Ep110 The World As It Could Be, Sandy Sohcot & Ellen Sebastian Chang
“Human rights are held by all persons equally, universally and forever.
Human rights are the basic standards without which people cannot live in dignity.
These rights are inalienable. This means you cannot lose these rights just as you cannot cease to be a human.“
- The World As It Could Be
In this episode, we learn from Sandy Sohcot and Ellen Sebastian Chang of The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program. We also learn about a collaboration between TWAICB and Talaterra that will help environmental professionals from diverse fields advance their work within a human rights framework.
What circumstances led to the creation of The World As It Could Be?
How do Sandy and Ellen introduce people to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
How have they strengthened the relationship between community members and law enforcement?
How is The World As It Could Be and Talaterra collaborating to help environmental professionals view their environmental work through a human rights framework?
These questions will be answered in this episode.
We begin with Sandy explaining how The World As It Could Be, got its start.
(A quick note to our regular listeners. This episode is a little longer than our usual episode.)
LINKS
TWAICB Instagram (@TWAICB)
Register for Amplify Your Practice for People and the Planet (begins January 19, 2023).
Join Sandy Sohcot and Ellen Sebastian Change of The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program to amplify the impact of your environmental education practice.
In this workshop, you’ll consider your educational objectives and the impact your programs have on people and the planet. You will engage in conversation about the fundamental purpose of environmental education and reflect on how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights connects with your practice and environmental education overall.
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ABOUT SANDY SOHCOT
Director and originator of The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program. Sandy holds a California Lifetime Teaching Credential. In July 2001, Sandy became Executive Director of the Rex Foundation and served as in that capacity through 2013, to help renew the Foundation in the absence of direct Grateful Dead concert funding. In 2006, as part of her work, Sandy developed The World As It Could Be initiative to raise awareness about the human rights framework. The initial work evolved to become a full program with curriculum that includes the creative arts as a vital part of teaching about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since January 2014, Sandy has been Director of TWAICB, now a program of the Alameda County Deputy Sheriffs’ Activities League (DSAL). Sandy has been active in the small business and women’s communities of San Francisco. She co-founded the Women’s Leadership Alliance, and is past president of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. In July 1999, the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women honored Sandy with their Women Who Make a Difference Award. Sandy served as a Commissioner on the San Francisco Human Rights Commission 2004 – 2008.
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ABOUT ELLEN SEBASTIAN CHANG
Ellen Sebastian Chang (she/her), whose creative practice spans 45 years, is a storied figure in the performing arts, as a multi-disciplinary director (theater, opera, dance, and installation) arts educator, and lighting designer.
"I create as a director, producer, writer, and teaching artist. I began my theater practice as a lighting technician (Berkeley Stage Company) and designer. In 1981, I shifted to directing/writing/creating devised experimental performances with the premiere of Your Place is No Longer with Us which followed a ten-year-old biracial girl throughout a Victorian mansion in San Francisco. In 1986, I was the co-founder/co-artistic director of LIFE ON THE WATER, a national and internationally known presenting and producing organization at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center. In the 21st century, with Deep Waters Dance Theater I have co-created 14 Episodes of "House/Full of Blackwomen," in 2020 episode 14 called New Chitlin Circuitry: a reparations vaudeville; “How to Fall in Love in A Brothel” interactive installation, performances and short film with Sunhui Chang and Maya Gurantz commissioned by Catherine Clark Gallery; “A Hole In Space (Oakland Redux) created with Maya Gurantz connecting to Oakland neighborhoods via 24-hour video portal; Consulting Producer for “Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley” HBO and interviewee; “Fabulation” by Lynne Nottage Lorraine Hansberry Theater with Margo Hall and Daveed Diggs. Lost and Found Sound with The Kitchen Sisters. Since 2006 as the ongoing Creative Director and Teaching Artist for The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program (TWAICB) I co-created curriculum and a series of successful initiatives employing the creative arts to deepen learning about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and its principles. My perspective is an ongoing desire to engage creatively and collaboratively, to make works that connect us across disciplines, cultures, class, and break through our fears by challenging our learned beliefs. I have collaborated with and directed the works of KITKA, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, Eisa Davis, Youth Speaks, Holly Hughes, Word for Word, Center for Digital Story Telling, Fauxnique, Magic Theater, Lorraine Hansberry Theater, The Kitchen Sisters, Bill Talen, Anne Galjour, Felonious with One Ring Zero, Robert Karimi and George Coates Performance Works."
Between 2013-2017, she was the co-owner and events planner for the award-winning West Oakland restaurant FuseBOX, with co-owner and Chef Sunhui Chang.
She is currently serving as Resident Owner and Board Member for East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative/Advisor for Esther’s Orbit Room Project/Artist Housing.
She is a recipient of awards and grants from Creative Capital, MAP Fund, A Blade of Grass Fellowship in Social Engagement, Art Matters, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, NEA, MAP Fund, Creative Work Fund, California Arts Council, Sam Mazza Foundation and Zellerbach Family Community Arts Fund.
Diversity and Social/Human Justice Work through the Arts with Ellen Sebastian Chang
Fishing Lessons, a digital storytelling project in collaboration with StoryCenter
MUSIC:
So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License.
