Last week while teaching my SMSU Introduction to Public Relations Writing class in our computer lab, I asked my students to go online and choose an organization for their first assignment. Each time students do this project, I learn about new organizations. One of my students selected the Harry Potter Alliance. Last November National Public Radio did a story on HPA titled "Harry Potter: Boy Wizard. . . and Real-World Activist."
The HPA website claims "We are an army of fans, activists, nerdfighters, teenagers, wizards and muggles dedicated to fighting for social justice with the greatest weapon we have-- love."
According to the NPR story, "About 100,000 Harry Potter fans have been mobilized by HPA for causes including marriage equality, genocide prevention, and literacy. They raised enough money to send five cargo planes to Haiti bearing medical supplies after the earthquake there, and they've bought thousands of books for libraries in Rwanda and the Mississippi Delta."
In the NPR story, Prof. Henry Jenkins says, "This is a powerful new model for getting young people involved in the political process."
The organization is definitely carving out a new generation of activism. The NPR story notes "There's a playfulness and imagination to this brand of activism that can be lacking in more conventional political organizing."
According to the HPA website, "the HPA was founded in June 2005 by Andrew Slack, the Executive Director, and Paul DeGeorge of Harry and the Potters. “I thought we needed an organization to act as a Dumbledore’s Army for our world, full of Harry Potter fans wishing to embody the message of the books to create social change,” says Andrew Slack.
The HPA website claims "We are an army of fans, activists, nerdfighters, teenagers, wizards and muggles dedicated to fighting for social justice with the greatest weapon we have-- love."
According to the NPR story, "About 100,000 Harry Potter fans have been mobilized by HPA for causes including marriage equality, genocide prevention, and literacy. They raised enough money to send five cargo planes to Haiti bearing medical supplies after the earthquake there, and they've bought thousands of books for libraries in Rwanda and the Mississippi Delta."
In the NPR story, Prof. Henry Jenkins says, "This is a powerful new model for getting young people involved in the political process."
The organization is definitely carving out a new generation of activism. The NPR story notes "There's a playfulness and imagination to this brand of activism that can be lacking in more conventional political organizing."
According to the HPA website, "the HPA was founded in June 2005 by Andrew Slack, the Executive Director, and Paul DeGeorge of Harry and the Potters. “I thought we needed an organization to act as a Dumbledore’s Army for our world, full of Harry Potter fans wishing to embody the message of the books to create social change,” says Andrew Slack.
The HPA website notes that "J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, once said, 'We do not need magic to change the world; we carry all the power needed inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.' Indeed we do and the Harry Potter Alliance is striving to imagine activism better every day."
J.K. Rowling is an amazing storyteller, but I don't think she could ever have imagined all the many ways her characters and stories would stir hearts and minds around this planet.
J.K. Rowling is an amazing storyteller, but I don't think she could ever have imagined all the many ways her characters and stories would stir hearts and minds around this planet.
RSS Feed
