I asked several people what Human Rights Day meant to them.
This is what they spoke to me…….
Human Rights Day
(OBLIVION)
ask people what it means,
I wonder what they’d say?
would they know,
or understand?
is it just another day?
Oblivious to our privilege,
Scurrying between this and that.
Not a worry to worry,
It seems.
Basic needs, all met.
There are those that know none of this;
They are oblivious to privilege too.
Their focus is consumed by basic need.
What will it take today?
What will they have to do?
They have a right to life,
But safety is not guaranteed.
They have a right to dignity,
But they seldom get what they need.
Too many rights are a distant dream,
wasting energy on those, futile.
Focus is on what is needed,
As life shrinks around that.
human rights
what are they?
and are they afforded to all?
are they given?
are they granted?
are they something one can bestow?
Then by what authority are they so routinely taken,
Withheld from so many?
no really, I’m asking.
what are they?
I’d really like to know.
Michael Freeman
UNE National Vice-President for Human Rights