"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

-MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

"The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don't agree with."
-Eleanor Holmes Norton

"This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century -- solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others."
-Elie Wiesel
 

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION
On 10 December 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Following this historic act, the Assembly called upon all member countries to publicize the text of the declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."
 

n Read Text of UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights

n View Video of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
n View Video of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Celebrity Voices)
n Human Rights Action Center
 

HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS

n United Nations
n Amnesty International
n Human Rights Watch
n Human Rights Campaign
n Southern Poverty Law Center
 

"The fundamental rights of [humanity] are, first: the right of habitation; second, the right to move freely; third, the right to the soil and subsoil, and to the use of it; fourth, the right of freedom of labor and of exchange; fifth, the right to justice; sixth, the right to live within a natural national organization; and seventh, the right to education."
-ALBERT SCHWEITZER

"The 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: The growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy."
-ALEX CAREY (Australian Social Scientist)
 

HUMAN RIGHTS SIGHTS & SOUNDS

n John Lennon: Imagine
n Imagine: Children of the World
n Imagine One World
n Rosa Sat
n You've Got a Friend
n One World / Love One Another
n Garth Brooks: We Shall Be Free
n New National Anthem for South Africa
n Kim Weston: Lift Every Voice (Black National Anthem)
n Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
 

n More Information About Activists and Activism
n More Information About Movers and Movements

n More Information About Resources and Tools

"Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighboring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free.

True peace with oneself and with the world around us can only be achieved through the development of mental peace. The other phenomena mentioned above are similarly interrelated. Thus, for example, we see that a clean environment, wealth or democracy mean little in the face of war, especially nuclear war, and that material development is not sufficient to ensure human happiness.

Material progress is of course important for human advancement. In Tibet, we paid much to little attention to technological and economic development, and today we realize that this was a mistake. At the same time, material development without spiritual development can also cause serious problems. In some countries too much attention is paid to external things and very little importance is given to inner development. I believe both are important and must be developed side by side so as to achieve a good balance between them. Tibetans are always described by foreign visitors as being a happy, jovial people. This is part of our national character, formed by cultural and religious values that stress the importance of mental peace through the generation of love and kindness to all other living sentient beings, both human and animal. Inner peace is the key: if you have inner peace, the external problems do not affect your deep sense of peace and tranquility. In that state of mind you can deal with situations with calmness and reason, while keeping your inner happiness. This is very important. Without this inner peace, no matter how comfortable your life is materially, you may still be worried, disturbed or unhappy because of circumstances."

-DALAI LAMA , Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1989
 

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

n Did You Know?
n If The World Were a Village of 100 People
n Miniature Earth
n World on Fire
n Just 100 People
n Think About It
n Population Explosion

I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE...  I CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

n The Lost Generation
n Make a Difference in the World
n One Small Wish for This World
n Change the World in 5 Minutes Everyday at School
n We Can Change the World
 

"Now my friends, I am opposed to the system of society in which we live today, not because I lack the natural equipment to do for myself but because I am not satisfied to make myself comfortable knowing that there are thousands of my fellow men who suffer for the barest necessities of life. We were taught under the old ethic that man's business on this earth was to look out for himself. That was the ethic of the jungle; the ethic of the wild beast. Take care of yourself, no matter what may become of your fellow man. Thousands of years ago the question was asked; ''Am I my brother's keeper?'' That question has never yet been answered in a way that is satisfactory to civilized society.

Yes, I am my brother's keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality but by the higher duty I owe myself. What would you think me if I were capable of seating myself at a table and gorging myself with food and saw about me the children of my fellow beings starving to death."

-Eugene V. Debs, 1908 Speech
 

n More Information About Activists and Activism
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HUMAN RIGHTS LINKS

n Human Rights Web
n I Am An Activist
n Resource Center for Human Rights Education
n Human Rights First
n Global Exchange
n Youth for Human Rights
n Global Youth Connect
n Conspiracy of Hope
n FDR’s Four Freedoms (Wikipedia)
n Bill of Rights
n Human Rights Action Center
n Common Dreams
n US Campaign for Burma

n United Nations Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights
 

YOUTH FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

n Born Free, Born Equal
n Freedom of Thought
n Don’t Discriminate
n Freedom of Expression
n Equal Before the Law
n Right to Nationality
 

"I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality."
-MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

 

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n More Information About Movers and Movements

n More Information About Resources and Tools
 

HUMAN RIGHTS NOTEBOOK