Minority Rights
The idea of minority rights includes not only normal individual rights for members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, or sexual minorities, it also includes rights accorded to these groups as a whole.
Since a majority of people might want to discriminate against a minority group, special steps are needed to protect against the “tyranny of the majority”, which is just as oppressive as that of tyrants and despots.
MLK’s Final Speech
I Have Been to the Mountaintop Martin Luther King, Jr. April 3, 1968, Memphis, Tennessee “Thank you very kindly, my friends. As I listened to Ralph Abernathy in his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered … more
MLK: Breaking the Silence
Dr. King gave this talk nearly 45 years ago, but it seems remarkably applicable today if you replace the name Viet Nam with Iraq, Iran, or the Middle East. And despite our ast resources, we have made little progress against … more
Occupy Wall Street’s Moral Ground
By Kathleen Moore in Yes! Magazine, November 1, 2011] Much of the Occupy movement’s power comes from a simple moral message: It’s wrong to wreck the world. It’s wrong to wreck the health and hopes of others. The Occupy Wall … more
Statement from the NYC General Assembly
Following is the first collective statement from the New York City General Assembly, issued October 5 2011. As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. … more
Embracing Diversity
by Emma Cleveland — Think about that poster—I’m sure you’ve seen it because it hangs in many an elementary school classroom—of children holding hands around a cartoon globe, their skin varying shades of the rainbow. They might be wearing traditional dress from … more
Why Students’ Rights Are So Important
Although some schools act as if the Bill of Rights doesn’t apply to students in school, the Supreme Court of the U.S. has made clear that it does apply. In many schools right here in the Lehigh Valley, students are denied … more
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948 On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the … more
The Bill of Rights
(Amendments 1–10 to the U.S. Constitution, Ratified December 15, 1791) Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the … more
Israel – Palestine background
The complex and violent situation in Israel & Palestine deserves our attention and action. In the Middle East and elsewhere, war, terrorism, and violence destroy communities and people as they consume vast amounts of economic and natural resources. This alone … more