Our old blog has a new home!\u00a0 Thanks for finding us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today there are two things I would like to introduce you to: 1. Myself, 2. The\u00a0UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights’\u00a064th Anniversary<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the new\u00a0Curator of Human Rights Collections\u00a0in the\u00a0Archives and Special Collections, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at UConn, it is my\u00a0goal to bring the\u00a0global challenges\u00a0of human rights to the archives.\u00a0 My experiences in archives and activism working with the LGBTTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual,\u00a0Transgendered, Two Spirited, Queer) community, peace activists,\u00a0Latin American Solidarity groups and Human Rights NGOs\u00a0has provided me with the tools to address new concerns in the evolving discourse of human rights and archives.\u00a0\u00a0My intention is to focus collections policy and public\u00a0programming\u00a0toward the inherent needs of\u00a0individuals and groups\u00a0researching, advocating\u00a0and seeking\/experiencing human rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now that you know who I am, lets talk about who you are and why the Universal Declaration of Human Rights matters.\u00a0 In 1948, most of the world was reeling from the horrors of war and oppression\u00a0under fascism and imperialism.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a> was drafted as a wish-list of\u00a0rights to safeguard humanity from the\u00a0atrocities of those who\u00a0marshaled state power.\u00a0 The model of human rights was\u00a0voiced\u00a0through the vessel of state bodies “both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction” <\/strong>(UDHR Preamble).<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0In the globalized 21st century, rights have undergone a neo-liberal shift from the state-sanctioned arena\u00a0of expressions\u00a0and charters, to now being\u00a0scripted to bolster a new and\u00a0ever evolving individual.\u00a0 Economic individualism\u00a0through the\u00a020+ year old\u00a0Free Trade agreements in North\u00a0America have led the way in demonstrating that states are still very much involved in securing rights, largely\u00a0for\u00a0business to move freely and express rights of ownership.<\/p>\n The focus of this year’s\u00a064th anniversary is on the\u00a0liberation struggles in the Middle East and at home in the Occupy movements.\u00a0 The necessity of\u00a0the individual’s rights to assemble and demonstrate as well as\u00a0participate in the\u00a0election of state representatives, are guarantees that attempt to\u00a0eschew the inherent flaws in the system in place.\u00a0 However, what remains important\u00a0is the historical legacy of this document which seeks to promote the\u00a0always becoming nature of well being.\u00a0 Where these worlds collide are in the textile\u00a0factories of Bangladesh<\/a>,\u00a0where last week 112 workers died in a fire that was preventable.\u00a0\u00a0Infuriatingly just the most recent travesty from the\u00a0deregulated periphery,\u00a0the factory made\u00a0clothes for Wal-mart\u00a0(among other\u00a0US clothing\u00a0managers)which benefits from cheap labor and\u00a0nonresponsibility for externalities – such as fire safety measures which they refused to pay for.\u00a0 Meanwhile, workers in\u00a0Wal-mart stores<\/a> across the US on November 23rd\u00a0(Black Friday)\u00a0participated in\u00a0the largest\u00a0demonstration in their history\u00a0in order to demand adequate pay and benefits.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Now you’re wondering where archives come in.\u00a0 The role\u00a0which history plays is that\u00a0of the sounding board for current\u00a0democratizing movements in the\u00a0Middle East, the US and all over the world.\u00a0 Archives provide context for how things came to be.\u00a0 Collections which document the push and pull of state and society throughout the 20th\u00a0century help build\u00a0the framework for what is to be done in the future.\u00a0 How the State\u00a0responded to communities and organizations of people who challenged its ability to provide.\u00a0 The newly administered\u00a0States and their\u00a0guarentees\u00a0to the\u00a0rights of the past must be advocated and built\u00a0upon in the Middle East, the individual rights to work in a safe environment must be acquired in Bangladesh and South Asia as a region, and the economic ideology of US\u00a0consumers and producers need catalyzing evidence\u00a0which demonstrates\u00a0that economic disparity is a human\u00a0rights issue at home and abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n On this day and everyday we\u00a0can take action through\u00a0historical reflection, it is\u00a0paramount that\u00a0we acknowledge where people\u00a0have come from and what they had to overcome to get there\/here\/everywhere and what is\u00a0still becoming\u00a0the individual, the group, the community, the global.<\/p>\n Venceremos,<\/p>\n Graham<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our old blog has a new home!\u00a0 Thanks for finding us.\u00a0 Today there are two things I would like to introduce you to: 1. Myself, 2. The\u00a0UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights’\u00a064th Anniversary.\u00a0 As the new\u00a0Curator of Human Rights Collections\u00a0in … Continue reading