Dr King and the language of Human Rights

In this blog I will discuss the power non-violent protest has on the judicial system and how acts and systems are technically abiding by the law but this doesn’t mean that these systems are correct. I will also then show the power language has on individuals and then on changing laws.  I will explore this in African American’s fight for equality in history using, A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. Edited by James M. Washington and the Unites States Constitution.  We are all entitled to human rights just by being born and this should be respected no matter race or ethnicity you’re identified as.

                Before Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans were having their constitutional rights and their human rights striped from them by laws put in front of them to keep them from being equal. In 1870 the constitutions Bill Of Rights was changed to say that all citizens were given the right to vote and this right was not to be taken away because of a person’s race. So why it wasn’t until 1965 that the Voting Rights Act was passed. If it wasn’t for the pressure that Martin Luther King and the faithful nonviolent protesters throughout the Selma March and the Selma March to Montgomery this right would have never been protected. The journey to affirm rights even if already written in the United States Constitution was not easy, police brutality, racism and hate blocked the path. But Dr. King’s non-violent theory expected these hardships and used the media to show the world the hardships his people had to overcome to get their constitutional right protected. Without this pressure put on by the resilient protesters nothing would have changed. This pressure was placed on the president and caused him to push the Voting Rights Act and get it passed in 1965. This act was followed by a great increase of African Americans at the polls.

                Laws are put in place for a reason and Dr. King wasn’t a radical when it came down to breaking them, the right to assembly and the freedom of speech which makes protest legal didn’t stop hundreds of arrest. But Dr. King believed that any law that was unjust wasn’t a law at all. These unjust laws he was speaking on were laws that only affected some and not all, and laws that were based on an individual’s moral standing. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a list of rights that should be protected universally, this document was signed by the United Nations in 1948 to help make sure that people’s rights are always protected. Unfortunately this is only a document sadly and his not always followed, as seen in many cases including the rights of African Americans.

 I have learned through reading Dr. King and learning about language and human rights that rights are not given easily sometimes you have to fight for them. Many people can adjust themselves to cruelties but through the language of Dr. King he woke individuals up and explained that a change could be made we don’t have to be oppressed or discriminated or humiliated every day of our lives If we stand together things will have to change. This is the power of language, when it can make people feel different when it can raise a person’s spirit, when it can give someone courage that they never knew they had. Language is powerful and this language lead to a change in laws and gave people their human rights they deserved.

Reflection on LIB progect

1)      Describe how you understand the language of human rights

I understand the language of human rights to be the power language has to either affirm or deny another persons rights. Throughout history people like Martin Luther King Jr have used their voice and language to help change laws. And people like Hitler have used the power of language to take away rights from certain individuals. Language and rights are two important things and putting them together can be very powerful.

2)      Describe how you have illustrated this in your project.

My project describes the need for human rights it connects the heart mind and voice to give you the need for human rights. It describes how human rights shouldn’t only be for certain individuals it should be for all. We are all human no matter what and certain laws should protect us just by being so.

3)      Describe one element from each class that informs your idea the language of human rights.

 In my law and human rights class we discuss and learn about our rights by using the Bill of Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This gives me the ground work and background information on the legal side of human rights. In English 101 I've already read 2 books about African American History which pertain to human rights. The first, When I Was a Slave edited by Norman Yetman, which describes how every human right was taken from African American and they were enslaved. The next Southern Horrors and other Writings Edited by Jacqueline Royster, which shows how language was used to create a misrepresentation of African Americans that allowed vicious mobs to take over three thousand lives. My linguistics has showed me how important everyone’s individual language is to them and how that is not protected and many languages are dying taking along with them important cultural knowledge.

LIB Project

Lauren Byron  was born in Harlem, New York on January 15th 1993. She is a Liberal Arts Major at LaGuardia Community College. Her father is African American and her mother is of Puerto Rican decent. Being biracial she got to experience both cultures which has shaped her into the person she is today. She is the youngest of 3 siblings an older brother and sister. For Lauren growing up in Harlem she witnessed many human rights being violated in her community. She is strongly against the Stop and Search policy that violates the rights to privacy of young men in communities like hers and around New York City. She has also seen situations were brains and talents were wasted due to the circumstances they were born into. Lauren would like to dedicate a part of her life to helping inner city kids receive opportunities to better themselves and not fall victim to the streets.

                                                We Need Our Rights

We would not have been given a voice

If not to use it

We would not have been given a brain

If we were not supposed to think

It’s impossible to have a heart

And be expected not to feel

We should not be given rights because of the color of our skin

Or the amount of money we have

Or even our standing in society

We should be given rights because we are all human

We should not have our rights taken away because we are women

Or because we speak a different language

Or because we are from a different country

We should be given rights because we are all human

You can not truly live if you are being suppressed

How can you be happy if you are being oppressed?

We are all just trying to survive

Human rights are rights we need to be given just for being alive

Describe how this connects to what you’ve learned in class.

In each class I have learned about human behavior and no matter who you are there should be a certain line of human rights that should always be followed. You are entitled to your freedom of expression and speech (law and human rights). You are entitled to your own specific language and cultural identity (linguistics). You should also be able to heard (English 101).

Paragraph for paper

We can look at the people who came before Martin Luther King Jr and say how could they have adjusted themselves to the Jim Crow laws, how could they have adjusted themselves to not having the right to vote.  But when people look back to our time in history they will wonder how did we adjust ourselves to a 7.25 minimum wage, how did we adjust ourselves to over priced food and no affordable housing. How did we adjust ourselves to money being spent at war while budget cuts affect our public education. Adjusting is easy, standing up to make a change is hard. Martin Luther King Jr. had the power to make others understand that they deserved more then what was given to them, he helped them understand that they had a voice and using organization and non-violent methods they could have that voice heard. Today money overpowers race, money crosses and trumps racial boundaries. And before Dr King was assassinated he knew this also and that was what started the Poor Peoples campaign.

In this blog I will discuss the power of Martin Luther King JR. I will do this using two of his speeches. "How Long? Not Long!" and his "Last Speech". His voice was the backbone to his non-violent movement. His words gave others strength. His passion made others passionate for the cause. He gave his people the knowledge that there would me a better day for African Americans, they would be equal because God was on the side of justice.

In the speech "How Long? Not long!" we see how great a public speaker Dr. King was. Through his choice of words combined with his delivery he was an exceptional motivational speaker. He was smart and determined which are important qualities in a leader. He holds your attention, his voice demands respect. In his "Last Speech" he portrayed his anger to the crowd by yelling at them. Letting them know he was not happy that they shouldn't be either. The anger in his voice showed that he would not be happy until segregation was done and the south could be a peaceful place for all. In this speech he let everyone know that he's "been to the mountain top" so they didn't have to fear anybody because they had God on their side.

Martin Luther King JR. used his voice as a weapon avaunt injustices in the black community stronger then any act of violence. His speeches were essential to non-violence. Many had never heard of the practice so it was up to him to not only teach non-violence but to bring faith into it. He had to get his point across that this was the best way. The people already had the anger because of the hardships they had to go through because of the color of their skin. But through Dr. King they gained an unbreakable backbone, courage,hope and a way to a brighter future.

My Trip to the Land Of Ghandi

In this blog i will discuss a passage taught  to me by another group of classmates. The passage was called My Trip to the Land Of Ghandi by Martin Luther King JR. In this passage i was taught that in India poverty ran ramped, but in India there was little crime. Anger and frustrations were not taken out amongst the people even though they weren't in the best of living situations. Martin Luther King JR visited India from February 2nd to March 10th to give a speech. He spoke about the lack of greed present and the fact that India was not Westernized. The opposite of the United States. Ghandi fought for independence for his country from another imposing country. Dr. King fought for justice within his own country. Both using non-violence movements, both ending in success.

Non-violence was a powerful tool for both of these important figures. We see this in the speech The Power of Non-violence by Martin Luther King JR. In this passage Dr. King explains that in order for Non-violence to work you have to explain what non-violence is to people who may have never heard of it. You have to explain to the people that this in not an act of cowardliness but in actuality in not using violence you have to be stronger then the person inflicting violence. Another aspect of non-violence is that you are not trying to humiliate or defeat the other person but you are trying to gain a friendship and understanding that violence can not bring. Violence will only lead to more violence and destruction. Dr. King was looking for a better more just community. To create this better community Dr. King reflected on the idea of Agape, the idea of loving the person because god loves this person. Loving the person, while hating the deed the person does.

Reflection on Project

For my project i will reflect on how taking away a persons humans rights affects their growth and takes away someones happiness. Focusing on langaguage and the right we should have just by being born. I will portray this through a child living in an enviorment where she and her family do not have freedom of speech. When she google's things she always gets the restriction sign because all information on the government is censored. Complaining about politics is liable for jail time. Music is banned and dancing is illegal. I have not started writing yet I'm still brainstorming ideas. Feel free to give other examples that can and should be incorparated in my story.

The language of human rights

For my first semester in college I chose a cluster of classes called The Language of Human Rights. The common theme across the classes I have seen is how language can be used to deny or affirm people's right.Language is a powerful tool that we all have no matter which language or dialect we speak we have the power and the right to express ourselves. In my human rights class we discuss an learn about our rights by using the Bill of Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In English 101 I've already read 2 books about African American History which pertain to the theme of the cluster. The first, When I Was a Slave edited by Norman Yetman, which describes how every human right was taken from African American and the were enslaved. The next Southern Horrors and other Writings Edited by Jacqueline Royster, which shows how language was used to create a misrepresentation of African Americans that allowed vicious mobs to take over 3,000 live. My linguistics class hasn't gotten into the human right part but I'm hoping in the future it will, but I am earning to think deeper into how language is formed then ever before.

Since this class is a cluster I get to have the same group of people in each class which makes me feel comfortable sharing my ideas. Especially since my integrated course is allowing me to use all the knowledge aqiured in my other classes to create my own representation on human rights which should be interesting.

Bio

Lauren Byron  was born in Harlem, New York on January 15th 1993. She is a Liberal Arts Major at LaGuardia Community College. Her father is African American and her mother is of Puerto Rican decent. Being biracial she got to experience both cultures which has shaped her into the person she is today. She is the youngest of 3 siblings an older brother and sister. For Lauren growing up in Harlem she witnessed many human rights being violated in her community. She is strongly against the Stop and Search policy that violates the rights to privacy of young men in communities like hers and around New York City. She has also seen situations were brains and talents were wasted due to the circumstances they were born into. Lauren would like to dedicate a part of her life to helping inner city kids receive opportunities to better themselves and not fall victim to the streets.

Main Ideas

In the text A Red Record by Ida B. Wells we see many important ideas supported by very interesting situations surrounding lynch law and lynching itself. Anarchy was running ramped in the south, looking at the horrendous crimes against the black community there would seem to be no government or law of the land. Misdemeanors were becoming enough reason for mobs to take black lives. Negro Domination fueled these mobs, in their thinking they didn't want the African Americans to develop and become the dominating society.

Lynch law in All It's Phases

After the war that freed the slaves, life for these men and women did not get better race rage was flowing through white men and lynchings becomes an outlet. In this blog post i will introduce the reading Southern Horrors and Other Writings from the Anti-Lynching Campaign of Ida B. Wells. Through her words, Ida B. Wells was able to bring recognition to the horrendous crimes of lynching and break down the stereotypes surrounding the issue.

Lynching began when the war ended, white mobs began attacking black families by hanging men women and children from trees, cutting men's private parts and then shooting into their lifeless body's. These hate crimes were motivated by race rage the south's white community committed these crimes through a prejudice inspired anger they had for the black race. In a specific passage in Southern Horrors we see how this rage ended many innocent lives. In an article from a white newspaper we read "the white people won't stand this sort of thing, and whether they be insulted as individuals or as a race, the response will be prompt and effectual"(Wells 64). This was written in response to a Mephistopheles Riot that led to 46 African American deaths, 91 African American houses, 12 African American schools along with 9 African American churches. Murder is not a substitute for the law. This sort of "prompt and effectual" procedure does not justify these actions. If the whites felt as though they were such a superior race why did they see it nesesary to torch schools and burn down homes what point were they trying to make? That they had the power to do what they want when they wanted with no repercussions.

The Language Of Human Rights

In my addition to the book i want to incorporate a short story. In this story i would like to portray what the language of human rights means to me. I will show how language is used to take away somebody's rights and to help enforce someone's rights. In this short story i would like to make it relatable to all and use realistic examples that make sense and are actually happening or has happened to prove a point. This point being the importance of language on our human rights.

Human Rights Issue : Abortion . Topic proposal

I chose the topic of abortion because I believe it is a very important women's rights issue and should be recognized in international and national law. The topic is very controversial and in some countries there are many  restrictions such as parental consent, marital consent, only in case of rape and incest or only in the case of women's safety being jeopardized. I will be exploring the supreme court 1972 case ruling of Roe vs Wade, this decision effected all laws throughout the United States that restricted abortion under the violation of the 14th amendment. And i will also be focusing on the "Mexico's reverse roe vs wade case" happening now in Mexico were 18 of the 30 states have passed laws "extending legal personhood to embryo's" . Throughout the controversy of abortion there have been many passionate debates on what is right and wrong , a lot of peoples reasoning against abortion has religious relations especially since 88% of Mexico's population is Roman Catholic which is known to be against abortions. There is no right answer and has a lot to do ones morals this is why this has been a hot topic for so long.

Slavery; Contradictions.

   I just finished the book When I Was a Slave edited by Norman R. Yetman. Through out the reading I am introduced to many different slaves who all have different slave experiences but seemed to all reflect on their connections to the church. Slaves were for the most part kept ignorant because of their masters not allowing them any sort of education and not even being allowed to look at books without getting whipped. But they were allowed to go to church on Sundays but had to sit in the back and not speak a word. They were allowed to hear the sermon but not allowed to hold their own prayer meetings. The slave owners contradicted them selves in allowing them to go to church but not allowing them to praise the god you introduced to them.

  In a specific memoir in the book When I was a Slave from Mary Reynolds she explains what her and others around her prayed for, "We prays for the end of tribulation and the end of beatings and for shoes that feet our feet. We prayed that us niggers could have all we wanted to eat and for fresh meat" (Yetman 107). Religion was slaves only outlet of hope they believed God would one day  help end their oppression and suffering. Many slaves renamed or referred to their oppressors as the devil or saying that when their masters died they went to hell. If many slaves were not taught to read this information was not from them reading the bible it had to come from the teachings of the white preachers. The white preachers of course would not say these things directly but in learning of their gods ways they started to make their own connections.

   The slave owners who brought the slaves to the church wanted slaves who wouldn't give them any trouble, allowing their slaves to go to church allowed the slaves a positive outlet for a lot of their anger and frustration.  The church gave the slaves something to look forward to if they did die a slave God would reward them with a easier life in heaven if they kept their faith in him. But it doesn't make sense why the slave owners would react so cruelty to prayer circles or meetings amongst just slaves themselves. In a different memoir from the book When i was a Slave we get to see what exactly the white preacher would preach to the slaves from William Moore who was born directly into slavery. "A white preacher always told us to obey our masters and work hard and sing and when we die we go to heaven" (Yetman 94).  This isn't a passage from the bible, this was said in directly to try and control the slaves. If slaves were allowed to sit together and praise the lord as a whole without a someone watching it would allows ideas and plans to form together. Slave owners did not want this because if all slaves bonded together they knew they would be out numbered.

  The contradiction between religion and slaves can be looked at in different ways but you have to remember who gave the slave this religion. It wasn't as if they had the choice to pick their own, it was given to them but then at the same time they were beaten for practicing it.

Bootylicious is in the Dictionary .

Bootylicious.

Many believe that Beyonce created this word but there are examples of it being used before the hit by her popular group Destiny's child came out in 2001. But this did help get the word recognized world wide so we can say Beyonce coined  the term. Many words become popular because of celebrity endorsement of the word like in this case.

Bootylicious is actually a blending of two words , Booty - a term with a slang origin for buttocks and -licious taken from the end of the word delicious to create the new term Bootylicious.

To use this term in a sentence would be as follows.

Her shape is really bootylicious.

Bullying as a True Drama by Danah Boyd and Alice Marwick

Bullying is a serious problem in society especially among teens. In this article authors claim that teens would rather use the word drama then bullying. They say this because teens tend to use it as a "protective mechanism" It allows them to downplay a situation and put even a horrendous situation in a category with frivolous things. The word Drama makes it easier to just let these things happen. Bully's and those being bullied use the word drama to either try to hide the abuse or  hide the fact that they are abusing others.

The phrase "thats so gay" is used by many to describe things that are bad. But using gay in the homosexual term and turning into a negative. Is not ok its very disrespectful and hurtfull to many.

Language & Human Rights

When reading an article it is important to think about what opinion is being forced upon you, what position the author is taking because at times they can be bias . Giving half of the information or  giving only the information they agree with. So before you agree and change your mind it is important to do your own research. Words if you choose the right ones can have a lot of power. When Hitler came into power, Germany was a in a state of shock they needed somebody to take charge make a change, and through his powerful words and timing he got to take control of a country. He promoted and enforced his idea of human rights but for only his people if you didn't fit into his idea of the perfect model. You didn't deserve your human rights. This is a example of using your culture (Nazism) to oppress another group. This is why everyone is entitled to their own beliefs but nobody should be able to use their beliefs to take away the rights of others.

My name is Lauren

lɔrən

The initial sound in Lauren is created using a voiced alveolar with a liquid articulation "[l] then connecting a back vowel ɔ. The last sound is created by connecting the central vowel ə with a  voiced nasal alveolar [n].

 
To start place your tongue on the roof of your mouth and then slide it frontwords and let the air flow throught the sides of your mouth to make a "lor" sound then put your teeth together as if your smiling add "in"  to the end while letting the air flow through your nose.

The Language of Human Rights

I am excited for my first college semester. I love discussions and speaking my opinion and i am getting to do that in this cluster. I'm enjoying learning about my rights as a human and more about the many events in the world that have taken away peoples rights. I believe knowledge is the only way to prevent these horrors from repeating themselves. I never put much thought into language itself and my language class is opening my mind to things i might of never thought about before. Even though this is still only the beginning i have high hopes for this semester.

Twitter

@LaurenByron

English is My Everything

I never actually learned English it was more forced upon me, everyone around me spoke it. It was all I ever heard so it flowed through me naturally as a child. I began to improve my English when I was around 4; my father began teaching me to read using a program called Hooked on Phonics. Reading helped me learn how to better express myself, better my vocabulary and allowed my knowledge of the language to expand. Some days my father and I would spend countless hours and laughs in the library. Before I had the ability of reading on my own I would make him read aloud to me every book I thought had an interesting cover. When the time came when I no longer needed his assistance I began to fly through books with ease, only stopping to ask for the meaning of words here and there. When I began school I remember others students complaining about the 30 minute homework assignments given. I would happily read that and more on the train ride home. My love for words weren’t limited to the ones on paper because I also loved to talk, so much that at times this love became somewhat of a blessing and a curse. In parent teacher conferences the teachers would always tell my parents the same speech "Lauren is a very bright young girl, but her talking distracts her other classmates from their work sometimes". My parents weren't surprised to say the least.

Although in 3rd grade I encountered my first rode block concerning to language my parents put me in a bilingual school. My mother being Puerto Rican thought I should learn Spanish, but being that my father is African American we lever spoke the language in my home. So I new nothing of this language and was terrified. In this school half of the day was entirely in Spanish, the other half in English. Growing up I always liked to interact with other kids and adults I loved to socialize, I could make a friend in no time with my jokes and stories. In class I was used to participating and I was never shy to give my opinion. But here amongst words I couldn’t read nor understand I felt completely alone, I couldn't express myself the way I could before. Kids around me spoke the language fluently and I for the first time felt the power language could have. Over the years at this school I began to understand Spanish. I would be able to understand when people would talk to me, by translating it in my head to English and with little delay I could reply. But I would only reply, and even to this day in English. For some reason I never felt the comfort English gave me with Spanish. It just wasn't the same, it didn't feel natural. I couldn’t connect to the foreign language, I spoke English with my family and friends, maybe not the most politically correct English but it was my English just the same.

English is who I am, I think in English, I speak in English, I read in English, I watch T.V in English, I listen to music in English, I express myself in English. I believe if I didn't have English I wouldn't b the person I am today.