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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: insights from its first draft
Until recent years it was hard to find good information on the origin of human rights. This was particularly true about the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration in 1998 began to change that picture as scholars began to turn their attention to the history of human rights. Among the books that have been written since, are Mary Ann Glendon’s book, A World Made New, and Johannes Morsink’s book The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Origins, Drafting & Intent. Both works tell the story of the how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created. Glendon’s book also happens to be one…
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Lucretia Mott – Campaigner for Abolition, Advocate of Women’s Rights, Quaker Visionary
Lucretia Mott was born in 1793 and much of her long life was devoted to working for the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of women. Her life and work, is among those, which have shaped the world in which we live. The significance of her contribution was recognised in when in 1923, when Alice Paul first introduced the equal rights amendment to the US Congress calling it ‘the Lucretia Mott amendment’. The amendment, which has still not been adopted into the U.S. Constitution, states in its first draft article: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state…
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Leo’s Letter
Leo was worried. He had crossed an ocean and fled a new and terrible tyrant, as a continent fell under his power. But the ocean was not wide enough. And he was afraid. Soon, the tyrant might have a weapon to which there would be no answer. Leo, you see, worked with the tiniest, most invisible of things. And he had discovered that they could be linked together in a daisy chain of power and death. And in it he thought he also saw a crown for human knowledge. But others, across the ocean, also knew of these invisible things. So Leo worried. And Leo went to his friend Albert.…
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What does it mean to be human?
The Prem Rawat Foundation asks this question in its video release to mark the 2014 International Day of Peace. It’s just there in the flow of the narrative. What does it mean to be human? Sometimes, the questions we ask, are the most significant thing. Some questions create new realities. They lead to discoveries we didn’t imagine before. So, what does it mean to be human? If we look back into the history of human rights, we find similar transformative questions asked which opened a new future. For example, what does it mean to be a woman? was a question repeatedly asked throughout the struggle to achieve gender equality. In the…
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Martin Luther King Jr – Civil Rights Leader and Peace Advocate
Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his life for the poor of the world, the garbage workers of Memphis and the peasants of Vietnam. The day that Negro people and others in bondage are truly free, on the day want is abolished, on the day wars are no more, on that day I know my husband will rest in a long-deserved peace. —Coretta King This article is part of a series on human rights forebears. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived a life beyond the ordinary and writing about him is challenging. His life made the world that came after him better. This article will not do justice to his…
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The Peace Advocacy of Martin Luther King (Part 4 of 4)
To appreciate Martin Luther King’s thoughts on peace, we must understand his thoughts about the relationship between human beings. He saw all human beings as caught “in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” He expands on this thought in his 1964 speech, “The American Dream”. All I’m saying is simply this, that all life is interrelated. And we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny — whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you…
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Martin Luther King and Non-violence (Part 3 of 4)
Martin Luther King thought deeply about the best methods to use to overcome the injustices facing African Americans. This in itself is an important observation. It is appropriate for us in the 21st century to also think deeply about questions of method. His speeches frequently describe and defend nonviolence as the method he felt was both effective and moral for the issues on which he worked. Sometimes the description was in response to criticism of the method as “too extreme”, at other times it was to reject the violence advocated by some. His explanations were patient and detailed. The basic steps of the method are outlined to his fellow ministers…
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Martin Luther King Jr. – What role did Christianity play in his civil rights advocacy? (Part 2 of 4)
Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta Georgia, the second son of Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. Martin Luther King Jr. was by vocation a Baptist minister. He was in the fourth generation of his family to take up this vocation. It is impossible to fully appreciate Martin Luther King’s work without understanding the role that Christian thought and inspiration played in his advocacy of human rights. Martin Luther King’s letter from a Birmingham prison to fellow Christian clergymen gives insight to the role his religious commitment played in generating and sustaining his commitment to work for justice. Further, the people from whom he came, the…
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Martin Luther King Civil Rights Leader and Peace Advocate (Part 1 of 4)
Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his life for the poor of the world, the garbage workers of Memphis and the peasants of Vietnam. The day that Negro people and others in bondage are truly free, on the day want is abolished, on the day wars are no more, on that day I know my husband will rest in a long-deserved peace.—Coretta King This article is part of a series on human rights forebears. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr lived a life beyond the ordinary and writing about him is challenging. His life made the world that came after him better. This article will not do justice to his contribution.…
