Dear TWAICB community,
Greetings! This is Jazzmin. I am the Communications and Website Content Administrator for The World As It Could Be. I am responsible for a lot of the visual, social media, and website content you’ve seen over the past five years (if you look at some of our recent 4 Questions at a Time videos, I’m running tech in the background!)
After discussing TWAICB’s history and impacts with Sandy, we decided to switch things up and I’ll be writing to you in this month’s newsletter. Our theme today is a retrospective on the 17 years of program development, community building, performances, art projects, community service initiatives, and, as of last year, a textbook chapter on the importance of human rights and mindfulness in civic education (read in full at theworldasitcouldbe.org/human-
Earlier this year, Sandy and I talked in depth about what’s been accomplished since this program’s founding 2006. We’ve been reflecting on what’s been done and how, where our works stands today, and what direction we see this moving towards in the future.
When I started working with The World As It Could Be about five years ago, most of what I knew about the program was through theatre arts exercises I learned while in my human rights education master’s program at University of San Francisco in 2013. It has been inspiring to learn so much more about the history and impact this program has had in both local and national communities and classrooms over the years. A lot has changed in the past three years, and even more has changed in the past seven, and the importance of bringing the frameworks and concept of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into daily life has been evident. From attacks on social emotional learning, the realities of our histories, racial justice, and civic education/engagement, bringing the interdependent and interconnected rights and responsibilities outlined in the UDHR are critical to this time and the times that are coming.
As many of our past participants and students have observed, big changes can be made through the smallest actions—or as Eleanor Roosevelt said, human rights can be found in “small places close to home” (which inspired our set of Resources to Bring the Meaning of the UDHR Close to Home.)
With the swirling chaos that can be the larger world we live in we’ve looked for inspiration in the stories of those who bring this work to life and remind us to keep going when times are challenging. Whether they’re big names, such as those on our Partial List of Human Rights Advocates and Defenders, or friends and community members who bring human rights education into their daily practices, like our friend and collaborator Natalia Anciso and her second graders and our recent project I Am Me and I Am Part of Us, we are incredibly grateful to contribute to the growing movement to bring human rights into these small places (as well as big places) as we continue to collectively reimagine the world as it could be.
Looking back over the past 17 years, there’s a lot to celebrate and be proud of. A few highlights from my comms/website perspective:
- Our curriculum was updated in February of this year, and we now have an accompanying interactive page with examples and videos for Part III: Warm-Up, Movement and Theater Exercises to Encourage Group Bonding, Stimulate Creative Energy and Inspire Creative Expression of UDHR Themes.
- We’ve been connecting with human rights allies for conversations that ask 4 Questions at a Time. So far, we’ve had inspiring discussions with Voice of Witness, the San Francisco Interfaith Council, and Rabbi Irwin Kula of CLAL, and look forward to many more to come.
- Completion of the book I Am Me and I Am Part of Us with Natalia and her second-grade class.
- Numerous human rights town halls and assemblies at schools around the Bay Area and a couple across the country.
Which brings us to our question for you: How has this work influenced and impacted you?
For me, it’s been a daily reminder that constantly reaffirms my commitment to human rights education and connects my art/design background to my activism and academic lives. In part, it helped inspire my doctoral journey and keeps me grounded as I approach my research and navigate world of human rights education.
We would love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Feel free to fill out this form to share your own reflections: bit.ly/twaicb-reflections
For a timeline of TWAICB’s work and impact from 2006 to 2013, check out our new page: https://www.theworldasitcouldbe.org/timeline
Thank you for being a part of TWAICB community, we look forward to continuing learning and reimagining together.
Best wishes,
—jazzmin
