Dear Reader,
Every time I read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I am deeply moved by its essential, bold aspirations for humanity. This week we celebrate the 70th Anniversary of this milestone document, drafted by representatives from all regions of the world. The Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948. It set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and has been translated into over 500 languages. The Declaration has been ratified by every country in the world. The full text is included below if you wish to refresh your memory of it.
The word freedom occurs in the document 21 times. People of privilege should contemplate their freedoms often: the joy to think and move about freely, speak freely, assemble freely, to raise a family, to create, to live free from imminent fear. The Declaration states that every “individual and every organ of society” shall promote “respect for these rights and freedoms … by progressive measures.” Can we say we are meeting this goal? Imagine even one of your human rights removed. How would you respond?
What then of the many who suffer long-term economic or political disadvantage; or refugees and ‘internally displaced persons” who must leave their homes due to conflict or climate chaos; or those impacted by the corrupt and inept practices of governments; the enslaved, the child soldier, the starving? Our need for moral international institutions, courts, commissions, and civil society to uphold and help internalize human rights norms into the collective consciousness of all has never been greater. Please subscribe to Kosmos, as we continue to illuminate the evolutionary impulse to transform ourselves and our systems to align more closely with the needs of humanity and the Earth.
Global Citizen | Global Spirit: Explore Our Winter Quarterly
(image) The Winter edition of Kosmos Quarterly arrives December 21. Do not miss this unprecedented collection of insights, art, music, and more on our shared human values, local-to-global action, commons, and interspirituality. Luminaries include our editorial advisors Riane Eisler, Jonathan Granoff, David Bollier and Joni Carley. We also have articles by Kurt Johnson, Wahinkpe Topa, May East and many others, plus interviews with young hip-hop activist Xiuhetezcatl Martinez, and activist film director Skye Fitzgerald, a stunning photo gallery by Brian Sokol, poetry, and more.
We invite you to enjoy some excerpts from Global Citizen | Global Spirit right now. Just scroll down. And check out the Table of Contents too.
If you have not subscribed yet, we offer subscriptions on a sliding scale from $5-$60. It is not possible to access the complete Quarterly without a member profile, so please join now.
Kosmos Quarterly Winter 2018 Table of Contents
Kosmos Welcomes New Board Members and a Special Advisor
We are thrilled to welcome two new member to the Kosmos Board of Directors, Judy Wicks and Jerry Baber.
(image) Judy Wicks is a well-known social activist and pioneer in the local economy movement. She is founder of Fair Food Philly (2000) and the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (2001) and the nationwide (BALLE) Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (2001). Good Morning, Beautiful Business, Judy’s acclaimed memoir, won a national gold medal for business leadership and has been translated into Chinese and Korean.
Her work has earned numerous local and national awards, including the James Beard Foundation Humanitarian of the Year Award, the International Association of Culinary Professionals Humanitarian Award and the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs Lifetime Achievement Award. Judy was inducted into the University Science Center’s Innovators Walk of Fame in 2016. Judy continues her work to build a new economy of beautiful businesses and mentors the next generation of entrepreneurs in Philadelphia. More at www.judywicks.com.
(image) Jerry Baber is a media producer and former high school teacher, social worker, and community organizer who co-founded Brandt Commission Research in 1982 to bring Willy Brandt’s message of North-South disparity to wider audiences. After finishing MA programs in Political Campaign Management at Kent State University and in Communication at the Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania, he co-founded Immediacy Learning in 1990, leading creators of educational content for classrooms, boardrooms, and libraries. He has produced or directed more than 1400 educational programs, including productions in India, Indonesia, Japan and Italy.
He is a dedicated community volunteer and advocate for children, coaches basketball, and serves on his local Little League Board of Directors.
We also welcome Robert J. Rosenthal as our new Special Advisor to the Board.
(image) photo by Eric Luse
Robert Rosenthal started his career at The New York Times and The Boston Globe. As a reporter, Rosenthal won numerous awards, including the Overseas Press Club Award for magazine writing, the Sigma Delta Chi Award for distinguished foreign correspondence, the National Association of Black Journalists Award for Third World Reporting, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in international reporting.
Rosenthal worked for 22 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer and from 1982 through 1986 he was The Inquirer’s Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya. He reported throughout Africa and in the Middle East. He became The Inquirer’s Editor and Vice-President in 1998. Next, he was managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle from late 2002 to mid 2007.
In 2008, he became Executive Editor at the Center for Investigative Reporting, (CIR). His continued consulting work at CIR, and its major projects California Watch and The Bay Citizen is now focused on innovation around story telling, new distribution models, and sustainability.