Baraka, Ajamu (25 Oct. 1953 - ), human rights defender and community organizer, was born at Plymouth, Indiana, United States. He is the oldest of the five children of Raymond and Beverly Ball. His father worked odd jobs until he ultimately retired as a Post Office worker and his mother was a domestic and a nurse in senior citizen homes. During Baraka’s early childhood, his family enjoyed a middle class life on the South Side of Chicago until his parents separated in 1963. Baraka and his siblings moved with their mother to Woodlawn, an area known as one of the worst slums on Chicago’s South Side. After his mother became financially unable to care for her children, they were sent to their father at Chatham Park, an area considered one of Chicago’s …show more content…
He has been at the forefront of efforts to apply the international human rights framework to social justice advocacy for more than twenty five years. As such Baraka has given human rights trainings for working class activists across the United States, as well as briefings on human rights to the US Congress. He has also given public speeches to several United Nations agencies, including the UN Human Rights Commission (precursor to the current UN Human Rights Council). By March of 1972, Baraka was drafted by the US Military. After dropping out of Riley High School in South Bend, Indiana, Baraka decided to take the General Education Degree test and then enrolled in the military for three years. Baraka’s intention was to receive a guarantee to be stationed in …show more content…
The sit-down marked the start of his work in human rights and led to meetings where black soldiers voiced their concerns on the US military’s discrimination against black soldiers. His experience educating and leading these soldiers marked the formal beginning of Baraka’s human rights work and his experience as an organizer in the military. Baraka moved to Tampa, Florida in 1980 after he received an Associate’s degree in Psychology. He enrolled at the University of South Florida, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies, in 1982. The same year, Baraka enrolled in Clark Atlanta University and began work on a graduate degree in Political Science. In 1998, Baraka was among the three hundred human rights advocates who were invited to the first International Summit of Human Rights Defenders honoring the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Baraka was the 2001 recipient of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty’s prestigious “Abolitionist of the Year” prize. Twelve months later, Baraka was awarded the “Human Rights Guardian” award from the National Center for Human Rights
...12) Since Vik and Emmanuel have brought good changes to the lives of the catadors and people with disabilities in Ghana, I believe the rest is up to the people who can make it even better for the next generation. “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
New York: Norton, 2013. 1462. The. Print. The. Weaver, Robert C. “The Negro As an American: The Yearning for Human Dignity.”
The forceful subjugation of a people has been a common stain on history; Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail was written during the cusp of the civil rights movement in the US on finding a good life above oppressive racism. Birmingham “is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known,” and King’s overall goal is to find equality for all people under this brutality (King). King states “I cannot sit idly… and not be concerned about what happens,” when people object to his means to garner attention and focus on his cause; justifying his search for the good life with “a law is just on its face and unjust in its application,” (King). Through King’s peaceful protest, he works to find his definition of good life in equality, where p...
How much more do we need to do before we start responding to these legacies? Works Cited United Human Rights Council. United Human Rights Council. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web.
From this perspective Souza continuously degrade the fact that racism still exist. According to Souza’s view, racism cannot be the blame for most of the contemporary struggles African Americans face. Souza strongly believe that even if racism goes away, African Americans will continue to seek hand outs and make excuses. Such as, kids growing up in single parent households, excessively long predominately black welfare lines, and inner city crimes. Souza goes to the degree of being irrational when he states that he want a repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. By this Souza mean the law should be changed so that its nondiscrimination provisions apply only to the government. In sum, the real issue is how America can progress over time and live up to being the land of the
Martin Luther King Jr. is considered to be one of the most prominent human rights’ defenders of the XX century and the speaker for non-violent social change. He believed that building power is the most important task facing movements for human progress because the human progress comes through the tireless efforts of people, who should use powerful and true weapon – non-violence – in order to achieve positive effects. King managed to achieve brilliant success in the battle for the liberty of blacks and not pour the way to freedom by rivers of blood.
From slavery being legal, to its abolishment and the Civil Rights Movement, to where we are now in today’s integrated society, it would seem only obvious that this country has made big steps in the adoption of African Americans into American society. However, writers W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin who have lived and documented in between this timeline of events bringing different perspectives to the surface. Du Bois first introduced an idea that Baldwin would later expand, but both authors’ works provide insight to the underlying problem: even though the law has made African Americans equal, the people still have not.
For as long as I can remember, racial injustice has been the topic of discussion amongst the American nation. A nation commercializing itself as being free and having equality for all, however, one questions how this is true when every other day on the news we hear about the injustices and discriminations of one race over another. Eula Biss published an essay called “White Debt” which unveils her thoughts on discrimination and what she believes white Americans owe, the debt they owe, to a dark past that essentially provided what is out there today. Ta-Nehisi Coates published “Between the World and Me,” offering his perspective about “the Dream” that Americans want, the fear that he faced being black growing up and that black bodies are what
...xplained in details the role of Martin Luther King Jr. in the American civil rights movement. Despite this, the essay is still very useful in highlighting the need to respect basic human rights. The recent events in Egypt are indicative of what happens when individuals gain the political and social will to stand up against oppression. The people of Egypt staged protests in order to overturn the established, 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. This is the foundation of uprisings in the 21st century; the desire for fundamental human rights and dignity. Soyinka's essay predicted these 12 years ago; the world is watching; and dictator's and the politically powerful know it.
The essence of this essay reveals the definition of human rights and the politics of its victimhood incorporating those that made a difference. Human Rights can be seen as having natural rights, a fixed basis in reality confirming its importance with a variety of roles; the role illuminated will be racial discrimination against African Americans.
Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. later known as Muhammad Ali, was a black boxer, and was proud of it. Many African Americans were ashamed of their color, but Ali was different. He was the first boxer to win the Heavyweight Championship 3 different times. He had a great personality and was liked by the people. During his life, he made big decisions that changed the course of his life completely. Muhammad Ali's journey through life was a great inspiration for African American people, but Ali himself deserves the admiration of everyone.
Whenever people discuss race relations today and the effect of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, they remember the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was and continues to be one of the most i...
The following report gives a critical analysis of Dr. Cornel West’s book, “Race Matters.” In his book, Dr. West, a scholar, theologian, and activist, presents key issues of the day (1990s) primarily relating to race. He wrote “Race Matters” following the Los Angeles riot of 1992 after the acquittal of white police officers involved in the tragic beating of Rodney King. The book was originally published in April 1993 by New York: Vintage Books. This book is comprised of eight separate essays focusing primarily on racial issues relative to current events, the political climate, and market forces. Dr. West’s basic argument is that race matters in all aspects of American culture as well as abroad. He attempts to raise the awareness of his readers (and audiences) about the importance of race as an integral part of American society.
Rudolph, Alexander Jr. Racism, African Americans and Social Justice. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005. 71. Print.
"To understand that you are black in a society where black is an extreme liability is one thing, but to understand that it is the society that is lacking and impossibly deformed, and not yourself, isolates you even more" (About 3). This is a direct quote from Baraka, and it outlines his beliefs well. History and society have always influenced Amiri Baraka, and this made him feel as though society was isolating the Black community. Throughout his life, Baraka has tried to teach the idea of equality among races and classes by way of his poetry, plays, and speeches. His concept of equality came from his experiences while growing up during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. He held three main ideological positions due to his place in history; they are his values during the so-called 'Beat Generation', his Black Nationalist period, and his Marxist-Leninist period.