Educultural Foundation

visual and performing arts, narrative and dialogue. Founded by critical multicultural educator, Virginia Lea, and jazz musician and educator, Babatunde Lea, the Educultural Foundation provides a variety of participatory programs to help students, educators, and community members recognize the influences on their lives, and engage in social justice activism to reach their educational and socio-economic goals. We at the Educultural Foundation believe that our programs and workshops are especially needed in today's social and economic climate, in which schools and colleges/universities are unable to provide many of the academic and arts support programs that facilitate educational access, equity, academic development, and greater critical consciousness. The fact that public education does not adequately meet our cultural, economic, emotional and spiritual needs, especially the needs of low-income and poor people, who are disproportionately of color, is not an accident. While many societies in the past served an oligarchy—a powerful elite—their citizens were aware that the socioeconomic system they lived in was unjust. Modern societies have found a way to maintain the inequalities while hiding them from citizens. According to the research of Wilkinson and Pickett (2010), the United States is the most unequal society in the developed world. Yet many of our fellow citizens consent to policies that are not in their economic interest. Racist, classist, sexist, homophobic and other hegemonic narratives disseminated on networks like Fox News and News Corps convince many people that the social divisions and hierarchies that we live within have always been and remain quite normal. At the Educultural Foundation, we aim to make the term "hegemony" part of our everyday language. Hegemony is an important process through which those in power are able to use the media, school and other
institutions to persuade those who do not benefit from dominant laws, economic policies and social practices that the latter work for them. This way only a few of us, who can see through this veil of illusion, will challenge those in power. For example, in spite of clear evidence of the ways in which dominant "race," socio-economic class, gender, sexual orientation, and ability narratives have influenced the legal, work, educational, cultural and other social systems so as to favor some groups in society over others, hegemony tells us that the ever-increasing gap between a rich oligarchy or plutocracy, the increasingly financially-challenged middle class, and the growing numbers of low income and poor people, is natural and common sense. Hegemony allows those of us who have been privileged by dominant, hegemonic narratives to rationalize our discomfort with the perception that we are not really living in a democratic society in which everyone has a fair chance. If we are doing well ourselves, we often do not want to see the almost invisible mechanisms of power that discipline and govern our lives. We do not want to acknowledge that under recent legal decisions like Citizens United, corporations can openly buy political power in order to benefit the few at the expense of the many. If the system works for us as individuals, or for our small family units or communities, we often spin reality to justify the status quo: the increasing wealth and income gap within the United States and Europe, and the chasm between rich and poor countries globally. We need to question the explanations those in power give us through the media, school, religion and work, about why inequities and inequalities exist. Hegemonic narratives allow us to pursue extremely
individualistic goals. They tell us that the United States society is a meritocracy, rewarding the worthy, and that if people are poor or unsuccessful it is their fault. If we are to create a more equitable world, we must start to question the hegemonic process, begin to question why we consent to the hierarchies of power we live within. We must begin to look at the world from multiple perspectives. If we don't know
how hegemony works, how will we be able to interrupt it? Through the programs offered at the Educultural Foundation, especially our signature program, Concerts and Conversations, we aim to open people up to a genuine dialogue about the ways in which our socioeconomic, cultural and ecological systems operate. Globalization now means that local systems are tied to the global. Working on the local level, mindful of its global dimensions, we can make a huge impact on transforming inequities in the world. You may already be part of one or more organizations already focused on interrupting inequality. Please also link your organization to the Educultural Foundation. Consider offering a Concert and Conversation in your community. Contact us and we will work with you to put on the event. First, if you are not already working in a particular social arena, do the research to find out what inequities exist in your area/what issue/s local people want and need to address. For example, if there have been a growing number of racist incidences in your community, try to find out from those targeted if they would be willing to join a community panel as part of your conversation. You might invite someone with "status" to join the panel. Find a venue, set a date, and begin to raise funds to be able to hold the event. The musical ingredient that we will bring to the conversation will open up participants to a conversation about the hard issues they need to tackle; the conversation that we will facilitate will get to the heart of the issue/s; the goal will be to develop an action plan to address the issue/s, and to become part of a nationwide network of people committed to challenging the issues and linked inequities. You will begin to develop a concrete social justice plan for your community. Together, we can be part of building an enormous network of people who understand how hegemony works, and who are taking action to change inequities in their local communities‹with an awareness of how this
action will link with and change the bigger national and global system. Whatever organization you work with, join us in bringing a Concert and Conversation to your community that will encourage social action towards great equity in your local
cultural and institutional arrangements, leading to greater equality in the world. References:
Wilkinson, R. & Pickett, K. The Spirit Level:
Why Equality is Better for Everyone. New York: Penguin.