MALI Class 7

At Friday’s Art/Life Forum, I was humbled to see how art, culture, and social justice intersect. Our community’s first line of defense is self-expression — be it dialect, attire, poetry, music, or art-making. Art is a way of reclaiming our humanity and celebrating our work as individuals and communities. It is a powerful beginning.

I call out this beginning because, if we are to truly challenge oppressive systems and hold those in power accountable, we must go beyond representation. We must demand an equal share of power. Without such equity, our governing bodies — like planning commissions — will not reflect the beautiful complexity of our community. Rather, they will remain white and affluent; and this is a  problem for communities like East San Jose that are in the advance stages of gentrification and where cultural erasure is actively taking place.

For the past 10 years, the School’s  Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI) has worked with 119 leaders of color in Silicon Valley. We have brought the margins to the center by putting equity at the forefront of our work. MALI creates a pathway for them to assume positions of power, and for those that came in with influence, shows them how to use their power to shift systems to be more equitable.

On Friday, Demone Carter, our Senior Program Manager, announced a new iteration of MALI, MALI Pathways. This “MALI 2.0” will include a pathway to advocacy. MALI has a decade of challenging power structures, and it will lead this work for the School.

Why?

The School of Arts and Culture at MHP is at a crossroads. We find ourselves at the epicenter of rapid transformation. And, as a cultural institution in the Eastside, we have an obligation to expand our equity work agency-wide. We will occupy a seat at the table where conversations regarding space and development are taking place. We commit to voice, be heard, and affirm those decisions that uplift our immigrant and artistic community.

The School will center this work in our values: Culture, Heritage, Inclusion, Place, and Service. We will play a role in how our community is shaped through core partnerships with sister agencies and local government.

The team at the School of Arts and Culture is playing to win.

Jessica Paz-Cedillos

Executive Director

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SSPC Statement: Protect Our Sanctuary City Policy

The Si Se Puede! Collective (comprised of Amigos de Guadalupe, Grail Family Services, School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza and SOMOS Mayfair) acknowledges the tragic death of Bambi Larson and our hearts go out to her loved ones at this difficult time.  At this very difficult and sensitive time for the family and the community, it is incumbent on all of us to wait for the facts to develop.  It is important not to rush to judgment.  

We know that the current Administration has exploited tragedy to further divide communities, one against another. Singling out part of one person’s identity is dangerous and advances a dangerous agenda.  For our Black, Latino, Muslim, and other children of color, this type of exploitation creates such a fear that children cannot learn, and families are driven underground, citizen, resident, or not.

Our County’s immigrants – whether documented or undocumented – are an intrinsic part of who we are. Using this tragedy to demonize immigrants is not only morally reprehensible, but also irresponsible, as it stokes fear and hatred towards our immigrant community. The fact is that overall, immigrants enrich our county and make it safer. A 2018 study found that, “increases in the undocumented immigrant population within states are associated with significant decreases in the prevalence of violence” [Cato Institute]. 

The Si Se Puede! Collective is dedicated to making our community a safe place where all residents, regardless of background, can live free of fear.  As such, it is quite troubling that the focus of Larson’s death has been the immigration status of the man said to have perpetrated the crime. By solely focusing on his status, both the victim and the immigrant community at large are hurt. 

We all need to come together to create real solutions that heal the pain of violence. Policies that keep law enforcement out of deportations are part of the solution.  These policies help victims and witnesses come forward without fear of deportation and thereby protect due process and safer communities for everyone. It is why counties like Santa Clara have maintained their policies despite misguided efforts to change them.  

All of our local elected and law enforcement officials must continue to understand the importance of these policies and not fall into the federal government trap to exploit tragedy for divisive purposes.  This tragedy cannot become a political tool. Our city needs to support immigrant communities such as Mayfair.

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MALI Celebrates Over Ten Years of Impact

MALI CLASS 7

For more than a decade, the School’s Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI) has offered a leadership development program for people of color deeply engaged in Silicon Valley’s arts, culture, and entertainment sectors. To commemorate over a decade of local impact, the School commissioned acclaimed folklife scholar, Dr. Maribel Alvarez, to write an academic brown paper to explore the influence of MALI on the arts and cultural sector in Silicon Valley, and speculate on the future of the program.

Our brown paper -- We Are Enough: Equity, Inclusion, and Emergent Leadership in Silicon Valley’s Multicultural Arts Community --  puts MALI into perspective, and discusses the collective power of developing over 100 leaders of color in the last decade.

Demone Carter, MALI alum and Program Manager, had this to say:

“While the arts sector is still wrestling with how to authentically speak to tenets of diversity, equity, and inclusion, the MALI program has been engaged in a decade-long experiment in hyper-local leadership disruption.”

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Welcome By New Executive Director

I am incredibly grateful and humbled for the opportunity to lead the School of Arts and Culture at MHP as its new Executive Director.

As the daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico and El Salvador, I know firsthand the impact that arts and culture can have to build pride, preserve our heritage, and fuel community and economic development.

I joined the School during an exciting time. Having completed a year-long strategic plan, the School is poised to deepen our impact in youth programming, the leadership development of local artists, and the activation of a local gem that brings thousands of people from different walks of life together.

My predecessor and mentor, Tamara Alvarado, set the stage for us to take the next step in the evolution of the School’s work to:

• Become an expert in the leadership development of multicultural artists

• Develop an advocacy arm to champion our local creative community and neighborhood

• Convene and celebrate community through culturally relevant and accessible programming

The release of the School’s MALI Brown Paper is a testament to the caliber of our work, the passion and expertise of our Team, and what the future holds for the School. It is our hope that you will Join Us in this movement.

With gratitude,

Jessica Paz-Cedillos

Executive Director

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