At the start of the new millennium, jt thompson, a Key West artist,  decided to start a project to increase awareness of the inherent unity and equality of all people everywhere. The phrase “One Human Family” was born, and was soon appearing on thousands of free bumper stickers. By October 2000, the Key West City Commission unanimously adopted “One Human Family” as the island’s official philosophy, declaring that “all people everywhere are entitled to equal rights, dignity and respect.” They added “we want to share our unique perspective and simple words of hope, ‘One Human Family’, with our global neighbors, so others can find inspiration to grow beyond the artificial limitations of racism, nationalism, sexism, classism, monotheism, prejudice, homophobia and every other illusion used to try to separate us from all being equal. We acknowledge that the genie of human equality is now out of the bottle and that tyranny and oppression of any sort can never again be tolerated anywhere in the world by anyone.”

Shortly after that, the Monroe County Commission also adopted “One Human Family” as its official philosophy, as did the Conch Republic. Since then, scores of businesses (like Carnival Cruise Lines, General Electric Finance Corp. and Tropicana Products) have used “One Human Family” as the centerpiece of their diversity training programs. Schools and universities have included “One Human Family” as a part of their humanities studies. The Simon Weisenthal Center for Tolerance and the Holocaust Museums support the concept. And a half a million free “One Human Family” bumper stickers have been distributed to people from 95 nations worldwide.

An all-volunteer, non-profit group has been formed to continue distributing the free stickers. 100% of all contributions is used on stickers and postage, meaning every penny  goes into the project's awareness campaign, and nothing goes to any individual or overhead.

The “One Human Family” project has succeeded in increasing awareness and organizers note a visible increase in people using the words as a part of their daily vocabulary. Once that happens, it means people are starting to live with “One Human Family” in their hearts.

You can join the project by obtaining free stickers and displaying them proudly. You can help the project succeed by making sure no-one is discriminated against. If all kinds of people defended each other more, there would be less oppression. The example you make by how lovingly you live your life every day is vital to promoting unity. Many tell us the world is “us against them.” The truth is that there is no “them,” there is just “us,” and we are all one human family. The continued existence of our species may well depend on an understanding of that simple truth. There is possibly no greater gift we can give to future generations than a world where all people enjoy equal rights, dignity and respect.

FREE Bumper stickers are available by contacting JT Thompson at JT@DesignKW.com.

Gray and black t-shirts, with white lettering, are available at the T-Shirt Factory.  A portion of the proceeds go to the One Human Family Foundation.  The T-Shirt Factory is located at 316 Simonton Street, Key West, FL 33040.  Their phone is 305-292-2060.

Tax deductible financial contributions may be sent to P.O. Box 972, Key West, FL 33041.

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