HUMAN RIGHTS
“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. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. 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." - Eleanor Roosevelt
In 1948 Eleanor Roosevelt assisted a collation of world leaders in crafting what has become the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Ratified by member nations, the UDHR has become the world’s keystone document for human rights. In the United States, while we have to be ever-vigilant, we are provided many of these human rights in our Constitution’s Bill of Rights. In many countries and for billions of people, the UDHR is the only complete basis for human rights protection. In Michael’s many environmental trips around the world, he witnessed basic fundamental human rights being violated: indigenous peoples losing their homes to the clear-cutting of rainforests or the construction of hydro-electric plants or the wholesale pollution of drinking water sources. These all violate one of the most basic tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; a safe place to live.
The highest cultural zenith in world history, the Golden Age of Greece, had at its core and foundation, above all else – tolerance. Dynamic economic, social and cultural advances in Mankind all have the same road marker – tolerance.
Periods of the greatest strife, war, social and cultural stifle and decay, regressions all have one thing in common – intolerance.
See book, Tolerance by Hendrik Van Loon.
There are many dedicated and organizations and groups that work tirelessly for human rights. All are to be praised and cherished. Two leading human rights groups are Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch do some heavy lifting: they have staff, often at great personal peril, including potential imprisonment or death, go into some of the worst hotbeds of inhumanity and human rights violations and document and report on these to the world. These are true human rights heroes.
Michael had been a contributing member of Amnesty and Human Rights Watch for years when his friend, Academy Award-nominated actress Anne Archer, approached him about a vision she had, a place where she felt a real contribution could be made to human rights. In Anne’s own words…
“Artists have the ability to touch the society so profoundly that positive change can come about as a direct result. Our greatest thinkers throughout history have always thought outside the box. Artists have always been the greatest advocates of human rights because they know so well how vital it is that the individual’s freedom of Self-expression is protected. Therefore I have formed Artists for Human Rights to give voice and bring about greater awareness among all peoples of the world of all of our human rights as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Because artists have the ability to elevate the culture, we as artists, uniting to make known the human rights of all people of the world, can bring about greater peace and tolerance.”
-Anne Archer
Actress & Human Rights Activist
And so Artists for Human Rights was born and with the incredible contributions of Board Members Donna Isham, Pomm Hepner, Tom Dine and Thomas Lovejoy and key volunteer executives like Vanessa Stoller and Linda Lombardo the group has ignited a groundswell of artist involvement in human rights education reaching millions across the globe, and thousands in the arts community.
For a comprehensive report yearly world-wide human rights, Freedom in the World report see: www.FreedomHouse.org
For comprehensive information on human rights, psychiatric abuse and mental health see Citizens Commission on Human Rights: www.CCHR.org