2004 Community Partnership Awards

<< prev next >>

Multicultural Literacy and Leadership Initiative

Abstract:

Over the past several generations, Los Angeles has become one of the most diverse regions in the world experiencing dramatic changes in its ethnic and racial landscape. Alongside these dramatic demographic shifts, Los Angeles has been experiencing a widening economic divide. At the same time, increased racial diversity has created tensions, conflict, and competition, as newer immigrant groups compete not only with each other, but with longstanding marginalized communities. The combined demographic transformations and ever-widening extremes of wealth and poverty have the potential to intensify the conditions for competition and urban unrest.

The proposed project is designed to address the need for new forms of leadership that are essential in order to meet today s unprecedented challenges. We seek to build a collaborative effort among communities of color through a multicultural literacy and leadership initiative. Our principle goal is to build a learning resource for coalition building that is based on inter-racial and inter-cultural dialogue, awareness, and understanding. We seek to build bridges between academics, community-based activists, and policy makers across and within communities of color in order to develop and enhance multiracial literacy and leadership thereby enhancing outcomes for all children, youth, and families throughout the Los Angeles region.