We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.
~ Maya Angelou
Undoubtedly, our global societies struggle to acknowledge and embrace the healthy need for a well-represented diverse population. Imagine if it becomes normal to promote an exchange of diverse ideas as the hallmark of our healthy and free society.
A community that finds the freedom to learn and apply new ideas enjoys prosperity and advancing culture. It is a great delight to experience and grow from traditions unlike our own and to have a broader outlook toward humanity, achieving a strong fabric of life.
The secret is to remove fear from the exploration of understanding people and places unknown to us. Asking, “What can I learn from this culture?” “How do I replace the fear of the unknown with a joy of exploration and curiosity.” “How do I replace fear with loving curiosity?”
“How do I ask new questions that amplify and bring life to unrepresented cultures?” Societies prosper with the interchange of healthy and new ideas, ideas that can elevate the global conversation to develop great innovations. Our world grows richer with the intentional inclusion of BIPOC communities to create meaningful alliances on our planet.
Without intentional loving open minded acts of inclusion, fear grows based on tribal prejudices, amplified by trashy television that traditionally amplified unknown cultures as people to fear. Our social fabric is continually torn and damaged by violence and racial hatred.
Cultural ignorance is born from a lazy lack of curiosity about other people; the coach potato approach to diversity affects both the micro and macro levels of society with a lackadaisical interest in others.
It is easy to talk about the benefits of diversity and inclusion but difficult to ensure its presence in society; it just does not happen through politicians endlessly vying for position, but instead, some of the greatest ambassadors of goodwill have been musicians, filmmakers, and inventors in the arts and sciences. Diversity begins with curiosity, a love of people, and the importance of human rights given to all people one encounters.
Award-winning film producer and recording artist Maria Elizabeth Del Rey has served as an ambassador of goodwill throughout her entire 30-year-plus career creating music and works for BIPOC children in particular.
She has used the power of music to share an empowered and rich view of Latin America to dispel the stereotypes for BIPOC children, to see themselves as successful, wanted, and belonging in the world with respect and enthusiasm.
Del Rey was a performer delegate at The Woman’s Peace Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, at The United Nations and was recognized as a woman who brought the power of music to children living in racially heated hot spots in the Americas.
Del Rey was born in Havana, Cuba, on July 13, 1959, and raised in Miami Beach, Florida. She graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School and attended the University of Miami School of Music as a concert cellist.
She studied Business Entertainment at the University of California. As a young adult, she played cello with the Detroit Civic Orchestra and the Miami Philharmonic. Del Rey began her career as a music producer in Los Angeles in 1984, where she wrote, produced, andperformed in advertising campaigns in Spanish for hundreds of Fortune 500 brands.
Del Rey has worked with Enrique Iglesias, Luis Miguel, Ana Gabriels, and many international recording artists, including Jon Anderson of Yes, on his Toltec album. With a need to create a BIPOC-owned and run company, MDR started her own female-owned production company ChildGood in 1998.
She released Lullabies of Latin America, for which she won a Latin Grammy Award Nomination in 2000. She is a 4X Winning Parents Choice Gold Award recipient for her multi-million selling works over many years, includingLullabies of Latin America, Universe of Song, and The Peanut Man. She became the first woman producer to get nominated at the 1st Annual Latin Grammy Award in the children’s album category in 2000.
Del Rey has released over 54 international, award-winning music products, educational books, and educational video products in multiple languages in the globalfamily educational market.
Her beautifulbody of work has been recognized with numerous awards, including The Order of the Silver Knight from The Miami Herald, Hispanic Role Model from Pennsylvania Commission for Women, YWCA Radical Justice Award from Voices Role Model Book, NAPPA Gold Award, and Carnegie Centennial Award from Harlem Residency Program, among others.
Maria Elizabeth Del Rey has toured North America with her original production of The Bridge El Puente (BEP). BEP is a musical multimedia journey through Latin America to show a rich and empowered view of Latin America at national performing arts venues. Del Rey is the founder of ChildGood, a family film and music production company that presents female-forward content. ChildGood produces Bipoc-friendly bilingual music, books, magazines, and films to empower children and families to create a healthy, sane world for cultural and social justice.
In 2012, Maria saw a great need to reach and inspire parents and launched ChildGood Magazine, The journal for creative families to master the art of parenting and the parenting of the art. The magazine enjoyed circulation on Apple Newsstand for fouryears in fifty countries worldwide.
Maria Elizabeth’s work continues to grow and take on new forms of creativity for children and familiesthrough music, film, books,andmagazines. She creates emotionally safe media for families. Her content has educated millions of children from a young age about the value of respecting and uplifting BIPOC communities to share a broader voice in the world’s landscape.
Del Rey’s continued work to share positive, empowered works with underrepresented communities is the first imperative that ChildGood Media brings forth. Over 19 million Gen Z children are Hispanic in the Americas that demand to be respectedand seen and deserve a fair and bright future.
Maria Elizabeth Del Rey is committed to bringing a logical and loving approach to understanding underrepresented children with respect and dedication.
