English Project: Human Rights

Amit Tsezare Barbon

September 2023

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 Table Of Contents:

1. How did human rights evolve over the years?

2. What attitude should we hold towards the existence of social injustice?
3. What forms of activism are effective?
4. Ableism

Rationale for choice of topic:

I chose this topic because I am very passionate about helping people. The various
injustices happening in the world today greatly upset me, so I want to contribute my
part in making the world a better place. If I cannot do anything concrete now, this
project is my attempt at raising awareness about the issues that we aren’t even
aware of. I hope to at least inspire one person in this project, to make a difference
and help someone who doesn’t have a voice. We all have a voice, but not everyone
can use it. I’m choosing to speak up.

Introduction :
In this project, I intend to touch upon many deep and controversial topics. I will be
writing about issues that greatly affect us as people, such as abelism and the future
of social justice.

The importance and value that society gives to social justice and political issues
differs greatly, in response to the media’s biased accounts of the events.

The media can choose what information they intend to expose. Therefore, most
horrific and important social issues go almost unnoticed. However, in the age of
social media, people can share their personal narrative and account of the events.
Many years ago, a lot of appalling events regarding basic human rights occurred that

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were not recorded or known about. Therefore, the first topic that I will be touching
upon will be: “How did human rights evolve over the years?

How did human rights evolve over the years?

Throughout the evolution of the world, the importance and awareness of the general
public’s needs has grown significantly. As time goes on, the world becomes more
aware of atrocities with regard to mistreatment of various minorities and social
groups. This newfound understanding and perception of political issues, causes the
evolution and improvement of human rights. The belief that everyone, by virtue of
her or his humanity, is entitled to certain human rights is fairly new and is something
stemming from an evolution of the consideration of human dignity over the last
centuries.

There are a wide range of rights, so I will touch upon them in the order in which they
were developed and were recognised by the international community. The most
effective way of classifying these rights is into 'first, second and third generation'
rights.

The first generation (base) of human rights is civil and political rights. These rights
include recognition that the people should have influence over policies that affected
them. The two central ideas were personal liberty, and protecting people against
abuse and violations.

The second generation of human rights includes economic, social and cultural
rights. Social, economic and cultural rights are based on the ideas of equality and
guaranteed access to essential social and economic goods, services, and
opportunities.

● Social rights are crucial to the function of society. They include the right to
education, maintaining a family and privacy and protection from
discrimination.
● Economic rights include the right to have a stable job, to housing and pension.

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 ● Cultural rights are often considered part of religious rights and are given less
importance by the general public. They include the right to preserve cultural
practices and include traditions from minority groups.

The third generation of human rights are called solidarity rights. Solidarity rights
include the right to development, the right to peace, right to a healthy environment,
and to humanitarian assistance.

Throughout the evolution of time, these rights have allowed for change and have
adapted themselves with respect to the current conditions in society.

What attitude should we hold towards the existence of social injustice?

It can be disheartening to contend with the feeling that so much is happening around
you, but you have no way to help. In a survey that I conducted, it was shown that
92% of responders felt disheartened by social injustices.

However, there are things that you can do, small yet significant steps that you can
take in order to feel your place in the world. Some of the steps include; reaching out
to friends and family in order to raise awareness, finding local communities that
share your vision and protest with them, and donating to worthy causes.

These steps can seem inconsequential and meaningless. This adversary can be
viewed as much bigger than us, and it is. However, it is important to remember that
there is a heavy degree of misinformation in society about these topics. Your opinion,
your voice, can save lives.

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For example, let’s take the story of Nyambe, the village teacher in Mapapa, Zambia.
When Nyambe first visited Mapapa, she could not believe the dire situation before
her. Poverty was everywhere, and hope was minimal. Children were not being
educated, often went hungry, while the village lacked clean, portable water. Nyambe
felt a firm conviction to help the village in any way she could.

Nyambe left her teaching job in China and moved to Mapapa in 2019 with her two
foster children and almost immediately began her school. She is a primary school
teacher who is certified to teach English as a second language. Initially, she and her
daughters lived in a small hut, and she held lessons under a tree. After four months,
a mud hut was built to have classes out of the harsh elements.

Nyambe realised that she had a voice, a way to bring awareness to this small village.
She opened a Tik Tok account, where she told stories of child marriages that were
previously unknown to the public, and got many paedophiles and rapists arrested.
Unfortunately this is a common phenomenon in many villages, and Nyambe decided
that by reaching out to social media, she could bring justice. After receiving hundreds
of thousands of views on her initial videos on Mapapa, many viewers asked how
they could help support her vision of improving children’s way of living in Mapapa.
On May 14, 2020, Nyambe, with help from a fellow missionary in the United States,
created a GoFundMe page for the village. She has raised thousands of dollars for
her school, built a new home, and is working towards a village clinic for girls who
have sexually transmitted infections as a result of rape. These girls, these children,
might have died as a result of abuse in child marriages, or starvation. The simple act
of creating a social media account and raising awareness has saved many many
lives. This is just one example.

In conclusion, while the situation may seem hopeless, you can make a difference.
You matter in the world, and if you can bring light to even one life, you’ve done an
amazing job.

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What forms of activism are effective?

We have already demonstrated protests as a form of activism that is effective.

However, what other things can we do in the face of great injustice that will genuinely
make a difference? Many forms of activism can seem hopeless or meagre, so what
will show adequate results?
Components of successful activism include; voting, drafting legislation,
organisational viability and structure, and clear messaging.

It’s important to realise that no available research has shown that any one action is a
surefire bet for social movement success, but many studies have shown that a
limited tactical repertoire, an inability to adapt, and infighting makes movements
unsuccessful. Overall, remember that tactics are tools—nothing more, nothing
less—whose effectiveness varies according to your goals, political environment, and
issue area.

Here is a chart created by the Cress and Snow 2000 study, showing effective
activism techniques. Many of these have been touched upon in this project, including
protests, voting, media campaigns (Nyambe) and small acts.

This chart can be a helpful tool to remember that these steps have shown results.

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Ableism:

What is ableism? Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people
with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior.
As someone with a girlfriend who has a physical disability, here is an example of a
type of ableism that you can experience.
Oftentimes, She will have to fight for her basic rights. For instance, when she is in
her wheelchair and having to use the restroom, it is usually occupied by a non
handicapped person. This is incredibly harmful, because when she is in her
wheelchair she is unable to use the regular restroom. Furthermore, some people
with disabilities are unable to control their bladder, further limiting their access and
leading to much embarrassment.

Another example of ableism that I have personally experienced, is that my girlfriend

has been told to show her identification in public spaces, because she doesn’t “look
disabled”. This shows how disability is perceived in society. Disability does not have
a certain look. You can be autistic and show no “outward” signs of your disability, but
still require help in some areas.

However, when creating my survey, I found that only half of the responders have
ever seen ableism happen, and some don’t even know how to identify it.

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What can we learn from this? There are many common misconceptions and strange
behaviours regarding ableism, and they include:

• Being nervous, clumsy, and awkward around people in wheelchairs.

• Being viscerally disgusted by people whose bodies appear to be very different or

“deformed.”

• Avoiding talking to disabled people in order to avoid some kind of feared

embarrassment.

2. Holding stereotypical views about disabled people in general, or about certain

sub-groups of disabled people. For example:

• Assuming that disabled people’s personalities fit into just a few main categories,
like sad and pitiful, cheerful and innocent, or bitter and complaining.

• Associating specific stereotypes with particular conditions. For example, that

people with Down Syndrome are happy, friendly, and naive, mentally ill people are
unpredictable and dangerous, or autistic people are cold, tactless, and unknowable.

• Placing different disabilities in a hierarchy of “severity” or relative value. A prime

example of this is the widely held belief, even among disabled people, that physical
disability isn’t so bad because at least there’s “nothing wrong with your mind.”

3. Resenting disabled people for advantages or privileges you think they have as a
group. This is one of the main flip sides of condescension and sentimentality towards
disabled people. It’s driven by a combination of petty everyday resentments and
false, dark, and quasi-political convictions, such as:

• Disabled people get good parking spaces, discounts, and all kinds of other little
unearned favors.

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• Unlike other “minorities,” everyone likes and supports disabled people. They aren’t
oppressed, they are coddled.

• Disabled people don’t have to work and get government benefits for life.

All of these behaviours are not usually the fault of the person exhibiting them, rather
society’s tendency to categorise and stigmatise disabled individuals.

Therefore, my message is to ask questions. Approach the person, treat them with
respect. They are humans just like us, and have many hardships to contend with.

Conclusion:

The world can seem impossible, dark and unfair. There are many injustices around
the world and issues that need to be resolved. Through this project, I have touched,
albeit briefly upon four different issues that specifically concern me as an individual.
There is much more to be explored in each one of these topics, including many more
issues that were not discussed in this project..
It is apparent that most of the population feels upset about current affairs, and rightly
so.
However, my hope is that through this process, I have raised awareness and
alleviated some feelings of hopelessness that have been present for many
generations.
Remember that you can make a difference. Speak up and spread awareness. This is
an important cause, and we can help. Humans all deserve equal rights, and it is my
personal opinion that we can reach this goal with much perseverance. Let’s get it
done.

Reflection:

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As a person who is a part of many different minorities, this project is incredibly
important to me. Throughout this process, I felt a variety of emotions. Disappointed
that the world is so unjust, hopeful that we could change it, disbelieving at the
amount of problems that go overlooked nowadays and even jubilant that I am able to
have the opportunity to communicate my stance on this matter. Our society has
changed and evolved over time, supposedly to accommodate more social changes
and norms. However, a shocking amount of people still experience daily injustices
and are misrepresented. When asked to pick a topic for this project, the first thing
that came to mind was human rights. This issue is a big one, stemming from many
generations of abuse and discrimination against multiple cultures. I come from a
place of privilege, and by choosing this project, I am exercising my freedom of
speech. Having completed this project, I now feel an immense amount of freedom,
knowing that this is something that I have contributed to the world- and who knows?
Maybe I helped someone reading this.

Survey conducted with regard to human rights on the whole:

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Bibliography:

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Nyambe and her village:
[Link]

The evolution of human rights:

[Link]

What forms of activism are effective, Cress and Snow study (2000):
[Link]
?referenceid=282076

Ableism:

[Link]
o-explore-the-meaning-of-ableism/?sh=3370aae7162d

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