Rodney Richards
Author • Essayist • Poet • Publisher • Advocate for Human Progress
Author of Knock. Open the Door. A World Citizen Will Answer
Rodney Richards is an American author, professional editor and publisher, essayist, poet, and retired public servant whose works have evolved over more than a decade around one central concern: the capacity of individuals, societies, and humanity itself to develop and progress.
No longer must we take two steps forward, and always one back.
Richards spent 40 years in New Jersey public service, beginning as a stock clerk and advancing through managerial positions in information technology and statewide public contracting. His later responsibilities included purchasing and maintaining major technology products and services, and statewide purchasing of electricity, natural gas, and renewable energy across all state agencies, some authorities, and colleges.
In 2013 he established ABLiA Media LLC, a New Jersey publishing company whose name derives from the trademarked A Blessed Life in America®.
Through ABLiA Media, Richards has published a body of work spanning memoir, social commentary, business, poetry, world affairs, human rights, and peace.
His books include Episodes (2013); Solving the World’s Titanic Struggles, Volumes I and II (2018, 2022), comprising 200 essays; Coffee, Cigarettes, Death & Mania (2021); The Thursday Poets’ Anthology (2022); Poems from the Circle of Seven (2023); the two-volume Chester Says Be Your Own Boss with George I. Martin, EdD (2024); Free-Spirited Poems (2024); Poets Sing Happy Poems: In an Era of Chaos (2025); Diamond Girl, Second Edition (2026); and Knock. Open the Door. A World Citizen Will Answer (2026).
THE LATEST EXPRESSION OF A LIFELONG IDEA
Knock. Open the Door brings Richards’ longstanding concern with human development to its largest scale.
If individuals can develop, communities can develop, institutions can develop, and civilizations can develop. Richards asks: Why should we, the people, regard war and international division as permanent?
The book moves beyond criticism of today’s world to consider what will replace its recurring conflicts: stronger human rights, democratic principles, world citizenship, international cooperation, improved global institutions, and permanent peace in our lifetime.
It includes direct appeals to contemporary leaders and proposals concerning human rights and democratic global governance, including a draft Constitution for the People of Earth and a draft Constitution of Human Rights.
Its underlying proposition is both hopeful and demanding:
Human progress is possible—but ideas must become principles, principles must become institutions, and institutions must lead to action. World Peace is the goal, and world citizenship, our underlying actual reality, is the path to achieve it.
Knock. Open the Door has been entered for consideration for the 2027 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction.
Richards’ current work extends beyond the book through his Achievement of World Peace by 2030 initiative and PeaceBy2030.info.
Published by ABLiA Media LLC — A Blessed Life in America®