FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 29, 2011 – [Atlanta, GA] When most social justice activists in the United States think of human rights it’s safe to say that what generally comes to mind is the United Nations, abstract treaties, and opaque processes. Due to centuries of social conditioning that confine society's notions of social justice within the framework of the U.S. Constitution, rarely do people think about the ways in which human rights are central to their own issues and struggles.
The latest publication of the US Human Rights Network (USHRN), and Network member organization the Atlanta Public Sector Alliance (APSA), "Born of Struggle, Implemented through Struggle: Reflections on Organizing and Building a People-Centered Human Rights Movement in the U.S.," attempts to present a grassroots narrative of human rights that challenges both the standard academic notions of rights and the ideology of "American exceptionalism."
"Born of Struggle, Implemented through Struggle" is premised on the position of Malcolm X (El Hajj Malik El Shabazz) that the struggle for the full emancipation of all of humanity is a "struggle for human rights". Starting from there, the manual attempts to address in short form, three fundamental questions: 1) What are human rights and where do they come from?, 2) What is Power, where does it come from, and how is it expressed?, and 3) What is Organizing and what can it enable and accomplish?
Through the exploration of three current examples of community organizing drawn from the Atlanta Public Sector Alliance (APSA), the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) and the Vermont Workers' Center (VWC), the publication highlights the US social movement's need to answer and address the three aforementioned questions by adopting a people-centered human rights framework that prioritizes the inequities produced by the various systems of oppression that shape our society and the world system.
We strongly encourage all social justice activists and advocates to utilize this resource in your education and campaign initiatives and to share it broadly with your members and supporters. The manual can be downloaded using the following link http://www.ushrnetwork.org/USHRNAPSAorganizersmanual.
For more information on the Manual or to contact USHRN or APSA please see our contact information below.
US Human Rights Network
250 Georgia Ave. Suite 330
Atlanta, GA 30312
