December 10, 2016 marks two very important and related events. It is the celebration of International Human Rights Day, and the First Annual Meeting of Rights and Democracy. The timing could not be more perfect!
So what is International Human Rights Day? Turn back the clock to pre-1948, when Theodore Roosevelt was our President. He had been working on a Second Bill of Rights- involving social and economic rights. His death prevented enactment of his work,and his wife Eleanor took up the cause. Eleanor Roosevelt was a woman before her time- and one that we all still admire. She took FDR’s work to the United Nations in Geneva. It was all contained in a document called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN quickly passed it, knowing that it would interconnect human beings throughout the world. Not based upon their status as citizens or economic means, but by virtue of their humanity, It was acknowledged by the world and its nations that every human being has the right to live with dignity, and sets forth the basis for the Rights that foster, and are included within, a dignified life. The World now celebrates International Human Rights Day every December 10th.
For all of these reasons, it is perfect timing for the Annual Meeting to take place on Human Rights Day. This is a day which celebrates the rights of the most marginalized in our communities and our world A day on which we recognize that our rights are ALL interconnected because WE are all interconnected. We depend upon each other to help us name those rights. And once we name them we can, in one strong and forceful voice ,CLAIM those rights!
For more information about Human Rights in the United States go to: https://www.nesri.org/human-rights/human-rights-in-the-united-states