SPECIAL PROJECTS

Kansas City Area Photography used in our projects is by our friend Duane Hallock.

2021 SPECIAL PROJECT 1 – Funded!

The R.E.A.L (Racial Equity and Learning) Project (RACES UNITED)

The goal of the Burnett Music Foundation (BMF) is to promote youth development and awareness of Jazz music as an original art form in the United States. Considering Jazz originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with roots in two additional genres (blues and ragtime) also originating from the African-American communities, the motivation to support Races United’s efforts to create the R.E.A.L Project is not different from the activities of the BMF. It is Black history. The R.E.A.L Project of course includes all aspects of the contributions made by Black Americans (Jazz being just one among many areas of benefit to society) not just from a viewpoint of oppression but also including Black Joy, which educationally, is in direct alignment with our mission. The R.E.A.L Project can be utilized in any classroom of any subject manner (music, history, mathematics, science, etc.) because Black Americans have contributed in every aspect of our communities and pre-existing lessons plans created by the BMF will be edited to fit within the LaGarrett King framework and included in the R.E.A.L Project’s virtual library. To engage as a fiscal agent for Races United makes sense for us because we are on the same page. Burnett Music Foundation has finalized the contract with Races United to legally serve as the nonprofit fiscal sponsor of The R.E.A.L (Racial Equity and Learning) Project, facilitated by Races United, which is a 3-day workshop (June 21-23, 2021) for 40 Kansas City Metropolitan Area teachers (K-12) to create Black History lesson plans utilizing the LaGarrett King Framework of Black Historical Consciousness to be shared in the R.E.A.L Project digital library as an open source for teachers throughout the region and beyond. The Black History lesson plans component ties into our nonprofit mission and Jazz programming focus. Contributions, sponsorships and grants should be coordinated directly with the Races United organization!