These are the voices and viewpoints of DECLARATIONS, the first public affairs limited series from the Independent Television Service (ITVS). Provocative in content and innovative in production, DECLARATIONS is "first person television" with something to say. DECLARATIONS is a collage of opinions from all walks of life and both sides of the aisle, a stimulating discussion of some of America's basic societal values. Viewers will hear how our inalienable rights -- granted to "all" Americans more than 200 years ago in the Declaration of Independence -- are lived and interpreted today.

DECLARATIONS is comprised of three one-hour programs, LIBERTY: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL?, and THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. The series was created by 15 leading independent producers teamed with 14 individual thinkers and a group of New York City ninth-graders. Each team created a personal declaration about what life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness means to them.

Making declarations are well-known individuals, as well as those whose views are seldom heard on the airwaves or in print. In LIBERTY: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION viewers will hear the opinions of Milwaukee radio host Charles J. Sykes, author of "A Nation of Victims: The Decay of the American Character"; rap critic James Bernard; author-in-exile Salman Rushdie; political correctness advocate Mari J. Matsuda; and Grateful Dead lyricist and cyberspace explorer John Perry Barlow.

ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL? features four views of equality from free-market advocate Robert Woodson, Sr.; East Coast writer Beverly Donofrio; legal scholar Derrick Bell; and Demetrio Rodriguez, a retired sheet-metal worker from Texas.

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS presents the five widely varying views of scavenger and author Lars Eighner; baby-boomer and divinity student Patty St. James Roberts; eight Hispanic-American and African-American teenagers from JHS 22 in New York City; social critic and author Arianna Huffington; and Rosa Martha Zarate Macias, an ex-nun and labor organizer in Southern California.

In addition, the series features "soapbox" commentaries by activist and educator Angela Davis, columnist Molly Ivins, politician Jack Kemp, former U.N. ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, pop icon Timothy Leary, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller, stand-up comedian RENO, ACLU President Nadine Strossen, and Perot '92 Campaign Director Orson Swindle.

The independent producers involved in DECLARATIONS are Orlando Bagwell, Arthur Barron, Akili Buchanan, Christine Burrill, Udi Eichler, Leslie Farrell, Julie Gustafson, Theo Kamecke, David K. Liu, Michel Negroponte, Nigel Noble, Lourdes Portillo, Renee Tajima, David Van Taylor, and Marco Williams.

"DECLARATIONS represents a new approach to public affairs programming, as it strives to expand representation on television of individuals -- speaking in the first person -- from across the broad social, cultural, political, and even the philosophical spectrum," according to ITVS Executive Director Jim Yee.

"ITVS asked the independent producers to respond directly to the widespread criticisms of public affairs programming," Yee said. "We asked them to create a new kind of television, with a new set of values. We wanted them to break down boundaries and challenge the status quo. I think they achieved that in DECLARATIONS."

Executive Producer Richard O'Regan, of Claypoint Productions, New York, explained the unusual collaborative process of creating DECLARATIONS. "The innovative process of making this public affairs program was as important as the provocative content," according to O'Regan. "ITVS challenged us to depart from pundits, class, sound bites, and the political paradigm of left or right. That meant exploring ways for independent producers to remain objective, and at the same time to give a voice -- unfiltered and unfettered -- to the individuals making declarations. For example, how do technique, set, light, locations, sound -- and all the other tools and skills producers use -- help communicate the essayist's message and not the producers opinion?" O'Regan asked.

"The producers provided the essayists with the grammar and techniques of the television medium so they could clearly convey their views," O'Regan said.

For example, free-market advocate Robert L. Woodson and independent producer Michel Negroponte worked together on Woodson's declaration "Nobody Gave Us the Streets," featured in ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL? In the process, they discovered that Woodson's work with street vendors in Washington, DC could be a metaphor for the economic issues and ideas for which Woodson crusades. The images in the segment focus on the street vendors and their struggle to survive, while Woodson provides the commentary.

Molly Ivins, columnist, sums it up: "There's a kind of illusion that you're born in this country and your inalienable birthright is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that it's all been one smooth path of progress ever onward and upward toward liberty and justice for all. Well...it really hasn't been. It's really been rough and rocky and sometimes freedom loses and gets rolled back."

DECLARATIONS was commissioned and funded by the Independent Television Service. In addition to Executive Producer Richard O'Regan and independent producers from around the country, the production team includes senior producers David K. Liu, Nigel Noble, and Renee Tajima, series producer Barbara Margolis, and coordinating producer Joyce Vaughn.

The Independent Television Service (ITVS) is a non-profit organization funded by, but independent of, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Created to increase the diversity and scope of programming available to public television, ITVS solicits innovative proposals from independent producers, selects projects for funding, and supports and promotes them for broadcast on public television.