By Godfrey Lee

Twenty-two members of the Performing Stars youth and staff took a Civil Rights Social Justice trip to visit Montgomery and other parts of Alabama from Aug. 14-18. They returned on Friday, Aug.19.

Performing Stars previously traveled to Montgomery in 2018. On this trip, they met the city’s first Black mayor, Steven Reed. They also visited the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, the National Voting Rights Museum, the Rosa Parks Museum, Tuskegee University, and Alabama State University.

The trip, a part of Performing Star’s Civic Education Program, focuses on leadership development to better understand how former civil rights leaders fought for freedom, voting equality and prepared the next generation to carry on the important work that is needed in the Marin City community.

Fourteen young people in the group were involved with the Social Justice Youth Initiative, formed in 2018 by Performing Stars, and performed various duties and activities for several years, such as community outreach, voter registration, service learning, food distribution, office administration, and archiving Marin City history.

“We want them to come out and be the new social justice leaders,” Performing Stars CEO Felecia Gaston told Giuseppe Ricapito of the Marin IJ. “What better way to do that than where it all began.”

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ABC7 KGO-TV anchor Kumasi Aaron interviewed Gaston before the group went on the trip, and asked about The Performing Stars Social Justice Youth Initiative program, and the Civil Rights Educational Tour.

Gaston said Civil Rights Education has always been important. “In the light of what is going on in our country at this point, we need to educate our young people so they will become the new social activists,” she said.

And going to Alabama is to go where the action took place, where history was made in 1963 when Birmingham firemen hosed down Black protesters and sicced dogs on them.

The Performing Stars, familiar with the real foundation, felt encouraged and excited to now be able to reach more young people in the community about voting and why it is important to vote.

They documented their trip with photographs and videos and will edit their photos and videos and feature them on the local stations here and social media upon their return.

“They will be the up-and-coming journalists,” Gaston said.

This educational tour was sponsored by the TomKat Foundation.  Contributing supporters included the Marin County Board of Supervisors, and the Marin County Probation Department.

By Carmen Bogan

On Aug. 31, OCCUR & San Francisco Foundation FAITHS A Model Built on Faith (AMBOF) will present: Strengthening Your Legal Guardrails 2023 – What Faith Based and Nonprofit Organizations Need to Know. 

 In this important training, Karl Mill, founding attorney of the Mill Law Center, along with attorney Patrick Hogan will provide an overview of key legal principles every nonprofit leader must know and observe now for the organization’s protection and stability.

“Now more than ever, our communities look to faith-based and nonprofit organizations to fill service gaps and critical safety nets for those who are struggling to survive and thrive in every area,” says Mill, a specialist in nonprofit law. “As faith-based organizations and CBOs push forward to meet these community needs, now more than ever, it’s essential that they are also diligent to continually examine and strengthen their own legal infrastructures. Not learning the basics of nonprofit law can be a costly mistake.”

Training participants will learn:

• Overview of some key legal issues for 2023
• Maintaining 501 (c)(3) status
• Fiscal sponsorship briefing
• The Board’s legal responsibilities
• Risk factors for your tax exemption
• Non-negotiable reporting and filing requirements
• Funding issues: donations, donors, and due diligence
• Paying attention to employment law issues (employees vs. contractors vs. volunteers)
• How to engage in political advocacy without creating risk for your organization

… and more.

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“Legal guardrails are central to the organizations’ very ability to function and thrive.  Legal stability is critical to getting funding, acquiring loans, managing staff and volunteers, collaborating and partnering with other CBOs, and so much more,” says nonprofit consultant, Carmen Bogan, CEO, The Bogan Group. “This free training from experts in the field, Karl Mill and Patrick Hogan, is a valuable opportunity for our nonprofit community.”

By Kathy Chouteau

A Team USA Olympian was in the house Mon., July 17 at Nystrom Elementary School in Richmond, when three-time Track and Field Gold Medalist, Tianna Madison Bartoletta, stopped by to read to the students.

The Olympian visited the “Read Aloud at Nystrom Elementary Freedom School” program as a guest reader of the book, “When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left,” by Marc Colagiovanni and also shared “a powerful message about overcoming your fears and frustrations by remembering who you are,” according to the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) on Facebook about the visit.

WCCUSD added that Nystrom’s special guest helped “support and uplift Freedom School students and to share the power of literacy.”

Tianna Bartoletta pauses in reading the book “When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left.” Photo courtesy of WCCUSD.

Bartoletta is not only a two-time Olympian and ‘three-peat’ Gold Medalist, she’s also a current member of Team USA in Track and Field, according to the WCCUSD. She earned a degree in Social Work from the University of Tennessee and also found time to start Club 360, a personal development program for young girls. A native of Tampa, Fla., the Olympian is also an advocate re: the Black maternal health crisis.

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“Students were able to ask for advice, get autographs and share their morning routine of singing, dancing, mindfulness and affirmations,” said WCCUSD about the visit. “Thank you, Tianna Madison, for an experience that will inspire WCCUSD students for years to come!”