The United States is composed of and built by immigrants, and it has been a beacon to those in search of a new life for hundreds of years.
Home is a collection of thirty-four poems and twelve songs inspired by a diverse group of immigrants who have made significant contributions to the United States. From Yo-Yo Ma to Martina Navratilova, Celia Cruz to Madeleine Albright, Carlos Santana to Albert Einstein, these poems symbolize the many roads that lead to America, and which we expect will continue to converge to build the highways to our future.
Offering a welcoming feeling intended to inform our cultural conversation and enhance our national dialogue, Home also has twelve accompanying musical pieces that serve as personal meditations on the essence of home, in which you can reflect upon where you feel most welcome, whether a place or state of mind.
Not only are Deepak Chopra, Kabir Sehgal, Paul Avgerinos immigrants or the sons of immigrants, they are also artists. They came together to create Home: Where Everyone Is Welcome to inform and elevate the cultural conversation around immigrants. Combining poems and songs, Home reminds us of the contributions of immigrants and why it’s important to make our fellow neighbors, friends, and citizens feel welcome.
Resilience Music Alliance has proudly partnered with Grand Central Publishing to bring the music of Home to the world. Released on August 25, the collection of 12 songs are the perfect representation of the human condition and the importance of multiculturalism in the American Dream. “Many have bravely emigrated before me and will continue to come to America with the dreams of making a new life and a new home,” stated Chopra. “As an immigrant and US citizen, I have experienced my share of social resistance, suspicion, fear and prejudice that many other immigrants in this country have also faced. And I have also experienced warm receptivity and appreciation of my contributions and efforts. But until the recent sharp shift in this country’s attitude toward immigrants, I have never been so dismayed or disheartened. For the first time in this land of immigrants, the leader of the country is encouraging fellow Americans to fear and reject immigrants. People are regarded as threats just because they look different or come from somewhere else. So, to address this concern, we bring you Home, a timely reminder that the intellectual and cultural vitality of immigration is the heart of America. Immigrants find that sense of belonging, or “home” in America through diversity and connection, not division and fear. Only by working together, living together, and respecting each other can we make America’s future stronger and brighter.”
About Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP:
Deepak Chopra is an immigrant who was born in New Delhi, India, moved to the United States in 1970, and became a citizen in 1984. He is an American author, lecturer and music composer who has contributed to seven albums and written over eight-five books translated into over 43 languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. One of his songs “Do You Love Me” featuring Demi Moore hit #10 on Billboard and remained on the chart for thirteen weeks. He recited Nehru’s “Spoken at Midnight” speech on Ted Nash’s Presidential Suite, which won the Grammy® Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2017. TIME Magazine has described Dr. Chopra as “one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.” As the founder of The Chopra Foundation and co-founder of Jiyo and the Chopra Center for Wellbeing, he is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, Researcher, Neurology and Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. The World Post and The Huffington Post global internet survey ranked Chopra #17 influential thinker in the world and #1 in Medicine.
About Kabir Sehgal:
Kabir Sehgal is a first generation American, and his parents are both from India. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of eight books such as Coined and Jazzocracy. Among his works are children’s books that he has written with his mother, The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk and A Bucket of Blessings. He is also a contributor to Fortune and Harvard Business Review. A multi-GRAMMY® and Latin GRAMMY® Award-winning producer, he has collaborated with jazz artists such as Chucho Valdés, Arturo O’Farrill, and Ted Nash. Kabir is also a composer and musician. A US Navy veteran, he works in corporate strategy at First Data Corporation in New York City.
About Paul Avgerinos:
Paul Avgerinos is a first generation American, whose father Costas emigrated from Greece to the US in 1938. Avgerinos is a GRAMMY® Award-winning artist, composer, producer, and engineer with 23 critically acclaimed New Age albums to his credit. He is active in creating scores for a variety of television shows and has also collaborated with Jewel, Run DMC, and Willie Nelson. Avgerinos’ multi-step, intuitive creative process includes archetype and style guide development, meditation, mantra and prayer. He is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. He runs Studio Unicorn and lives with his family in Redding, CT.
