Unity Foundation's
Program
To Mediate Violence
& Conflict Through Culture
In the 1990s
Unity Foundation initiated an innovative program to mediate conflict
and violence between peoples of different races, cultures, and
ethnic backgrounds.
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Our media campaign, the Americas
Before Columbus Project, was an important victory that resulted
in the selection of a Native American Co-Grand Marshall to ride
alongside Cristobol Colon, a direct descendant of Christopher
Columbus, in the 1992 Tournament of Roses Parade. In a series
of video segments that aired during the Parade, our Co-Grand
Marshall presented the Native American perspective on Columbus's
arrival in the Americas to a television audience estimated at
450 million people worldwide. |
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Actor Edward
James Olmos Challenges Tournament of Roses. Parade President
to Appoint Native American Co-Grand Marshall. |
Unity Foundation's Program
to Mediate Violence
and Conflict through Culture continued with
the Concert for Unity in Los Angeles,
following that City's devastating riots.
African American and Korean American performers
(representing the two communities at the center of
the racial conflict) appeared together on the same stage
to promote racial harmony in Los Angeles.

The Kim Wah Korean Dance Troupe,
sponsored by the government of South Korea, at the L.A. Concert
For Unity. |

The Watts Prophets,
regarded by many as
the Fathers of Rap Music
at the L.A. Concert For Unity. |
| Unity Foundation then
directed its attention to the war in Bosnia. Working with Russian
visionary Joseph Goldin, UNESCO, and Zlata Filipovic, the 13-year-old
author of "Zlata's Diary, A Child's Life in Sarajevo,"
Unity Foundation utilized state-of-the-art communications technology
to produce an interactive video space bridge which connected
San Francisco with Sarajevo, while that City was under siege.
The purpose of the 70-minute space bridge was to promote peace
in Bosnia and cooperation between the people of San Francisco
and Sarajevo and to support the rebuilding of the Library containing
artifacts of Bosnia's multicultural communities. |

Zlata Filipovic,13-year-old
author of "Zlata's Diary,
A Child's Life in Sarajevo"
inspired UNESCO's project to rebuild Multicultural Library |

Buddhist Monk and Peace
Walker, Rev. Yusen Yamato with Serbian and Croatian musicians
as they play together for the first time to promote peace in
Bosnia |
Finally, to commemorate the one-year
anniversary
of the President's Initiative on Race, Unity Foundation produced
a special celebration in which an array of multicultural performers
appeared together to promote racial harmony
in the San Francisco Bay Area. |
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