Earlier this month, the Picture Motion team all came together for the first time in 2 years. With folks now in California, Massachusetts, Hawai’i, New Jersey, and New York it was a special moment to have everyone in one place, some of us meeting IRL for the first time!
This holiday season, we’ve each picked organizations to uplift as a team. If you are looking for a new organization to support, donate to, or even shout out on social media – here are a few smaller but powerful programs that are doing excellent work:
- Beauty 2 the Streetz aims to serve the homeless by providing necessities alongside the things that make us feel inherently human. The founder provides hair and make up, self grooming services to Skid Row residents, along with hot showers, meals, protection, and the hope-inducing feeling of looking in the mirror and loving what you see.
- The SPOT Period in Germantown, PA is the nation’s first menstrual hub. The mother-daughter duo is working to end period poverty by offering an array of services including free menstrual and hygiene products, educational resources and seminars, access to clean water and toilets, a computer room, first period kits, and a Breonna Taylor Safe Room for “marginalized women to escape the dangers of the world.”
- The Black TV & Film Collective aims to increase the sustainable career opportunities for creators of Black and African descent working in television, film and digital entertainment.
- NDN Collective is embarking on their COVID-19 Response Project Phase 2: Bringing fresh food/water and supporting health and safety in Navajo communities.
- Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) is working to put an end to modern slavery and human trafficking through a number of different services to survivors as well as a platform to advocate for groundbreaking policies and legislation.
- 350.org is standing up to the fossil fuel industry to stop all new coal, oil and gas projects and build a clean energy future for all.
- House of Tulip is working to provide zero-barrier long-term housing to trans and gender nonconforming people in need of a safe place to stay while growing the supply of affordable housing in New Orleans.
- Immigrant Legal Resource Center seeks to improve immigration law and policy, expand the capacity of legal service providers, and advance immigrant rights to help build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people.
- Karam Foundation brings education, opportunity, and hope to thousands of displaced people in Turkey, Jordan, and the U.S. and works to help Syrian youth harness their ambition and redefine what it means to be a ‘refugee.’
Read on to see some specific initiatives to get involved in and upcoming engagements. We hope everyone is having a happy and safe holiday season.
Happy Holidays, Team PicMo
Join us in taking action around MLK Day
Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to supporting his community. This year, make MLK Day a “day on” not a day off, and create a plan to get involved! Points of Light can connect you with in-person engagements, virtual volunteer opportunities, online conversations, inspirational moments, DIY projects for kids and more. MLK Jr. Day of Service | Join Points of Light for a National Day of Service
In addition we are managing a virtual screening tour around the OBAMA: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union docu-series, which reflects on the country’s past and present national identity, and are coordinating screening on and around MLK Day. We are working closely with educators, local non-profit organizations, and community leaders to support online, in person or hybrid screenings and action-oriented conversations about civic engagement, uplifting Black candidates and candidates of color, and activating youth networks to get out the vote. We would love to invite you to join us for a day of screenings, action, and conversations about how we can continue the legacy of American leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr, and President Barack Obama. Sign up to host your own screening of the series here, or reach out to obamaseries@picturemotion.com.
Celebrating Dr. Anthony S. Fauci Day and his commitment to public service
On December 24, 1940, world-renowned infectious disease specialist and the longest-serving public health leader in Washington, D.C.–Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, was born. He has overseen the U.S. response to 40 years’ worth of outbreaks, including HIV/AIDS, SARS, Ebola, and COVID-19. On December 24, 2020, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared it Dr. Anthony S. Fauci Day in the nation’s capital. Join us in celebrating Dr. Fauci by watching National Geographic’s feature length documentary, FAUCI, on Disney+ and if you’re interested in hosting your own classroom or community screening, sign up to learn more.
Support the ACLU’s Work To Defend Reproductive Rights
Pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)
No one should be forced to choose between a healthy pregnancy and a job. Workers are still routinely denied the temporary job changes they need to have healthy pregnancies — but a bipartisan bill is poised to provide millions of workers with these protections. The PWFA has never been so close to becoming law. The House of Representatives passed the bill earlier this year in a strong bipartisan vote, and we need the full Senate to sustain this momentum and pass this law. Send a message to your Senators now to protect pregnant workers’ rights. The bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) would outlaw such discrimination and require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers.
Pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA)
The Women’s Health Protection Act would provide a nationwide safeguard against abortion bans and medically unnecessary restrictions that push abortion care out of reach. It would protect the constitutional rights of all people, no matter where they live. Send a message to tell Congress we need the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) now to protect access to abortion nationwide.
What impact x film experiences are you attending around Sundance?
We will be attending Sundance virtually this year and may have one our team members on the ground as well. We want to know about any events or activations around impact and film that may be going on in-person or online, will you be there too? Send us an email! hello@picturemotion.com
- Read the Geena Davis Institute’s report, Fair Play? The Triumphs and Challenges of Female Athletes in the US, where female athletes were asked about their experiences to gain an understanding of the challenges they face and to identify opportunities to intervene to create gender equity in athletics.
- Join Points of Light and Morehouse College on Jan. 13 at 1 pm ET for a conversation with esteemed panelists about how a storied past continues to shape our national identity and common values. Storytelling is an ancient art, it is interactive, and offers a means to raise awareness and encourage advocacy. When used to advance social justice, stories, both fact and fiction, enable us to imagine the world in a different way.
- Donate to Women’s Sports Foundation to help them raise $150,000 this holiday season to fund programs that advocate for Title IX compliance; help bring sports to girls in underserved and marginalized communities; conduct research on girls participation in sports; and so much more.
- Read the incredible end-of-year report that Harness released looking back at all of the work they were a part of this year.
- Contribute to the data collection and reporting by Data For Black Lives on the racial makeup of counties & census tracts with high COVID-19 infection and death rates to better understand the impact on areas where Black people live. They are collecting community data on the experiences of Black Healthcare Workers.
- Support Earth Echo’s 30×30 campaign to increase awareness and to commit to preserving 30 percent of all land and ocean by 2020 to boost biodiversity and combat global climate change.
- Advocate and contact your state medical board and ask them to prioritize the mental health of healthcare workers.
- Watch the unprecedented documentary Final Account, especially as heightened racism, antisemitism, and outright denial of facts become more commonplace (available on Netflix, iTunes, Youtube and more.) Afterwards, be sure to check out the supplementary educator resources to spark vital questions about complicity, propaganda, and responsibility through the lens of this film.
- 340 total attendees to a #WhenWeValueWomen LFG marquee event featuring a screening and robust panel conversation.
- $13,000 raised from local sponsors to cover a special 300 person LFG event at the Lensic Theater in Sante Fe as well as to be donated to the Southwest Women’s Law Center, NewMexicoWomen.org, and The Diversity Fellowship of Somos Unidos.
- 5,000 students, educators and community members are leading action-oriented conversations about civic engagement through 56 virtual and in person screenings of OBAMA: In Pursuit of A More Perfect Union.
- 3,215 estimated students, medical professionals and activists across the country reached through our grassroots screening tour for FAUCI.
- 42 schools and faith-based communities, reaching an estimated 2,500 people, have signed up to participate in an educator initiative around Final Account to not only host their own screening experiences, but take steps to help advance anti-bias education, inclusion, and equity.
