Home
Focus Areas
About Us
It's been almost 60 years since Otis Taylor was denied his high school diploma for refusing to cut off his afro.
But the 74-year-old blues musician and multi-instrumentalist finally got to take the stage at his belated graduation ceremony in May after finally receiving his diploma from Manual High School in Denver, Colo., last month, the Denver Post reports.
Taylor tells NPR people have asked him, "Would you do it if you had the chance to do it over again?" "Hell yes I'd do it over again," he says.
"It was sort of like it was the beginning of the counterculture, where The Beatles came out there growing their hair.
But the schools [had] a real big counterculture battle with these kids growing their hair."
Taylorwho says he never felt like his father forgave him for not getting his diplomasays he was embarrassed when other people at the graduation ceremony read two paragraphs about him.
"I just felt silly, because there's other people in there," he says.
"And I think there was a woman graduating with a year-and-a-half-year-old little boy in her arms.
To me, she must have had to work really hard to get there."
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
Vivek Wadhwa is an academic, entrepreneur, and author.Why the world's best hope for health-care innovation is not America, but India.How India's health- care innovation beats America's.How does...more
Culture Works has raised and granted funds for numerous arts organizations in Dayton since 1974.Funding for their Grants for Arts Project (GAP) program has been terminated by the National Endowment...more
Envision is an exciting evening of dance and filmmaking at the Coronado Performing Arts Center on Friday, May 16 and Saturday May 17 at 7pm.The evening of original dances offers a behind-the-scenes...more
The Recording Academy's Black Music Collective has proudly announced the recipients of the fourth annual "Your Future Is Now" scholarship program.Five students attending Historically Black Colleges...more
Parsippany Student Earns National Recognition in PTA Arts Program.Erin Kirk, a Student at Parsippany High School, plans to pursue a career in Physical Therapy after graduating in June.The National...more
Faulkner Performing Arts Center is a 500-plus seat state of the art venue dedicated to providing a community-centered approach to the performing arts.The Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences is the...more
Ongoing building negotiations with city officials and a nationwide pullback in philanthropic support are clouding the future for National City's A Reason to Survive arts program.ARTS has an unusual...more
Zoe Sharp is a psychology and creative writing student at AACC.Sharp will take a gap year to work in retail.Sharp is the editor-in-chief of Amaranth, the student arts journal.She plans to finish her...more
Governora€™s School for the Arts, or GSA, auditions and reviews high school sophomores and juniors in nine different arts disciplines.GSA is an arts education program of The Kentucky Center...more
Foundation: Victoria Foundation
The 2025 Vital Signs citizen survey, open until May 30, explores a variety of issue areas for Greater Victoria, from transportation and housing to the arts and the environment.The survey, along with...more
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
When it Comes to Social Enterprises, Failure is the Best Platform for Innovation
In the world of social enterprises, failure is a cringe-worthy moment nobody wants to talk about. But, social entrepreneurs can benefit from their failures.
