Act Now Mantra is a diverse and collaborative group committed to taking constructive action to build a strong, equitable and knowledgeable community. As a grassroots, cross-cultural collective, we invite all communities to join in civic conversation,cultural connections and personal action to build strong communities and create positive social and political change.
Our Vision is to create a sense of belongingness and connection among members of the greater-Seattle community through thought-provoking, experiential programs.
Act Now Mantra (ANM) incorporates arts and culture as primary tools to build racial/cultural equity in our programs. We believe that art can create the bridges between conversation and action and become the catalyst for empathy, engagement and change.
ANM creates spaces for sharing stories and experiences; recognizing that storytelling communicates ideas about race, culture and has the power to reveal unexamined racial assumptions. We are intentional in creating programming that allows for such storytelling to be woven in with opportunities to engage meaningfully through questions and curiosity in a spirit of building understanding.
Our programs include:
Cultural Connections Series, our interdisciplinary arts and culture series is rooted in collaborative experiences. Programming reaches across genres and cultures, unifying cultural differences. ANM believes that given the chance and a platform for sharing, people appreciate each other’s cultures and forge strong, long standing friendships. We move from being diverse to being inclusive and ultimately celebratory of the beauty of different peoples and cultures.
We are working on a collaborative dance event between acclaimed Indian Dancer Mallika Sarabhai and Pakistani British poet Samia Malik for end of March 2019.
Like Act Now Mantra, these musicians recognize that our similarities are much greater than our differences. And that making true cultural connections leads to creative solutions and action that benefit us all and enriches our collective lives beyond measure.
Heart-to-Heart, a discussion series in which panelists of varying viewpoints talk about and answer audience questions on a specific subject. Each program includes arts segments like poetry readings and visual arts installations to center the program in a heartful and reflective space that allows for open discussion on issues of race and social justice. Programs hosted include:
Muslim faith panelists talking/answering questions about their faith and values that increased understanding across cultures. A discussion on 2nd Amendment rights. Panelists included those who support Gun Control reform and those who want the status quo to remain unchanged. Next is a panel on Feminism. As women are losing healthcare rights, we aim to discuss what equity in political, economic and social rights means to us all in the context of women’s rights.
Civic Trivia, an energetic bi-monthly gathering where teams answer historical, cultural and political questions posed by invited moderators on subjects such as the US Constitution, legal and criminal justice system and precedents, political processes and roles of elected officials, civil rights landmarks and leaders.
First convening was moderated by a UW law student and covered the basics of the US Constitution and law. Second was moderated by Amanda DuBois, civil rights activist, attorney and founder of Civil Survival, who managed questions addressing civil rights legislation, and the intersectionality of women’s rights, public health and prison reform. Third was moderated by Stephanie Thorpe, City of Seattle OCR program manager. Questions covered legal precedents, immigration rights, current events.