In Defense Of Human Dignity

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On April 20, 2023, the Humanity Project Board of Directors posted a public statement in defense of human dignity. The statement was unanimously approved by all ten directors as a direct response to attacks on educational freedoms as well as against the right of individuals to live as they believe best.

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On Human Dignity: Public Statement by the Humanity Project Board of Directors

April 20, 2023

As a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting “equality for each, respect for all,” the Humanity Project is deeply disturbed by the many recent attacks on human dignity in Florida and around the country. Our home state, Florida, has passed several legislative actions that limit what and how teachers can teach. We believe this infringes on educators’ ability to effectively apply their training and experience. We also believe efforts to ban lessons on gender diversity, sexual orientation and racial issues are antithetical to promoting a more just and peaceful world. Thoughtful, age-appropriate information allows young people to better understand themselves and to form compassionate bonds with others. Beyond these attacks on education, politicians in Florida and elsewhere continue to vilify our rich cultural heritage and gender non-conforming art, enacting laws that criminalize drag performance. History shows us that drag is a unique art form, long a staple of the theatrical world. We deplore the misrepresentation of drag performers as unhealthy influences on our society. And we stand by our friends in the drag entertainment community. Equally disturbing to us are efforts to restrict the reproductive freedom of Florida women. We believe that denying people control over their own bodies and health amounts to government bullying. The Humanity Project cannot idly witness the bullying of any human beings who ask only the opportunity to be who they are. Nor can we accept the undermining of school curricula in ways that diminish a realistic understanding of our world. By law, the Humanity Project is a non-political, non-religious organization. Our mission remains “instilling greater respect for the goodness and inherent value of humanity.” We hope this statement of support for our schools and our fellow community members may contribute to that goal.

The statement also is available as a video read by Humanity Project Board members: Watch the video

Welcome, Debra!

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The Humanity Project is very proud to welcome a new member to our distinguished Board of Directors. After taking part in our December board retreat and remaining engaged in our efforts, Debra Annane officially has been elected to join our work promoting equality and respect-for-all.

Debra brings with her an impressive resume as Program Officer of the Health Foundation of South Florida. An adjunct instructor at the University of Miami Department of Public Health Sciences, Ms. Annane is fully certified by Brown University as a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher. She has trained extensively in the Zen Buddhist tradition since 2005 and was ordained as an urban Zen priest in 2015. Ms. Annane has developed and facilitated numerous research protocols and mindfulness-based programs for improving health and health equity. Her work in public health engages underserved and at risk populations. Previously, Debra worked in the media including the Orlando Sentinel and Discovery Channel.

Beyond her obvious credentials, Debra Annane brings to us her warmth, wisdom and humor — and personal experience growing up in Jamaica and the United States as a multiracial and multicultural female. Her journey includes a hard-won reckoning with identity, migration, cultural constructs of race, stress, resilience, social justice and body-mind health.

We are excited to join forces with this talented woman as the Humanity Project moves well into our 17th year of existence. Much work remains in striving toward a community, a nation and a world that offer “Equality For Each, Respect For All.” Debra Annane can help us find new ways to advance those efforts.

Humanity Club -- Live Again

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Humanity Club: Summer 2021

We’re back! Our acclaimed Humanity Club program is working with kids again … in person! No Zoom, no frozen video or inaudible audio. And it’s great!

Yes, some things are still different than when we last were live. Masks are needed for instance — worn by everyone in the room but lowered or removed briefly when the moment seemed safe. And all of us on the Humanity Project team of course are fully vaccinated. We’re doing our best to make sure the children, their teachers and our own Humanity Project folks all stay healthy.

Take a look at a few pics from yesterday’s first non-Zoom Humanity Club session in 16 months. This was at Reverend Samuel Delevoe Memorial Park, beside the African American Research Library in Fort Lauderdale. We began teaching these smart girls of color what we mean by “Equality For Each, Respect For All,” using art projects, games, music, stories and more to connect with their young minds. We plan to help them build a Humanity Garden by the end of the summer: a lovely spot that celebrates our collective humanity by expressing respect for each individual. Check out the photos below. The kids seemed just as happy as we were to be back in the classroom again.

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Notice the car… respect even on our roads!

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And notice the rainbow with two girls… Equality For Each, Respect For All!

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Having fun, all together again!

"We need more humanity!"

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The Humanity Project today announces a new campaign … with a very clear message: “We need more humanity!”

At our Board of Directors meeting two days ago, the Humanity Project directors decided that this is an idea very relevant to our times, an era of sharp political and religious and cultural divisions. The phrase has a double meaning, of course: “We need more humanity!” as a call for equality, respect, compassion and caring for others … and as a reminder that the Humanity Project is working to foster those very values. Our organization believes the world does need more humanity in our dealings with each other as well as more Humanity Project to contribute toward making this happen.

Fortunately, there are signs of hope. President Biden has called for greater unity in the United States. Public discussions have sprung up recently about the need for more respect, more kindness in our society. The Humanity Project even organized an online forum of diverse community leaders on January 23 to seek common ground — and indeed they found common ground. That panel has continued to meet to take joint action on pressing issues, currently fighting Covid vaccine inequality in underrepresented populations such as African American and Latino. “Equality For Each, Respect For All” must include equal access to medical care. That’s even more urgent during this pandemic.

So you’ll be seeing those four words often for a while in our social media, blogs, videos and elsewhere: “We need more humanity!” As we look around at the conflicts and hostility that sometimes seem everywhere these days, who could argue with that notion? Yes, we do need more humanity.

So Much In Common

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Our “Seeking Common Ground” panel — diverse community leaders collaborating in the common interest

On Saturday, January 23, the Humanity Project convened a distinguished panel of community leaders for a conversation about healing our divided society. Those who attended and those who participated were inspired by the respectful and insightful discussion. The panelists intend to move forward with future talks among each other — and future collaborations to foster greater respect and equality in our community. Catch the discussion. (Due to technical problems, only the last hour was recorded …)

This event was hosted online by the Broward County library system in South Florida, taking place just three days after the new U.S. administration was sworn into office and only five days after MLK Day. Appropriately, the 90-minute session began with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “I am convinced that men hate each other because they fear each other. They fear each other because they don't know each other, and they don't know each other because they don't communicate with each other, and they don't communicate with each other because they are separated from each other.” The panelists all agreed this is one of the fundamental problems we face in our nation and in the world generally … and that solutions require us to bring together everyday people from a wide range of backgrounds, religions, political views and social values to, yes, simply get to know each other. It sounds so simple, so obvious, doesn’t it? But as we understand, it’s not simple at all. Assembling any group is tough in our busy internet-driven society, more so when the participants are diverse and often unwilling to meet with those who may not agree with them on key issues.

The Humanity Project panel discussed why human beings in today’s world indeed are so separated, and therefore so afraid and angry. Of course, the reasons are many and complex. But the remedy remains: We need to talk to each other and get to know more about that “other” person. It can’t happen online. Social media isn’t much help either, likely worsening our separation in real ways. We need to sit, face to face, and just talk. Clearly, this is a challenge in our Covid culture but we know the impediments will fade as the vaccine rolls out around the globe.

The Humanity Project’s commitment to “equality for each, respect for all” means we plan to continue our efforts to bring together many different folks for respectful discussion, as we’ve been doing under our “One Common Humanity” program. We hope that leads us to work with a variety of nonprofits, churches, businesses and individuals to forge a greater sense of community and to recognize our shared humanity. Because in the end, this is the genuine common ground: We each are human. When we agree to meet and talk with each other, as our panelists did, more of us can see that.

Gold Seal of Transparency

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Our practices have earned this Gold Seal

For the first time in our 15-year history the Humanity Project has earned the Gold Seal of Transparency from GuideStar, the highly respected nonprofit information service. This follows several years of winning the GuideStar Silver Seal designation — which also is coveted.

But the Gold Seal goes a step further to assure Humanity Project sponsors, donors, supporters and friends that our practices are open, honest and responsible. In other words, we do what we say we do … and we live up to our motto: “Equality For Each, Respect For All!” We indeed take our mission seriously at the Humanity Project. And we work hard to teach our core values to both children and adults, with free programs, videos, blogs, podcasts, writings and other materials available worldwide.

We hope you’ll join our march for greater equality by signing the Pledge For Humanity, which makes you an official Humanity Project member at no cost. If you do, you will soon receive a personal thank you email from our founder — and information about how you can get more involved in our work. The time for healing our communities has come, a drive toward equality and respect for all. We need your help to make it happen.

Our 15th Anniversary!

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On November 3, 2020, the Humanity Project turns 15! We are proud that our values, programs and ideas have proven lasting. And we’re very grateful to every person and organization that has supported our work. A special shoutout in that context to State Farm, Our Fund, Children’s Services Council of Broward County, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and Google, among others.

As we look forward to the next 15 years, we also feel pride in the continuing improvement of our organization. Our mission statement has been thoroughly rewritten several times and our motto updated to be as clear, concise and effective as possible. Our Board of Directors and Leadership Council as well as our founder, Bob Knotts, all believe the current mission and motto at last make very plain what we’re fundamentally about. Our mission: “Instilling greater respect for the goodness and inherent value of humanity.” Our motto: “Equality For Each, Respect For All.” We see ourselves as spokespeople for humanity itself, reminding folks in our challenging world that despite all the conflicts and tragedies, among the many setbacks and losses, humanity continues its unsteady advance toward fulfillment. As a species, we are on the march toward equality for each, respect for all. Look around you — you will see the progress in major areas of our lives. Grand advances in human knowledge, major strides in access to water and food for everyone, progress in racial and religious and gender and LGBTQ equality. The work is far far from done, obviously. But step by slow step, humanity is gaining ground … “advancing on Chaos and the Dark,” as Ralph Waldo Emerson expressed it.

You may ask yourself, “What right does the Humanity Project have speaking for humanity? Who are they?” To which we reply, “We have every right, as do you. We are all human beings. We are members of the species Homo sapiens — and our membership automatically grants us the privilege to speak about human life as we see it.” We think a deep belief in humanity fosters belief in the individual human being. And in ourselves as individuals. And this strengthens humanity’s drive toward greater fulfillment of our best traits and abilities.

We take a long view of human history. If you try this for yourself, you’re likely to find it comforting. We each tend to become so lost in the daily flow of dispiriting news, political conflicts and disrespectful words and rampant inequality, that our minds easily lose a more accurate perspective. As Dr. Martin Luther King famously said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” And it also bends toward understanding, wisdom … and spectacular achievement. You and your family and your friends and all of us are the inheritors of a tradition that includes the Mona Lisa and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, the Parthenon and Petra, Hamlet and Ulysses and Moby Dick. We have stamped our footprints in the dusts of the moon, snapped photographs of galaxies and black holes, launched probes that have passed out of our own solar system toward destinations yet unknown. We have wiped out whole diseases, improved treatments of others. We have traced the obscure records of our history and envisioned ambitious paths to our future. We have gifts not granted to any other species, including the power and flexibility of our imaginations and an extraordinary adaptability.

We are humanity. So are you.

And we also are the Humanity Project. Yes, we’re justifiably proud of all we’ve accomplished in the past 15 years, including the nation’s first mass march against bullying and other large-scale events; effective programs that include Humanity Club, I Care, Antibullying Through The Arts and One Common Humanity; 128 podcasts so far and hundreds of blogs as well as original essays, fables, videos, music and more.

We hope you will become part of the Humanity Project too. Join our campaign at no cost by signing our simple “Pledge For Humanity”: Sign the pledge. Help us to speak on behalf of humanity’s best, assist in the effort to continue our species’ advance toward “equality for each, respect for all.”

Meet Our New Leadership Council

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The Humanity Project Leadership Council

Allow us to introduce the new Humanity Project Leadership Council. We welcome each of them!

The Leadership Council is a group of committed activists who share the Humanity Project’s goals and values. Each council member leads a team of likeminded individuals, introducing them to those goals and values at regular meetings and motivating them to share our ideas, events and programs with the public. We first formed the council in 2014 with a generous grant from State Farm, one of our major sponsors. Now we have redesigned the Leadership Council with all new members to better carry out our work in the community.

Our six-member council is made up of the following people:

David Weaver: Equality Through Collaboration • Mandi Hawke: LGBTQ Equality • Madelin Marchant: Equality Through Education • Shaikh Shafayat Mohamed: Religious Equality • Gabby Bendel: Racial Equality • Carolina Magnussen: Gender Equality

Each person brings to the Humanity Project decades of experience, knowledge and commitment to helping their fellow human beings. We invite you to learn more about them by reading their brief bios on our website’s new Leadership Council page: Go to the Leadership Council page.

We know that Carolina, Shafayat, Gabby, Madelin, Mandi and David will be great assets in the Humanity Project’s work to help create a society with “Equality For Each, Respect For All.” Like all the rest of us at this nonprofit organization, they believe our motto is more than just words — it offers a way to live our daily lives.