As the new Poor People’s Campaign is gathering momentum and organizing across the country, locally and regionally, people are grounding themselves in understanding what, on April 4, 1967, MLK Jr. called the three evils of racism, poverty and militarism in his extraordinary and groundbreaking speech at Riverside Church in NYC, Beyond Vietnam–A Time to Break the Silence in which he took a courageous moral stand against the war in Vietnam,
Dr. King began to explore a new kind of revolution, a vision of people at the grassroots/community level creating new values, relationships, and structures as the foundation for a new society and combining the struggle against systemic racism with a struggle against poverty and militarism.
“We have left the realm of constitutional rights and we are entering the area of human rights.” …. “The Constitution assured the right to vote, but there is no such assurance of the rights to adequate housing, or the right to an adequate income … It is morally right to insist that every person have a decent house, and adequate education and enough money to provide basic necessities for one’s family.”
In 1968 the Poor People’s Campaign set up a multiracial, multi-ethnic Resurrection City on the Washington Mall and demanded an economic bill of rights.
Today the new Poor People’s Campaign is bringing together Americans who have a lot more in common than we are often led to believe about each other. Building coalitions and solidarity is not easy. As we remember the tragedy of his assassination fifty years ago, we can also look deeply at the legacy of Dr. King’s remarkable role in the Freedom Movement, the power of non-violent direct action, and his ability to see the interlocking web of all forms of discrimination, violence, oppression, and war. To these we add the fundamental need for a healthy planet and an end to environmental degradation. We can look at the good news of the massive amount of effective organizing happening all over the country now to end the many forms of interpersonal, cultural and state-sponsored violence, and the reverse the daily dismantling of the basic public protections of people’s civil, political, economic, cultural and social rights. Something powerful is happening here.
Announcing Human Rights Educators USA–Official Launch
Ithaca, New York (December 1, 2012) – Human Rights Educators USA (HRE USA), a newly established network, is officially open for membership as of International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2012. Inspired by the 2011 UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training, which emphasizes the importance of human rights to every child’s education, HRE USA joins the global movement to use research-based methods to build a culture of respect for human rights though education.
Human Rights Education (HRE) is a lifelong process of teaching and learning that helps individuals develop the knowledge, skills, and values to fully exercise and protect the human rights of themselves and others; to fulfill their responsibilities in the context of universal human rights principles; and to achieve justice and peace in their communities and the world. The Human Rights Educators USA network facilitates its members’ collaboration and supports their efforts to:
Through its website, hreusa.net, the network offers educators, activists, scholars, and organizations working with youth a wealth of information, curriculum resources, and current research. The network also provides members with opportunities for direct engagement through its working groups on topics of interest such as policy and advocacy, higher education, after-school and community-based programs, K-12 curriculum, and early childhood education.
For more information, please contact:
Felisa Tibbitts, Co-chair Sarah Herder, Co-chair
Phone 612-746-4691
Email sherder@advrights.org
