New Chapter for the Harry Potter Generation
The debut of the final film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in theaters early this morning signifies a new chapter for the Harry Potter generation. Rather than an end, fans like Harry Potter Alliance Executive Director Andrew Slack, see the release of the eighth movie as a new beginning, an opportunity to turn the lessons learned from Harry Potter into action. In an article for the CNN website Slack writes of the gifts that JK Rowling’s creations have given to millions of readers. “Reality is mysterious. And the reality is that a fantasy book aimed at children has forever changed writing, publishing, literature, music, sports, social media and social activism.”
Founded by Andrew Slack and Paul DeGeorge (from Wizard Rock phenomenon Harry and the Potters) The Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) is a non-profit organization, which according to its mission statement, has the goal of taking “an outside-of-the-box approach to civic engagement by using parallels from the Harry Potter books to educate and mobilize young people across the world toward issues of literacy, equality, and human rights.” HPA has connections to Rowling and several of the actors in the Harry Potter films, and for the past nine months the organization has embarked on a large scale Deathly Hallows Campaign, which addresses “seven horcruxes” or real world evils, including child slavery and the climate crisis.
“The reality is that Harry Potter has taught a generation to be creative, compassionate and courageous as we continue to love,” writes Slack. “The organization that I run, the Harry Potter Alliance, inspiriting fellow fans to act as Harry would in our world. We’ve sent five cargo planes to Haiti, donated more than 88,000 books across the world and funded the protection of civilians in Darfur and Burma.”
“Right now we are negotiating with the CEO of Warner Brothers to make all Harry Potter chocolate fair trade so that the Harry Potter brand is no longer associated with the practice of child slavery that is common in the cocoa trade. To date we have the signatures of more than 15,000 Harry Potter fans including four stars of the films.”
I love the Harry Potter Alliance! I volunteered for their “Wizard Rock the Vote” campaign in 2008. My friend and I helped 10 people register to vote at a Harry and the Potters show! The Weapon We Have is Love!!!