From Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marlo-thomas/free-to-be-40-years-later_b_2206066.html
Marlo Thomas
11/30/2012
Forty years ago this month, a group of my friends and I released “Free to Be… You and Me,” a children’s record created to expel the gender and racial stereotypes of the era, while rewriting all those pat “happily ever afters” that dominated the fairy tales of our youth. Our mission was simple: to convince children that their dreams were not only boundless, but achievable.
What happened next stunned all of us: the record immediately went platinum. This inspired us to follow up with a companion book and a TV special, both of which enjoyed the popularity of the original LP.
“Free to Be… You and Me” was suddenly no longer just a title. It became a coined phrase — a cultural touchstone — that spoke of the times in which we lived. It was also a commercial success, which allowed Gloria Steinem, Pat Carbine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin and me to use proceeds from the project to co-found the Ms Foundation, to help women and children in need.
This month’s 40th anniversary caused quite a buzz, and all of us who were involved in its creation were touched by the fuss that was made over our big birthday. Newspapers interviewed us about it; seminars were held to discuss it; even a new book was written about it: When We Were Free To Be: Looking Back at a Children’s Classic and the Difference it Made.
It’s gratifying to be honored for the past, but in speaking with some of my collaborators, we decided not to look back, but to look forward. And just like we ask children who are still picking up the book these 40 years later to open their minds to all the possibilities, we ask ourselves what we would tell children today that would make them even more “Free to Be?”
For me, I’d want to write them a love song. One that croons to them how beautiful they are no matter what they look like, how smart they are no matter their grades, and that each child they meet is just the same. And somewhere in the lyric (if I knew how to write a song), I’d try to teach girls and boys about the cruelty of bullying, and of telling anyone who they can love. And I’d end my song with the words: “You = Me.”
I’ve always loved the afterword Kurt Vonnegut wrote for the “Free to Be” book. That’s because Kurt crystallized the vision that all of us had for the project.
Kurt wrote: “I’ve often thought there ought to be a manual to hand to little kids, telling them what kind of planet they’re on, why they don’t fall off it, how to avoid poison ivy, and so on.”
Continue reading at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marlo-thomas/free-to-be-40-years-later_b_2206066.html
