RISE Boys & Men of Color Ideation Award Challenge

Posted by University of Pennsylvania on March 6, 2017

RISE BMOC Ideation Award Challenge

Focused on the four RISE populations (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans), the RISE Ideation Award Challenge seeks forwarding-thinking, asset-based, unconventional solutions to relevant issues within the five RISE fields (education, health, human services and social policy, juvenile and criminal justice, and workforce development). These awards will advance understandings of the relationship between opportunities, social conditions, and systems that impact Boys and Men of Color, and provide specificity in meeting the needs of certain communities. Through harnessing the ingenuity of such innovative ideas, RISE will make known the myriad ways of approaching solutions to both challenge and expand existing paradigms that so often shortchange Boys and Men of Color.

RISE Ideation Award Challenge Topic
Within a span of two years, the killing of unarmed Black men and boys by police officers has been a recurring theme in daily news cycles. Sadly, for many people of color, such headlines are not mere aberrations, but reminders of the realities they face in their communities. These types of unaccounted for killings by police are not a normative condition for people of color, despite prevailing narratives that engender such false belief. Data revealing the disproportionality with which this phenomenon occurs for men of color in general, and Black men and boys specifically, should alarm anyone, and spur her or him to come up with new ways to solve this issue. While statistics do not denote a dramatic rise or increase, over time, in the number of boys and men of color killed at the hands of police officers, recent media have highlighted the fact that the numbers continue to be disproportionate, “Of the 990 people who were killed by police officers in 2015, the Washington Post reported 258 (26%) of them were Black” (Williams, 2016). As of September 21, 2016, there have been 708 documented deaths in police shootings, 311 (44%) of which resulted in the deaths of boys and men of color (24% African American, 11% Hispanic, and 3.8% ‘other’) (The Guardian, 2016).

Challenge:
What is an innovative approach to end the unaccounted for and disproportionate killing of unarmed Black men and boys by the police?

RISE BMOC invites rigorous solution-based thinking, inventiveness, and critical discussion on how to counter this phenomenon.

Criteria for Consideration of Applicants:
RISE BMOC is a strategic facilitator of researchers, evaluators, scholars, policy makers, advocates, and practitioners. We are reaching out to this broad and diverse network to solicit ideas that spur solution-based, action-oriented dialogue and further discourse on this issue. In seeking thoughtful, concise, and innovative solutions to address this phenomenon, our goal is to provide both an open forum focused on improving outcomes and a monetary award. We invite you to think creatively and imagine new possibilities. Please do not be inhibited by the current political climate. Ability to implement is not a requirement. However, we hope that the submissions will inform local and national conversations on police reform.

Who should submit:
• Scholars/Researchers/Evaluators (focused on BMOC issues)
• Practitioners (actively working on BMOC issues)
• Policy Makers/Advocates
• Concerned Community Members (mothers, fathers, relatives, allies of BMOC)
• Youth (13 – 24)

Submission Requirements:
• Strict word limit of 1,000 words.

Important Dates:
• Announcement released February 13, 2017
• Applications due March 15, 2017
• Announcement of winner March 30, 2017

Award Levels:
• 1 First Place Award ($10,000)
• 1 Second Place Award ($5,000)
• 1 Third Place Award ($1,500)
• 2 Honorable Mention (no monetary award)

http://www.risebmoc.org/ideation-award