The RFC grew from an idea that led to our first grants for $800 to help two kids go to summer camp, into an organization that 25 years later has a devoted community behind it and has awarded over $5.6 million to help thousands of children. That merits a special celebration, so we’re having one!
Artists have been some of the staunchest supporters to stand first with Ethel and Julius, and then with the RFC, over the years. From Picasso and Léger to Woody Guthrie and Paul Robeson (who all created art to protest the Rosenbergs’ unjust executions) to Advisory Board members Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, Harry Belafonte, Richie Havens, Adrienne Rich, Eve Ensler, Mandy Patinkin, Ossie Davis, Susan Sarandon, Chuck D, and others, it’s been an honor to have these principled and talented individuals in our corner.
And of course, our awards enabling RFC beneficiaries to participate in all manner of artistic endeavors over the years, exemplify our mission of helping meet these young people’s “educational and emotional needs” just as much as the prison visits, school books, and myriad other services and resources our grants help fund.
It’s for all these reasons that the RFC will mark our 25th anniversary with an evening celebrating Artists as Activists. This event will take place on October 17th, 2015, in the Eastworks building in Easthampton, MA where the RFC office has been located since 2002.
The festivities will begin with an on-stage conversation with Gina Belafonte, Erin McKeown, and Ellen Meeropol, moderated by Jenn Meeropol, exploring the role and power of artists in movements for social justice. Erin, a dedicated activist as well as a dynamic singer-songwriter, will follow the discussion with a concert opened by A Besere Velt (A Better World), the progressive Boston Workmen’s Circle Yiddish Chorus.
Gina, who is an actress and activist in her own right, is Co-Director of Sankofa.org, the organization her father Harry founded to encourage artists to use their platforms to bring attention to social justice issues. Ellen, (wife of RFC founder Robert, and mother of current Executive Director, Jenn) wrote all of the RFC’s Celebrate scripts along with her new novel, On Hurricane Island, which asks what happens when the U.S. treats its own citizens the way it does so called “enemy combatants.” The evening also will include a short film with salutes from Angela Davis, Holly Near, and other artists, activists, beneficiaries, and allies who have helped us reach this milestone.
Tickets ($25 general admission, $125 Anniversary Circle, $15 student/limited income) are on sale now. Visit the event page to download an order form (to purchase by check via the mail), or to buy online with a credit card.