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One Human Family | |
This concept is nothing new in Key West, Florida, where diversity is an attribute that helps contribute to the uniqueness of our community. On October 17, 2000, the City Commission unanimously issued a proclamation making One Human Family the official philosophy of the city. In the proclamation, the commission announced that “the genie of human equality is out of the bottle,” and that prejudice and discrimination of any kind should not be allowed anywhere, by anyone. The Monroe County Commission followed suit with its unanimous endorsement of One Human Family in 2001. The One Human Family project is the vision of Key West artist, J.T. Thompson, who began by printing 2,000 simple black and white bumper stickers with One Human Family on them early in 2000. In the truest spirit of human unity, the stickers are always given away for free. To date, over 94,000 stickers have been given away to people around the world---from Poughkeepsie to Pakistan. As people become aware of the One Human Family initiative, other groups and governing bodies are adopting it. Thousands of individuals have requested and posted stickers in their hometowns. The Simon Weisenthal Museum in Los Angeles distributes the stickers to those who visit their international Holocaust Museums. Even the AFL-CIO in Dayton, Ohio’s General Motors plant used One Human Family as the centerpiece for their diversity training program which included approximately 4,000 autoworkers. J.T. has also taken One Human Family to middle schools in the Keys, and has been inspired by the response of children, many of whom comment later that they feel they can “do something positive to help change the world.” Thompson has been invited to attend the Gay Games in Sydney, Australia this November, to promote One Human Family to a global audience with 200,000 more stickers. Key West’s mayor, Jimmy Weekley, has invited the Lord Mayor of Sydney to officially adopt One Human Family as their official motto during the games as well. Because bumper stickers are always given away for free and the project has been so successful, a non-profit fund has been set up to underwrite the expenses of printing stickers. A full 100% of any contribution is used for printing and postage....no individual is ever paid. Donations may be sent to Key West Bank, c/o Phil Hogue, President, at 701 Whitehead Street, Key West, FL 33040. Checks should be made out to the One Human Family Foundation. While this initiative began in Key West, promoting the concept of everyone being an integral part of each other is especially crucial now. Could your city, organization or school be part of the One Human Family project? It’s easy to join, and information (including copies of the official proclamation), as well as free stickers are available by writing to: One Human Family, P.O. Box 972, Key West, FL 33041. You can also schedule interviews or request further information by contacting Phyllis May at pmaykeys@bellsouth.net or J.T. Thompson at: JT@designkw.com. As Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt that a small group of dedicated, concerned individuals can change the world. In fact, that’s the only thing that ever has.” | |
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