ARTE invites young artists to submit a visual art piece that focuses on a social justice issue. Through their work, artists can explore a specific issue, reflect on how that issue affects them and their communities, honor an activist, or propose actions and solutions for change.

The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Speak Truth to Power Youth Advisory Board is collaborating with Art and Resistance Through Education (ARTE) in their Create Art for Change Competition. The RFKHR category, “Mothers of the Movement” is an open call for portraits and drawings that depict civil rights leaders that are mothers and the mothers of famous civil rights activists. RFK Human Rights will display selected pieces, and the selected artist will receive a copy of the book, “The Three Mothers” and have their art featured on both RFKHR and ARTE social media and website. Select portraits include:

• Alberta Christine Williams King
• Coretta Scott King
• Emma Berdis Jones
• Louise Little
• Mamie Elizabeth Till-Mobley
• Fannie Lou Hamer
• Ethel Kennedy
• Irinea Buendía
• Mothers of Plaza de Mayo
• Josephine Baker
• Judith “Judy” Heumann
• Hansa Jivraj Mehta

Artists must be ages 13-18 to submit. The deadline is June 18th, 2023. You can submit art here or at https://www.artejustice.org/artcontest for additional information.

“What is Artivism?” – A resource created by Dartmouth that defines artivism, provides more background on the topic, and includes weekly samples of student art

Art & Resistance Through Education (ARTE) – ARTE provides curriculum and material specifically designed to help students develop creative projects that bring awareness about human rights issues

In the Aftermath

by Melek Azra Yaman

A nation devastated, people stunned

The earth shook, leaving everyone benumbed

Nature’s fury did not end there, ones left to bear

Swallowed homes and families revealing rubble and despair

Amidst the rubble, a cry for help was heard

As pleas for aid were let out, even if only a word

The weight of loss, the pain of grief

And the knowledge that life can be brief

Aid and attention poured in

Still chaos and confusion within

Another blow the survivors faced

When hundreds were left displaced

Crumbled buildings, crumbled dignities

When those in power failed to protect

The most vulnerable were left behind

Cold bodies and hearts with their rights denied

So let us stand with them

Recognizing those we must condemn

Let us pledge to honor their lives and memory

Until they get the deserved justice and remedy

Melek Azra Yaman (IG: @mazrayaman) is a junior at Üsküdar American Academy in Istanbul, Turkey. She was inspired to write this poem after the February 2023 earthquakes in her home country.