Whereas December is Human Rights Month
To listen to this blog as a podcast, click here . "Whereas" There is nothing like a good “whereas” to get me going. This December is Human Rights Awareness Month and specifically, December 10th is Human Rights Day and has some pretty important “whereas” statements. First declared in 1948 by the United Nations, calling attention to the fact that each of us has basic human rights and is entitled to healthy human interactions and treatment from others. Conversely, I begin thinking about the need for a specific day because, throughout our country and the world, not everyone is treated well. I love how Elenore Roosevelt put it: “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home — so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. [...] Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.