Global Dignity Blog

Global Dignity Co-Founders and Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Give Closing Remarks on Dignity at Davos Annual Meeting

John Hope Bryant, Operation HOPE (HOPE) CEO and founder, traveled this week to meet with world leaders and corporate chiefs to participate in the 2009 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Bryant, along with fellow YGLs and Global Dignity (GD) co-founders, will join Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others in a special teaching session aimed at helping to solve world problems, while connecting with every person’s common need for respect and dignity.

Global Dignity co-founders H.R.H Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Professor Pekka Himanen, a leading philosopher and author, and “silver rights” entrepreneur John Bryant empowered and inspired more than 250 youth at the Swiss Alpine School, shaping their futures through dignity during the 39th Annual World Economic Forum. Dignity Day, Davos also featured global leaders Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Finnish President Tarja Halonen, business mogul Richard Branson, and Miss Universe South Africa 2008, Tansey Coetzee, and 40 YGLs. The session was further enhanced by a performance from music icon and international humanitarian, Peter Gabriel.

Undeniably, the movement for Global Dignity has swelled with the growing support of communities beyond the YGL and WEF. In October of 2008 the first Global Dignity around-the-world was held, with some 16 countries, in addition to a message from astronaut Richard Garriott as he circled the global from other space, each site participating simultaneously in a lesson on the importance and the interdependence of dignity and respect for others and in our own lives. Since Global Dignity was conceived in 2005, thousands of students around the globe have been taught and began to share the Five Dignity Principles.

Bryant, who also sits on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council for Financial Empowerment, was asked to participate as a presenter during the Annual Meeting, and was invited to make comments for the closing ceremony. Bryant shared his ideas on the new catalyst for inner faith dialogue, “At the end of the day, as a result of this global economic crisis, there will be more legislation and more regulation, but there will not be a mortgage police, or consumer lending police, watching over individuals and families as they make the most critical and pressing decision of their financial life. Individuals must become their own best protector of their family’s assets and financial well-being. Accordingly, the only mid-to-long term strategy with “legs” and real potential for change is a massive cultural shift wherein financial literacy becomes a part of the basic global value system. It is critical to incorporate financial literacy education and financial literacy empowerment, or what I call financial literacy 3.0, into future economic reform discussion and recommendations, to ensure that individuals have the tools to empower themselves. Confident, informed individuals will be the foundation of long term global stability, and financial literacy is the path forward to sustainable levels of consumer confidence.”

His work as founder of Operation HOPE and as a voice for the underserved landed Bryant a role as vice chairman of the bi-partisan U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, appointed by then President George W. Bush in 2008. The Council now proudly serves the current Administration and America’s 44th President, Barack Obama. The work of Bryant and HOPE has also been highlighted by Congresswoman Diane E. Watson, PhD, in House Resolution 65, recognizing work to “raise awareness about the importance of financial and economic literacy,” particularly in these economic times. Through his nonprofit, Operation HOPE, Bryant has empowered more than one million people with “silver rights,” helping them to move up the ladder to the next level of financial independence.

Record numbers of participants from business, government and civil society converged in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland this session, for one of the most important Annual Meetings ever held by the World Economic Forum. The five day meeting, themed “Shaping the Post-Crisis World” addressed solutions for current world challenges such as climate change and the restructuring of global institutions and financial architecture.

Shezad Rokerya addresses a group of students at Foshay Learning Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

John, Thank you again for bringing us together in what was clearly a very fulfilling experience for those of us who had the privilege to teach a class in Dignity on Oct 20th in LA. After the YGLs’ brief comments to the students and John’s electrifying and motivating remarks we left the main auditorium and proceeded to our respective classes.. I was approached by a young student, Andre who was about 11 years old. He said “Sir, I very much enjoyed your speech” in which I had very briefly spoken about indignity the opposite of dignity, through what I saw in a far away land where students would sit in a 6X6 mud brick room, with no electricity, no door, furniture, books and wait until the teacher would arrive carrying one book for their class to begin. As we see in the basic dignity principles that “A dignified life means an opportunity to fulfill one’s potential, which is based on having a human level of health care, education, income and security”. Andre wanted to know how he could help them and if he could give me some money to give to those students, I told him that he was showing dignity for others and he smiled. Later in our class, a young student spoke about how she saw “two mothers arguing and one mother dropped her baby…she felt that the innocent baby was entitled to more dignity”…another student said that his “father was an alcoholic and now that he had stopped, he was showing more dignity to his family”

Many children spoke about their dreams about becoming Artists, Firemen or just going to college.
I thanked these children for the opportunity to look into their eyes, hear their thoughts and see the future that they will build, for which we have so much hope.

All the best,
Shezad Rokerya

Wilmot Allen addresses a group of students at Foshay Learning Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

GLOBAL DIGNITY DAY – LOS ANGELES

Global Dignity Day Los Angeles took place at a school, the Foshay Learning Center (FLC), located in south Los Angeles. FLC (http://www.foshaylc.org/) is a college preparatory school, serving nearly 3,500 students in grades Kindergarten-12.

FLC is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and one of a handful of LA schools which formed a partnership with the University of Southern California to ensure their success. LAUSD is the second largest school district in the United States, trailing only New York City. The district faces tremendous challenges in educational achievement – large class sizes, academic achievement gaps relative to standards established by the state of California, declining physical infrastructure and a significant number of students come from low income households.

As a “Distinguished California School” based upon its high academic achievement, Foshay is a unique school. In a school district where youth who look like them are divided by gang affiliation, these Latino and black students are committed to learning and life achievement. So it was not surprising that they were readily engaged by Global Dignity Co-Founder, John Bryant, during his introduction of the meaning of dignity and why it mattered for them. YGLs Andrew Cohen, Shezad Rokerya and I each led a group of eighth-graders in a class discussion of dignity.

This intellectual engagement continued in my class of 25 students. We began a conversation about the importance of believing in our own ideas and the power of our ideas in guiding our words and behavior towards others. After a student wrote the 5 Dignity Principals on the chalkboard, students defined each principle in their own words and gave examples from real-life experiences to illustrate their understanding of each principle. We then talked about how famous individuals, such as Cesar Chavez, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa, created a legacy of dignity in their service to society and how each of us can follow in their steps. Of these four individuals, Dr. King was best known, but all were respected. In our discussion of dignity, the students made the connection between believing in and respecting themselves and offering this same respect to others as a foundation for dignity praxis. Given how rampant the gang lifestyle is among some of the peers, this understanding of dignity was significant. We ended the session by asking 8 students how they intended to show dignity based upon our discussion. The majority of them stated that not responding to negative or potentially hurtful behavior of their peers in the same way was one way in which they would practice dignity. Others shared that treating their parents and family with more respect and honor was how they would show dignity.

This was truly a great experience for both the YGLs and students. I look forward to the next opportunity.

Wilmot Allen

Andrew Cohen addresses a group of students at Foshay Learning Center in Los Angeles, California, USA

John Hope Bryant address a group of students at a college preparatory school in Los Angeles