I have been focused on two things, lately:
The re-launch of my book, The Souls of Her Feet as the first edition of the Fairytale Reality Project, and Every Man, Woman and Child, a world party focused on teaching the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through music. What on earth do these two things have to do with each other?
My novel may be a frothy sendup of the ur-princess story about a magic makeover and upward mobility, but the fairy godmother character is a human rights lawyer. Before he dresses Ashley up, he teaches her to self-advocate for the dignity she deserves.
Meanwhile, in the ECHR (European Convention for Human Rights), Article 14—the Right to Non-Discrimination—was accused of being the stuff of fairytales until Alexander Ottosson argued in his thesis that “Cinderella has come to be associated with the idea of someone with unrecognized attributes, who for a period is discounted and met with indifference before achieving success.” The right to speak one’s own language has also been called the “Cinderella” right, presumably for the same reason.
Finally, Souls is the story of a teenager caught in a dysfunctional family circus. In The Bullying Antidote, which links this all together, Louise Hart and I talk about how families who don’t use democratic principles are training grounds for the painful dynamics of domination, passed on from generation to generation— which is where bullying, a.k.a. the practice of human rights violations, always originates. Cinderella, well she’s all about being sweet and kind and good, a character of virtue who rises to humane leadership.
Every Man, Woman, and Child by Merrill Collins was the first musical grassroots expression of the UDHR (1987), followed by an explosion of understanding. The world’s governments are trending in the opposite direction. Now is a crucial time to raise the vibration worldwide. As I wrote in The Bullying Antidote, “human rights are something we give each other.” Choose an expression and dance, do yoga, meditate, or jam along with the rest of the world on Peace Day-September 21st, Human Rights Day-December 10, or ANY DAY YOU ARE BEING A HUMAN.
You’re Invited!
8/14/19 – 12-2pm SHOE SALON™ sponsored by Ladies Who Lit. Includes fancy no-host luncheon, a copy of The Souls of Her Feet and a glass of bubbly for $20 RSVP today, space is limited!
8/31/19 – 11:30am – 1:30pm Zumbathon® as part of the Mind+Body fun-raiser for Oakland Peace Center featuring KRS-10. At 1:30, dance along to Every Man Woman and Child for a Global Peace Party Zumba Video, and shout out your human rights!
