Paul Avgerinos - Home: Where Everyone is Welcome

Aired Wednesday, 8 November 2017, 8:00 PM ET

Paul Avgerinos - Home: Where Everyone is Welcome

In 1883, Emma Lazarus wrote the sonnet, “The New Colossus.” Her precious words are inscribed on a bronze plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty. The words read,

“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

For many generations of Americans, these words were also inscribed in their hearts; recognizing that other than the indigenous people of this fair land, we are all the descendants of immigrants.

Yet recently, there seems to be a memory lapse…a forgetting of how immigrants built this country with their sweat, toil, tears, blood and dreams and a rejection, based upon fear and ignorance, of the value of those who would come and join us in this purely American adventure. What can we do to restore the memories, eradicate the fear and inform those who have been misled about the seeds of greatness from foreign lands that blossomed and continue to flourish in this country.

My guest this week on Destination Unlimited, Paul Avgerinos, along Deepak Chopra and Kabir Sehgal, have collaborated on a beautiful collection of poems and songs inspired by American Immigrants called, “Home: Where Everyone is Welcome.”

Paul is a first generation American, whose father Costas emigrated from Greece to the U.S. in 1938. Paul is a Grammy wining 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. He is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University and runs Studio Unicorn.

Kabir Sehgal is also a first generation American and his parents are both from India. He is a New York Times and Wallstreet Journal Best Selling Author of eight books such as Coined and Jazzocracy. He ia a multi-Grammy and Latin Grammy Award Winning producer. He is a US Navy Veteran and works in Corporate Strategy at First Data Corporation in New York City.

Deepak Chopra needs little introduction. He was an immigrant from India who moved to the U.S. in 1970 and became a citizen in 1984. He is a world renowned pioneer in inte-grative medicine, founder of the Chopra Center, author, lecturer and music composer. Time Magazine labelled him one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.