Human Rights Day - Artistically Speaking
By Patrick Sciarratta
On December 13, the UNA Westchester chapter honored Human Rights Day, with an artistic twist. Rather than inviting yet another speaker to remind us of the heritage of Human Rights Day, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and how the UN has been the beacon for the promotion of human rights since its creation, we came up with another idea: How have artists translated these issues in their own work?
In fact, examples abound in all aspects of the arts. Perhaps artists know better than most the need for freedom of expression – and have often been
the ones who have suffered most under censorship’s yoke. So, our issue at first was: where to focus during a short zoom; where would we cull the best
ideas while remaining open to hearing the ideas and questions of others around this important and timely topic.
We began by looking inward: one of our talented Board members helped create a plan that directly impacts and expands upon the very concept! Ms.
Tricia Baldes developed and helps teach a core curricular topic in the Westchester school system called Rock-Your-World. The Rock-Your-World and Rock-Your-Vote campaigns emanate from a powerful, West Coast NGO called Creative Visions. Another UNA W Board member, Dan Bena, sits on that organization’s national Board of Directors. So, we began in good company.
Rock-Your-World.Org and its related, in-class coursework, invites youth in middle and high schools to provide creative responses to the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Youth are also encouraged to work alongside and support NGOs that expand on their creativity and issues. It is a profoundly important supplement to core curricula, especially in the times we find ourselves in today.
I invited the Bond Street Theatre of New York to participate because the organization’s mission is to build more inclusive and supportive communities here in the USA and around the world. The organization’s work was recently highlighted on PBS in a new documentary that came out after our presentation. Rather than tell you more about them, this well-prepared documentary does that for us. Please watch.
The idea for the event began in this writer’s mind with a young person whom I have been in contact with for several years. Through the Youth Assembly at the United Nations that I directed, we were able to reach out to Ms. Millie Bobby Brown. She agreed to allow us to edit and re-use a talk she gave at the United Nations last year (when we all could still meet in person!) to celebrate the UN’s Year of the Child – and to discuss the repercussions of bullying. Ms. Brown, beyond her starring roles in Netflix’ Stranger Things, Enola Holmes, and the new release Godzilla vs Kong, has a massive social media following and a sweet, dear heart.
Bullied herself in her earliest years, she has accepted the mantle of a UN Ambassador for Peace, representing UNICEF in the fight against bullying. The fact that she joined the event on December 13th brought in nearly 14,000 applicants and at times, 7,000 actual participants on our call-in
program.
We were pleased by the questions sent in by our (mostly) young audience and spent the latter part of the session addressing those. It was a valuable
look at human rights, and the lack thereof, from an artist’s point of view. We think you will enjoy the event. In case you missed it, our technicians for the show, Mr. Devron Chambers and Darrick Hatwood of L2 Web Media Group, made sure it was video recorded and we would like to offer this to you for your viewing enjoyment and education. Please watch!
This March, we will continue our conversations – and you are invited! Save the date of March 7th for a fascinating discussion on women in business
leadership when we commemorate UN Women’s Day with a discussion led by the new Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, Ms. Sanda Ojiambo. And, later in the year, we will work to bring Ms. Brown back for a talk with Ms. Emma Watson (Harry Potter; He For She) on UN-related issues. We are optimistic that these two superstars would attract large registration numbers!
Promote Human Rights … and Watch This Space … for more!
On December 13, the UNA Westchester chapter honored Human Rights Day, with an artistic twist. Rather than inviting yet another speaker to remind us of the heritage of Human Rights Day, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and how the UN has been the beacon for the promotion of human rights since its creation, we came up with another idea: How have artists translated these issues in their own work?
In fact, examples abound in all aspects of the arts. Perhaps artists know better than most the need for freedom of expression – and have often been
the ones who have suffered most under censorship’s yoke. So, our issue at first was: where to focus during a short zoom; where would we cull the best
ideas while remaining open to hearing the ideas and questions of others around this important and timely topic.
We began by looking inward: one of our talented Board members helped create a plan that directly impacts and expands upon the very concept! Ms.
Tricia Baldes developed and helps teach a core curricular topic in the Westchester school system called Rock-Your-World. The Rock-Your-World and Rock-Your-Vote campaigns emanate from a powerful, West Coast NGO called Creative Visions. Another UNA W Board member, Dan Bena, sits on that organization’s national Board of Directors. So, we began in good company.
Rock-Your-World.Org and its related, in-class coursework, invites youth in middle and high schools to provide creative responses to the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Youth are also encouraged to work alongside and support NGOs that expand on their creativity and issues. It is a profoundly important supplement to core curricula, especially in the times we find ourselves in today.
I invited the Bond Street Theatre of New York to participate because the organization’s mission is to build more inclusive and supportive communities here in the USA and around the world. The organization’s work was recently highlighted on PBS in a new documentary that came out after our presentation. Rather than tell you more about them, this well-prepared documentary does that for us. Please watch.
The idea for the event began in this writer’s mind with a young person whom I have been in contact with for several years. Through the Youth Assembly at the United Nations that I directed, we were able to reach out to Ms. Millie Bobby Brown. She agreed to allow us to edit and re-use a talk she gave at the United Nations last year (when we all could still meet in person!) to celebrate the UN’s Year of the Child – and to discuss the repercussions of bullying. Ms. Brown, beyond her starring roles in Netflix’ Stranger Things, Enola Holmes, and the new release Godzilla vs Kong, has a massive social media following and a sweet, dear heart.
Bullied herself in her earliest years, she has accepted the mantle of a UN Ambassador for Peace, representing UNICEF in the fight against bullying. The fact that she joined the event on December 13th brought in nearly 14,000 applicants and at times, 7,000 actual participants on our call-in
program.
We were pleased by the questions sent in by our (mostly) young audience and spent the latter part of the session addressing those. It was a valuable
look at human rights, and the lack thereof, from an artist’s point of view. We think you will enjoy the event. In case you missed it, our technicians for the show, Mr. Devron Chambers and Darrick Hatwood of L2 Web Media Group, made sure it was video recorded and we would like to offer this to you for your viewing enjoyment and education. Please watch!
This March, we will continue our conversations – and you are invited! Save the date of March 7th for a fascinating discussion on women in business
leadership when we commemorate UN Women’s Day with a discussion led by the new Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, Ms. Sanda Ojiambo. And, later in the year, we will work to bring Ms. Brown back for a talk with Ms. Emma Watson (Harry Potter; He For She) on UN-related issues. We are optimistic that these two superstars would attract large registration numbers!
Promote Human Rights … and Watch This Space … for more!
