She wanted to know what stole her family. What turned incredibly warm, funny, vivacious people into judgmental self seeking zombies. What on earth was this club they all wanted to belong to?
And she realized it was the “American Dream”. Thus began her decades long search into how one of the most noble ideas ever penned to paper had become so distorted, twisted and perverted for evil. How did the love letter to humanity in The Constitution and The Gettysburg Address and The Declaration of Independence, turn into blind materialism, elitism, anti semitism, racism, sexism and flat out lies? And why on earth was it being packaged as something we should all chase after? Who was benefiting from this?
After closely examining the “American Dream”, she saw how incredibly dangerous it all was. But she also saw slivers of glistening, majestic, noble truth cutting through. Leading her. Finding a way.
And so...as an artist and also a teacher, and just as a caring human being, she attempts to share what she knows. What she has found. Her blueprints on the path to freedom.
"Traitor" is one of those maps. She found the pot of gold called "America" She knows where it is. And she wants to tell you how to find it too.
We can all get there. It's almost as easy as Dorothy clicking her shoes. But we are so distracted by the wicked witch and all her mignons we have forgotten where to look.
Appel has gathered a team of artists to point you back in the right direction.
TRAITOR. Appel is the traitor. She left the club to tell you about it from the inside. And after much research and hard won experience she is here to tell you, its true. It hurts.
It's real.
It's wrong.
But we are going to do something about it.
We are going to write music to wake everyone up and unite them.
We are going to refer to the founding documents and hold this country accountable.
We are going to re-focus this country on the ACTUAL AMERICAN DREAM, the one that includes EVERYBODY.
And we are going to heal.
"When I read about clashes around the world -- political clashes, economic clashes, cultural clashes -- I am reminded that it is within our power to build a bridge to be crossed. Even if my neighbor doesn't understand my religion or understand my politics, he can understand my story. If he can understand my story, then he's never too far from me. It is always within my power to build a bridge. There is always a chance for reconciliation, a chance that one day he and I will sit around a table together and put an end to our history of clashes. And on this day, he will tell me his story and I will tell him mine."
-- Paulo Coelho, Forward to 'The Alchemist', 2014