ASHE debuts ‘Right of a Child’ music video for Int’l Human Rights Day
Published:Saturday | December 11, 2021 | 12:09 AMSade Gardner/Staff Reporter
“What are the rights of God’s children?” belted members of the ASHE Academy and Junior Department in their new music video for the single Rights of a Child.
The upbeat track, produced by Ottmar Campbell, sees the members highlighting the given rights of children across the world – including the rights to safety, education, food and shelter – in a sing-song way that its child target audience can easily digest. The visuals debuted at The ASHE Company’s 8 Cargill Avenue base in Kingston on Friday, which also marked International Human Rights Day.
Speaking to The Gleaner, principal at ASHE Academy & Junior Department, Taunia Flowers, said the music video was conceptualised in Child Month (May) this year. She added that the decision to focus on the rights of a child centred around discussions between teachers and children, where the latter shared often feeling dismissed by adults when it came to their issues and feelings.
ASHE has made youth empowerment and social development core areas of focus for more than 25 years and even had a musical production years ago dubbed Hush, Feel the Vibes, which addressed children’s rights. They hope the Rights of a Child song and music video will attract partnerships with appropriate entities, and as ASHE’s executive director Conroy Wilson said, “fill the airwaves with positive stuff”.
IMPORTANT PROJECT
The Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information are already on board. State minister in the former, Alando Terrelonge, highlighted the importance of the project.
“More than 80 per cent of the children in Jamaica experience some sort of physical, emotional or mental abuse,” he said. “Already we’ve had several children being killed in Jamaica this year, more recently the death of a little six-year-old girl in Central Kingston. Our children continue, notwithstanding the research that has been done… to suffer at the hands of other Jamaicans, usually parents, usually others close to them, and at some point, as a society, we have to say enough is enough. It is my hope that with the launch of this video, that more children will recognise and learn about the rights that they have and that more Jamaicans too will understand that our children have what we would call inalienable rights, which means they are owed to them.”
The event also saw the début of a 10-minute musical for the song Do Supm Yout to engage those aged 16 to 29. The piece was commissioned by the United Nations (UN) and the European Union as part of the 2021 International Human Rights Day activities, which focused on equality. The musical explores some of the UN’s sustainable development goals through immersive skits and performances, and the single Do Supm Yout reinforces the importance of not only knowing your rights, but activating them responsibly.
George Abualulof, senior human rights adviser to the United Nations country team, commended ASHE for both videos.
“These pieces reflect our duty to ensure young people’s voices are heard… . We at the United Nations in Jamaica congratulate ASHE for such a great initiative which provides a high level of visibility and opportunities for youth voices within Jamaica to be heard through music and culture.”
An ASHE event would be incomplete without a live performance, and its ensemble didn’t disappoint. They set the tone with the call-to-action of John Legend’s If You’re Out There and culminated with a medley of songs oozing hope and a better tomorrow, with selections like Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World and Jimmy Cliff’s You Can Get it If You Really Want.