Singer now raising awareness of disabilities

By By Bob Martin, The Alabama Scene
A little girl who never smiles ‘cause I got braces on my teeth
And I know how it feels to cry myself to sleep
I’m that kid on every playground who’s always chosen last
A teenage mother trying to overcome my past
You don’t have to be my friend but is it to much to ask
Don’t laugh at me; don’t call me names
Don’t get your pleasure from my pain
In God’s eyes we’re all the same
Some day we’ll all have perfect wings
Don’t laugh at me.”
Those are the first lines of the song “Don’t Laugh at Me” written by Steve Seskin and Allen Shamblin and sung by Peter, Paul and Mary which has become the theme song for Operation Respect founded by Peter Yarrow of the folk trio in 2000. The 70-year-old entertainer says the past eight years have been the most rewarding of his life.
“There we sat, my beloved daughter, a singer-songwriter in her own right, with her hand in mine, tears running down our cheeks, listening to a song that told our hearts’ stories, recalling events that we had personally experienced or witnessed in the lives of others.
“When I heard that song I knew I had just discovered a song that could become an anthem of a movement to help children find their common sensitivity to the painful effects of disrespect, intolerance, ridicule, and bullying.”
At the luncheon last Friday Yarrow had almost the entire audience of hardened newspaper folks crying as he led us in “Don’t Laugh At Me” and some of the trio’s most popular tunes like “Blowing in the Wind, Puff the Magic Dragon” and “If I had a Hammer.”
Peter says he founded the program to promote the infusion of character education and social and emotional learning principles into school curricula. He has had enthusiastic responses to the song from educational groups such as the National Association of Elementary School Principals, Linda Lantieri, founding director of the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP), of Educators for Social Responsibility, to help build a character education program around the song.
This same connection has also inspired educators to take up the cause. To date, over 40,000 educators have participated in workshops throughout the United States. Read about the program at www.operationrespect.org.
Alabama publisher is new NNA president
John Stevenson, publisher of The Randolph Leader, is the new president of The National Newspaper Association and will bring the association’s annual meeting to Mobile next year.
Several Alabama newspaper folks traveled to Saint Paul to watch John be installed to head this large organization for the next year. He was accompanied by his wife Jennifer Chandler Stevenson and took over the reins of the group last Saturday.
Also attending were: Willie and Rhonda Gray of Washington County. Willie is the current president of the Alabama Press Association. Others attending were: Bo (an APA past president) and Jodie Bolton of Monroeville; Jim (an APA past president) and Suzanne Cox of Clarke County; Felicia Mason, executive director of the Alabama Press Association, Bethany Carr, also with the state association; and Bill Keller, former executive director of the APA.
Montgomery to Saint Paul was the first flight I have made in the past four that the Delta “Misconnection” out of Montgomery did not misconnect in Atlanta going or returning. Perhaps there is hope for decent airline service out of the state’s capital city.
Bob Martin is editor and publisher of The Montgomery Independent. E-mail him at: bob@montgomeryindependent.com