Jack Healey - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Jack Healey is an American human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

activist and pioneer

Innovator

An innovator in a general sense, is a person or an organization who is one of the first to introduce into reality something better than before. That often opens up a new area for others and achieves an innovation.-History:...

. A leader in the human rights movement for over 47 years, Jack has helped move the topic of human rights from closed-door diplomatic negotiations to widespread awareness, public debate, and direct citizen action. Colleagues credit him with making human rights a major focus of governments, advocacy organizations, and individuals around the world.

Called "Mr. Human Rights" by U.S. News and World Report, Healey’s focus has been on inspiring the youth to support non-violent activism that would push back oppressive governments and societies. He has brought human rights to the global stage by his creative use of media and enlistment of talent as advocates.

Today, Jack heads the Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

based Human Rights Action Center (HRAC), a qualified Non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

His current projects are: printing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into all passports and bringing Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to power in Burma. Burma: It Can’t Wait.

Background

Born into an Irish-American Catholic family as the youngest of eleven children, Healey grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His mother was a teacher and his father was a metallurgist at Superior Steel, a steel rolling plant located in Pittsburgh.

He studied at St. Fidelis Seminary for high school and college and received a masters degree from Catholic University. He was a Franciscan monk for 10 years and a Catholic priest for four years. He left the priesthood in 1968 and began work as Director of the Young World Development Program at 'Freedom from Hunger Foundation' USA for five years.

At the 'Young World Development Program', Healey produced over 300 Walks for Development. 12 million dollars were raised from these walks and given to national and international non-profits, including Meals for Millions, The Free Clinic, and Freedom Farm Co-op of Fannie Lu Hamer. They also funded Catholic Relief Service, Church World Service, Heifer, and Oxfam International and other international non-profit organizations. These walks became the model for future walk-a-thons.

From 1973 to 1976, Healey worked at the Center For Community Change in Washington, D.C. At the center, Healey helped to build the Binder Schweitzer Hospital in Mexico and co-directed the Dick Gregory World Hunger Run across the United States. Dick Gregory won the Dawson Award from the Black Caucus for this run. Healey, along with George O’Hara, recruited Muhammed Ali to join Dick’s Hunger Run.

From 1977 until 1981 Healey directed the Peace Corps

Peace Corps

The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...

in Lesotho

Lesotho

Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...

. Healey was one of the few Peace Corps

Peace Corps

directors asked to stay in the same country for his second tour. During his time as director of the Peace Corps, he was also a constant presence on many major morning, afternoon and evening shows such as Oprah

The Oprah Winfrey Show

The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....

, 60 Minutes

60 Minutes

60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....

and Nightline.

After finishing his tour with the Peace Corps, he worked as the Director of Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

USA for 12 years. His work at Amnesty brought human rights to the forefront of popular culture by pioneering new ways to deliver the message of human rights to new generations. He helped bring young people into the human rights movement by organizing concerts with well known artists, and by reaching out to high schools and colleges through motivational speeches.

Healey has received 7 honorary doctorates and spoken in over a thousand colleges and high schools. He has produced 3 music albums and Douye, a documentary on Aung San Suu Kyi. Additionally, Healey worked as a consultant to both the Center of Victims of Torture in Haiti, and to comedian Dick Gregory

Dick Gregory

Richard Claxton "Dick" Gregory is an American comedian, social activist, social critic, writer, and entrepreneur....

for many years on the topic of world hunger.

Healey helped to start the Reebok Human Rights Foundation, which hands out the Reebok Human Rights Award

Reebok Human Rights Award

The Reebok Human Rights Award honours activists under the age of 30 who fight for human rights through non-violent means. Each year, the award is given to four or five individuals. Each receives a grant of US$50,000 that must be used to support their human rights work. The awards are underwritten...

each year, and two other non-profits, Witness (human rights group)

Witness (human rights group)

WITNESS is a human rights non-profit organization based out of Brooklyn, NY. Their mission statement is "WITNESS uses video to open the eyes of the world to human rights violations...

and Equality Now

Equality Now

Equality Now is a non-governmental organization founded in 1992 whose stated purpose is to protect the human rights of women around the world. The group provides an international framework for spreading awareness of issues and providing support to local grassroots groups working to address issues...

, both of which have been very successful.

Healey gained attention in 1990 when he worked with other human rights activists to physically block the entrance to a UN Human Rights conference set to take place in Vienna, because the UN refused to seat the Dalai Lama. In 1992, Healey spoke out against the US government when Haitian refugees fleeing harm from a dictatorial government were turned away from the United States border. Healey campaigned to free Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

Current work

Healey has created Human Rights Action Center, a qualified non-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Washington, D.C.

Mission:

The Human Rights Action Center is a non-profit based out of Washington, D.C. that works on the issues of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...

and Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...

.

Using the arts and new technologies, they use creativity to develop new strategies to stop human rights abuses.

5 Main Goals:

1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (more under Media)

Because less than 5% of the world knows of the existence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

, and less than 1% has read the Declaration, HRAC campaigns to get governments to print this document into all passports. Healey believes that if the declaration is in all passports, it becomes accessible to all citizens of the world, and can be used in the fight to extend basic human rights to every man, woman and child.

Each year, Healey organizes events around the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

. HRAC produced the 50th anniversary concert for the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

. At this concert, artists Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...

and Luciano Pavarotti

Luciano Pavarotti

right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...

performed. For the 60th anniversary, last year, HRAC produced an animated version of this document as a way to connect with young people online.

2. Rightfully restore Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi

to power in Burma. (more under Media Projects)

In 1991 Jack met with Michael Aris

Michael Aris

Michael Vaillancourt Aris was a leading Western authority on Bhutanese, Tibetan, and Himalayan culture, and wrote numerous books on Buddhism in those regions. He was the husband of Burmese opposition politician Aung San Suu Kyi....

(husband of Aung San Suu Kyi) and promised his help in working to free Suu Kyi. In 1999 Healey met with Aung San Suu Kyi and again promised his support for her campaign. He works in conjunction with the US Campaign for Burma. Together they are raising global awareness about Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy

National League for Democracy

The National League for Democracy is a Burmese political party founded on 27 September 1988. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi serves as its General Secretary. The party won a substantial parliamentary majority in the 1990 Burmese general election. However, the ruling military junta...

and the people of Burma who are non-violently fighting against the power of the military Junta

Military junta

A junta or military junta is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish language junta meaning committee, specifically a board of directors...

.

HRAC's Jack Healey also speaks regularly at forums for this cause and he serves as senior advisor to the US Campaign for Burma. In 2008, to promote the Burma: It Can’t Wait campaign and address Cyclone Nargis, Healey organized a press conference at the United Nations with actress/director Anjelica Huston

Anjelica Huston

Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...

.

HRAC also sponsored a concert for the Burmese cause in Bangkok

Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

in 1999 featuring Glen Phillips

Glen Phillips

Glen Phillips is a songwriter, lyricist, singer and guitarist. He is best known as the singer and songwriter of 1990s alternative rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket.-Personal life:...

, Raven Simone and Breeze.

3. Create innovative, forceful, effective solutions to assist victims in protecting themselves.

In Northern Ireland, in 1995, Healey created the organization Families for Families, an organization that protected Irish families from police brutality by linking them directly with American families who pledged to bring media attention to any mistreatment of the Irish family by police.

4. Support growing human rights groups all over the world

HRAC arranged for the financing of rebuilding a factory in Bosnia, which now employs over 900 women.

HRAC has worked with the Human Rights Center in Haiti as a consultant, preparing a human rights campaign strategy for the organization, evaluating the effectiveness of the Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims in Haiti.

HRAC created Families for Families, an organization based in Ireland that protected families from the terrors of police brutality.

5. Create a fund to get people out of harm's way in exceptional human rights abuse cases.

Concerts/Film/Albums

1976: Dick Gregory

Dick Gregory

Richard Claxton "Dick" Gregory is an American comedian, social activist, social critic, writer, and entrepreneur....

’s World Hunger Run

To highlight world hunger, Jack worked as Advisor to Dick Gregory on his World Hunger Run from Los Angeles to New York, beginning on July 4. Dick Gregory won the Dawson Award from the Black Causus for this run.
1986: A Conspiracy of Hope Tour

This 2 week tour for human rights included musicians Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...

, U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

, Lou Reed

Lou Reed

Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...

, Joan Baez

Joan Baez

Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....

, Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...

, Miles Davis

Miles Davis

Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...

, Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

, The Police

The Police

The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...

, Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....

, Santana

Santana (band)

Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...

, the Hooters

The Hooters

The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...

, Third World

Third World

The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...

and Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof

Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...

.

Traveling to San Francisco, Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, Denver, Atlanta, Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, and Giants Stadium in New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, this tour furthered awareness of Amnesty International in the US, raised $3 million, and brought in 45,000 new US members within a month. MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

and Fox Network both ran the last show internationally for a period of eleven hours, and the show won a national award and brought the show into the colleges and high schools of the United States. Because of the success of the show, Healey was recognized by MTV as humanitarian of the year. The tour was co-produced by Bill Graham

Bill Graham (promoter)

Bill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...

, Mary Daly and Jack Healey.

1988: Human Rights Now! Tour

In 1988, for the 40th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, Healey organized the 6-week Human Rights Now! World tour to celebrate achievements of the human rights movement and to introduce the idea of basic human rights protection through the power of the media to millions of people worldwide. Over a million people filled the stadiums, and crowded into fields for concerts in South America, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. The concert was broadcast to over one billion people worldwide. The tour covered 18 countries in six weeks, and won the Pollster Reader’s Award for number of viewers, beating out Michael Jackson’s worldwide tour. HBO covered this show on a 3-hour special. This show tripled the membership of Amnesty International worldwide.

Musicians included Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

, Sting, Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

, Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...

, and Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...

1990: From A Hug to a Hope Concert

As a celebration of the human rights victory in Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

after the fall of dictator Pinochet, Healey organized a two day concert with Sting, Peter Gabriel, Sinéad O'Connor

Sinéad O'Connor

Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....

, Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....

, Ruben Blades

Rubén Blades

Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...

, Wynton Marsalis and New Kids on the Block

New Kids on the Block

New Kids on the Block are an American boy band from Boston, Massachusetts, assembled in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr. The band currently consists of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood.New Kids on the Block enjoyed success in the late 1980s and...

.

The show took place in a stadium previously used as a prison for political dissidents, and a home to some of the many tortures and executions that took place under Pinochet’s rule. Families of the victims of the prison attended the concert, and celebrated the great victory for the Chilean people and for human rights activists around the world.

This live show was broadcast 10 hours a day for 2 days to all of Latin America, Mexico and Spain. As a result of the concert, Jackson Browne was able to free two political prisoners still jailed in Chile.

1991:'Free to Laugh'

In 1991, Healey produced this three hour show on Lifetime in honor of women's rights. Comedy and music by Woody Harrelson

Woody Harrelson

Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...

, Lily Tomlin

Lily Tomlin

Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedienne, writer, and producer. Tomlin has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960's when she began a career as a stand up comedian and became a featured performer on television's Laugh-in...

, Vanessa L. Williams

Vanessa L. Williams

Vanessa Lynn Williams is an American pop-R&B recording artist, producer, dancer, model, actress and showgirl. In 1983, she became the first woman of African-American descent to be crowned Miss America, but a scandal generated by her having posed for nude photographs published in Penthouse magazine...

, Roseanne Barr

Roseanne Barr

Roseanne Cherrie Barr is an American actress, comedian, writer, television producer and director. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy at clubs before gaining fame for her role in the sitcom Roseanne. The show was a hit and lasted nine seasons, from 1988 to 1997...

, Anjelica Huston

Anjelica Huston

, Daryl Hannah

Daryl Hannah

Daryl Christine Hannah is an American film actress. After making her screen debut in 1978, Hannah starred in a number of Hollywood films throughout the 1980s, notably Blade Runner, Splash, Wall Street and Roxanne and Kill Bill.-Early life:Hannah was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Susan...

and Tom Arnold

Tom Arnold (actor)

Thomas Dwaine "Tom" Arnold is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in many films, perhaps most notably True Lies . He was the host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period for four years.-Early life:...

. Produced by Bob Meyerwitz, this program was nominated for an CableACE Award

CableACE Award

The CableACE Award was an award that was given from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in American cable television programming...

1999: Bangkok Concert for ASSK

This show was produced in support of Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi

.

The 8/8/88 Uprising in Burma was a national revolution demanding democracy. It took place on August 8, 1988. This show took place on September 9, 1999 (9.9.99). The emphasis on the date was a reminder to the military that the world was carefully watching.

Raven Simone headlined the show.

2001: Seattle UN F.A.O. Groundwork

Healey and Mel Chikone CHECK produced an International Concert Series to Support the FAO

Fão

Fão is a town in Esposende Municipality in Portugal....

/UN Global Anti-Hunger Campaign. LOOK UP ALL ARTISTS Artists included R.E.M.

R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

, Joe Strummer

Joe Strummer

John Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...

, Michael Franti

Michael Franti

Michael Franti is an American poet, musician, and composer. He is the creator and lead vocalist of Michael Franti & Spearhead, a band that blends hip hop with a variety of other styles including funk, reggae, jazz, folk, and rock...

& Spearhead, Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...

, Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette

Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...

, Dave Matthews

Dave Matthews

David John "Dave" Matthews is a South African–born American musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band...

, Femi Kuti

Femi Kuti

Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician and the eldest son of afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti....

, Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...

, Maná

Maná

Maná is a pop rock band from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, whose career has spanned more than three decades. They have earned three Grammy Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards Latin America, five Premios Juventud awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards and 13 Premios Lo...

, The Wallflowers

The Wallflowers

The Wallflowers is a rock band from Los Angeles, California, fronted by Jakob Dylan. Formed in 1989 and originally known as The Apples, the ensemble has gone through numerous personnel changes with Dylan the only constant....

, The Blind Boys of Alabama

The Blind Boys of Alabama

The Blind Boys of Alabama are a gospel group from Alabama that first formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind at Talladega, Alabama in 1939. The three main vocalists of the group and their drummer/percussionist are all blind....

, Joe Strummer

Joe Strummer

and The Mescaleros

The Mescaleros

The Mescaleros were the backing band for Joe Strummer, formed in 1999, which went on to make three albums prior to Strummer's death in 2002. Many of the band members were gifted multi-instrumentalists...

, Artis the Spoonman

Artis the Spoonman

Artis the Spoonman is an American street performer from Seattle, Washington, who uses spoons as a musical instrument....

and many more.

2008: Burma: It Can’t Wait
Healey partnered with the US Campaign for Burma and Fanista.com to create a revolutionary human rights media advocacy campaign in support of Aung San Suu Kyi and her cause. Over the course of 30 days, the world of actors, artists, musicians, soccer, and others responded to the need to tell the public stories about Burma. This campaign, unlike most non-profit campaigns, addressed Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi through story-telling, veering away from the traditional Public Service Announcement

Public service announcement

A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...

.

50,000 people joined the US Campaign for Burma as a result of this campaign. They continue to be up on YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

and on the US Campaign for Burma’s website.

Artists involved include: Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell

John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...

, Sarah Silverman

Sarah Silverman

Sarah Kate Silverman is a Jewish American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion....

, Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...

, Woody Harrelson

Woody Harrelson

Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...

, James Cameron

James Cameron

James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...

, Judd Apatow

Judd Apatow

Judd Apatow is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is well known for his work in comedy films, especially for films he has been involved with throughout the latter half of the 2000s. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, a film production company that also developed the...

, Billy Baldwin

Billy Baldwin

Billy Baldwin may refer to:*Billy Baldwin *William Baldwin, American actor*Bill Baldwin, science fiction author*Bill Baldwin , English footballer/soccer player-See also:*William Baldwin...

, Hank Azaria

Hank Azaria

Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...

, Michelle Krusiec

Michelle Krusiec

Michelle J. Krusiec born October 2, 1974 in Fallon, Nevada, is an American actress of Taiwanese ancestry.Krusiec was recruited to be one of six globe-trotting travel reporters for the Discovery Channel new series called Travelers...

, Tila Tequila, Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian

Kimberly Noel "Kim" Kardashian is an American socialite, television personality, model, actress and businesswoman. She is known for the E! reality series that she shares with her family—Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and its spin-offs including Kourtney and Kim Take New York...

, Damian Marley

Damian Marley

Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley is a Jamaican reggae artist who has won three Grammy awards. Damian is the youngest son of Bob Marley....

, Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...

, Felicity Huffman

Felicity Huffman

Felicity Kendall Huffman is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is known for her role as executive producer Dana Whitaker on the ABC television show Sports Night , which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination, and as hectic supermom Lynette Scavo on the ABC show Desperate...

, Ellen Page

Ellen Page

Ellen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...

, Joseph Fiennes

Joseph Fiennes

Joseph Fiennes is an English film and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayals of William Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love, Sir Robert Dudley in Elizabeth, Commisar Danilov in Enemy at the Gates, Martin Luther in Luther, Merlin in Camelot, and his portrayal of Mark Benford in the...

, Jason Schwartzman

Jason Schwartzman

Jason Francesco Schwartzman is an American actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Rushmore, Spun, I Heart Huckabees, Shopgirl, Marie Antoinette, The Darjeeling Limited, Funny People, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World...

, Eddie Izzard

Eddie Izzard

Edward John "Eddie" Izzard is a British stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime...

, Jorja Fox

Jorja Fox

Jorja-An Fox , is an American actress, musician and songwriter. She first came to prominence as a guest star on the television drama ER, portraying the recurring role of Dr. Maggie Doyle from 1996 to 1999. This was followed by another critical success in the recurring role of Secret Service Agent...

, Eric Szmanda

Eric Szmanda

Eric Kyle Szmanda is an Polish American actor. He portrays Greg Sanders in the television crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a role he has held since the show began in 2000.-Early life and education:...

, Anjelica Huston

Anjelica Huston

, Famke Janssen

Famke Janssen

Famke Beumer Janssen is a Dutch actress and former fashion model. She is known for playing the villainous Bond girl Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye and Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men film series .- Early life and education :...

, Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone

Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...

, Steven Seagal

Steven Seagal

Steven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...

, Norman Lear

Norman Lear

Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude...

, Tich Naht Hahn, Brett Dennen

Brett Dennen

Brett Dennen is a folk/pop singer and songwriter from Northern California.-Biography:Brett Dennen attended UC Santa Cruz from 2000–2004, where he was a student at Kresge College....

, Matisyahu

Matisyahu

Matthew Paul Miller , better known by his Hebrew name and stage name Matisyahu, is an American Hasidic Jewish reggae and alternative rock musician....

, Giovanni Ribisi

Giovanni Ribisi

Giovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar...

, Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona is a retired Argentine football player and widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting...

, Mana

Mana

Mana is an indigenous Pacific islander concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and inanimate objects. The word is a cognate in many Oceanic languages, including Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian....

, Julie Benz

Julie Benz

Julie M. Benz is an American actress, best known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and as Rita Bennett on Dexter, for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television...

, Eva Longoria

Eva Longoria

Eva Jacqueline Longoria is an American actress, best known for portraying Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives...

, Davood Roostaei, Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....

, Wallace Langham

Wallace Langham

James Wallace Langham II is an American actor. He currently plays the role of David Hodges in the American crime drama television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.-Film career:...

, Jason Biggs

Jason Biggs

Jason Matthew Biggs is an American actor who is best known for his role as Jim Levenstein in the American Pie series of teen comedy films.-Personal life:...

, and Jenny Mollen

Jenny Mollen

Jenny Mollen is an American actress known for her portrayal of Nina Ash on the television series Angel.-Personal life:Mollen was born in Phoenix, Arizona...

.

Present: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Human Rights Action Center just put out an animated version of this document written by Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...

60 years ago. The animation, which is already in 5 different languages, is currently being translated into Persian

Persian language

Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

and Icelandic.

The newest addition to the campaign is an image of Aung San Suu Kyi created by world renowned artist Shepard Fairey, who created the iconic image of Obama that so helped the campaign to take hold among young Americans.

Films

2005:'DOUYE!' (Our Cause) - A 3o minute documentary on Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi.
'KEEPER OF THE FLAME'
Jim Carrey for Burma - The CALL TO ACTION
Burma: It Can’t Wait
Aung San Suu Kyi Animation

Albums

1991: Punks for Human Rights with Joe Strummer

Generations One: A Punk Look at Human Rights

This CD compilation is a tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt

, who led the United Nations to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Generation one features tracks by Electric Dog House, band by The Clash

The Clash

The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

singer/song-writer/guitarist Joe Strummer, Green Day

Green Day

Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...

, Bad Brains

Bad Brains

Bad Brains is an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1977. They are widely regarded as among the pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members objected to this term to describe their music. They are also an adept reggae band, while later recordings featured elements of...

, and Lagwagon

Lagwagon

Lagwagon is an American punk rock band originally from Goleta, just outside Santa Barbara, California. They formed in 1990 and went on hiatus and reunited several times over the years...

.

'2004 For the Lady

For the Lady

For The Lady is a benefit CD set dedicated to freeing Aung San Suu Kyi, the then-imprisoned Burmese opposition leader, and the people of Burma, released by Rhino Records on October 26, 2004. Sale proceeds of the double CD set go to the U.S...

The Human Rights Action Center and Lock Bingham produced this album for the US Campaign for Burma. 27 major musicians united on a two-CD set to support freedom for 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi and the courageous people of Burma. Artists include Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

, R.E.M.

R.E.M.

, Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne

Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...

, Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, guitarist, poet, and songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums, and is widely considered a feminist icon.-Biography:...

, Damien Rice

Damien Rice

Damien Rice is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion....

, Coldplay

Coldplay

Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

, Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...

, Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

, Sting, U2

, Bright Eyes, Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...

, Lili Haydn

Lili Haydn

Lili Haydn is a violinist, vocalist, composer, guitarist, and actress. As a child, she pursued a career as an actress; at age eight she discovered the violin and began to focus on classical music. By the time Haydn was fifteen, she had played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.After graduating from...

, Natalie Merchant

Natalie Merchant

Natalie Anne Merchant is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She joined the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and left it to begin her solo career in 1993.-Early life:...

, Mana

Mana

, Rebecca Fanya, Ben Harper

Ben Harper

Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several continents...

, The Nightwatchman

The Nightwatchman

The Nightwatchman is the alter-ego and solo act of Rage Against the Machine, Street Sweeper Social Club and former Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello...

, Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...

, Travis

Travis (band)

Travis are a post-Britpop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Fran Healy , Dougie Payne , Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose...

, Guster

Guster

Guster is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 1991, the group is known for its live performances and humor, founding members Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel came about to begin practice sessions while attending Tufts University in Medford,...

, Hourcast, Indigo Girls

Indigo Girls

The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...

, Better than Ezra

Better Than Ezra

Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock trio based in New Orleans, Louisiana.-Formation and early success:Better Than Ezra was formed in 1988 by its four original members - vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin; Joel Rundell, the lead guitarist; bassist Tom Drummond; and drummer, Cary...

, Matchbox Twenty

Matchbox Twenty

Matchbox Twenty is an American rock band, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995...

, and Mun Awng

Mun Awng

Mun Awng, b. 1960, is a Kachin singer, song writer and pro-democracy activist. Awng was born in the Kachin State in north of Burma to a small Christian minority. His Christian name was Dennis Daws, a name he later changed. Awng became a popular singer and musician in Burma during the 1980s...

. All proceeds from the CD benefit the efforts of the US Campaign for Burma.

Groundwork

Groundwork is an album sold in Starbucks that included artists from the successful concert in Seattle in 2001. It raised money to end world hunger, and to fund small grassroots organizations around the world. The concert and album led to the formation of the organization Growing Connection, which sponsors schools worldwide to grow their own food.

Awards

(among others)

• Fox News Bill Graham Award

• Fox News Elvis Presley Award

• House of Blues Martin Luther King Award

• MTV Humanitarian of the Year

• Pollster Tour of the Year Award (given for the success of the 1988 Human Rights Now Tour)

Background

Current work

Concerts/Film/Albums

Films

Albums

Awards

Further reading