US Human Rights Network Blog

USHRN Celebrates Human Rights Day

Dec 10, 2020

Today, we join many of our members and partners in celebrating 2020’s International Human Rights Day: Recover Better - Stand Up for Human Rights. You can find a full list of events and action steps to take on the blog.

It has been a challenging year, one in which the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting healthcare crisis, racial justice uprisings, joblessness, food and housing insecurities, and other threats have exposed the deep chasm in our society. We have seen firsthand the disproportionate impact that systemic inequality and oppression have on our most vulnerable communities, including Black, Indigenous, LatinX and Asian communities, as well as LGBTQIA+ folx, people with disabilities, undocumented workers, people in prisons and detention centers, people experiencing homelessness, and those trapped in a cycle of poverty.

Human Rights Day serves as a reminder that the injustices and indignities we fight against every day are, ultimately, human rights issues. It is a reminder that human rights, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), must remain central to our process of recovery, reimagining and rebuilding. It is a reminder that by centering the voices and experiences of those who are most vulnerable, by banding together and harnessing the power of compassion, solidarity, interconnectedness, we can realize the transformation of governments, institutions, communities, and ourselves. We are reminded that this is how we can achieve collective liberation.

As part of our Human Rights Day campaign, we’ve highlighted just a few of the many grassroots organizations who have tirelessly defended the human rights of our most vulnerable communities. In the midst of the pandemic, these organizations have shown us how connected we are, and how collective action can impact entire communities. You can also view the full campaign on Instagram.

Aging People in Prison Human Rights Campaign

The United States has the highest rates of elderly prisoner incarceration in the world. Historically over time this poli-socio-economic policy making practice has resulted in the national crisis called aging people in prison. Men and women are spending decades in prison up to 30, 40, 50, and even 60 years or more separated from parents, children, families, and communities.

Aging People in Prison Human Rights Campaign advocates, educates, and lobbies for the human rights of aging people in prison; and their ultimate release and return of them to their family and community before their natural life expires.

Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign and National Homelessness Law Center

The Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign (CAEC, the Campaign) is a member-led human rights organization whose mission is to enforce housing as a fundamental right. The CAEC works towards this goal to empower those directly impacted by displacement and homelessness to de-commodify housing and affirm it as a human right. Read more.

The National Homelessness Law Center believes all human beings have the right to a basic standard of living that includes safe, affordable housing, healthcare, and freedom from discrimination and cruelty. They are the only national legal group dedicated to ending and preventing homelessness.

Justice for Muslims Collective

Justice for Muslims Collective is building a world where radical inclusion leads to collective liberation for Muslim communities and beyond. Justice for Muslims Collective works to dismantle institutional and structural Islamophobia by raising political consciousness, shifting narratives, organizing and healing, and building alliances across movements.

Workers Center for Racial Justice

Workers Center for Racial Justice is a grassroots organization fighting for Black Liberation and for a fair and inclusive society that benefits all people. WCRJ organizes Black workers and their families to address the root causes of high rates of unemployment, low-wage work and over-criminalization impacting Black communities building up to a caring society and economy.

Read More

National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights

The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) works to defend and expand the rights of all immigrants and refugees, regardless of immigration status. Since its founding in 1986, the organization has drawn membership from diverse immigrant communities, and actively builds alliances with social and economic justice partners around the country. As part of a global movement for social and economic justice, NNIRR is committed to human rights as essential to securing healthy, safe and peaceful lives for all.

Art and Resistance Through Education

Art and Resistance Through Education (ARTE) engages young people to amplify their voices and organize for human rights change through the visual arts.

Using art, design, and technology, ARTE students develop creative projects that bring awareness to local and global human rights challenges. As an organization, we strive to remain adaptive in our impact: our curriculum is flexible to address issues that are important to our students and relevant to current events.

At the US Human Rights Network, we believe in a future where the inherent dignity, freedom, and potential of every person is fiercely protected and, working together, we believe that this future is within our reach.

In solidarity,

USHRN Coordinating Center