Songs of Compassionate Revolution. The musical expression of Raffi's child honoring philosophy.

13 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Modern Folk, POP: Folky Pop



Details:
RAFFI RENAISSAANCE 2006

The 2006 âRaffi Renaissanceâ is in full swing with a new book and this CD release.

In the groundbreaking anthology Child Honouring: How To Turn This World Around (ed. Raffi Cavoukian & Sharna Olfman, Praeger, 2006), luminaries from a number of disciplines join the call for a new covenant with the worldâs children.

Resisto Dancing, Raffiâs âhip hopeâ CD of inspirational songs for educators, decision makers, parents, and beluga grads, broadcasts the Covenant and its Principles with an infectious blend of world rhythms, sung with passion and wit.

With Child Honouring, Raffi Cavoukian comes to the world stage as a catalyst for change at a defining point in human historyâwith an idea whose time has come.
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RAFFI CAVOUKIAN is the founder of Child Honouring, a children-first paradigm for global restoration.

He is a renaissance man known to millions simply as Raffi: a renowned Canadian troubadour, record producer, systems thinker, author, entrepreneur and ecology advocate, once called âthe most popular childrenâs entertainer in the western worldâ (Washington Post). President of Troubadour Music, among the most successful independent record labels, Raffi was a pioneer in music for children and families: his CDs, tapes, videos, and DVDs have sold over 14 million copies in Canada and the US, and his books, more than 3 million copies. A generation saw him in concert and grew up singing Down by the Bay and Raffiâs signature song Baby Beluga. âBeluga âgradsâ often tell him theyâre now raising their own kids with his songs.

A recipient of the Order of Canada and the United Nationsâ Earth Achievement Award, Raffi has recently been awarded two honourary degrees: Dr of Music, from the University of Victoria, and Dr of Letters, from the University of British Columbia. He is associated with many NGOs, including the Council of Human Development, the Darwin Project Council, the Center for Partnership Studies, the Center for Childrenâs Health and the Environment, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.

In his 3 decade career, Raffi has refused all commercial endorsement offers, and his triple-bottom-line company has never directly advertised or marketed to children. He is a passionate advocate for a childâs right to live free of commercial exploitation. Recently, he sent an open letter to Rogers Wireless urging they stop marketing cellphones to kids, and turned down a Baby Beluga film proposal laden with exploitative advertising and merchandising.

Raffi has become a âglobal troubadourâ, lecturing and networking to help create a viable future: a restorative, child-friendly world for ourselves and for those to come. His original philosophy, Child Honouring, is gaining support among eminent thinkers as a systemic remedy for addressing the major issues of our time. His Covenant for Honouring Children is widely circulated among child development, education, ecological economics and environmental health circles (available for download at Raffinews.com).

Here is a brief sample of Raffiâs recent advocacy:

His November 2001 keynote address (in both word and song) in Anaheim, CA, before 7,000 teachers at the National Association for the Education of Young Children conference was a resounding success.

In 2002 in New York, Raffi sang Turn This World Around, his musical tribute to former South African president Nelson Mandela. âWe must turn this world aroundâfor the childrenâ, Mandela had said, at the launch of his 2000 campaign Say Yes for Children (with Graça Machel and UNICEF).

In October 2003, he wrote and recorded Where We All Belong, in support of the Earth Charter, a declaration of interdependence born at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio (which he attended).

Twice he traveled to Dharamsala, India, where he sang at the Tibetan Childrenâs Village and met with the Dalai Lama. During the Dalai Lamaâs visit to Vancouver in the spring of 2004, Raffi performed âSong for the Dalai Lama,â his original composition based on a Tibetan sutra, accompanied by a 90-voice childrenâs choir and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

In 2005 Raffi presented Child Honouring in word and song at Torontoâs IdeaCity conference, Bostonâs Berklee College of Music, the Rethinking Development conference in Antigonish Nova Scotia, and at Dr Sharna Olfmanâs Symposium on Children and Society in Pittsburgh. A Colloquium on Child Honouring was held at the University of Victoria where the Covenant for Honouring Children is used in teacher training programs.

This album is both a companion to the anthology, Child Honouring: How To Turn This World Around, and the musical expression of Raffiâs Child Honouring philosophyâa systemic remedy for the unprecedented threats to life at a defining moment in human history. The title song, written for Beluga Grads, is a blend of hip hop, Dylan, Maslow, Shakespeare and more.

âHealthy Individuation requires resisting unhealthy enculturation.â
Abraham Maslow

"A 9 year path birthed this CD and the book, Child Honouring: How To Turn This World Around. In the spirit of âtunzaâ (Swahili, âto treat with care and affectionâ), these songs give voice to a philosophy I call Child Honouring. Luminaries such as the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Riane Eisler and Jane Goodall inspired the eclectic blend of styles and rhythms inviting you to embrace a new Covenant: as Mandela said, to âturn this world around , for the children.â Together we can singâand dance!âa new paradigm into being: a peacemaking culture, a child-friendly world, a world that honours its young."
Raffi Cavoukian