How do we approach human rights?

 words by Charles Brooks

One way to describe the current political moment can be the constant reminder of the political contradictions on public display, every single day.  

December 10th was no different. 

December 10th is observed across the world as Human Rights Day, commemorating the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed on this day, back in 1948. 

The US, in parading itself as the defender and champion of human rights, publishes an annual report outlining the human rights abuses occurring in nearly 200 countries around the world. The report highlights atrocities such as torture, genocide, crimes against humanity, and political repression to name a few.  

But on this December 10th, the contradictions are particularly amplified as the cries are heard around the world from wars, military actions, and economic sanctions. 

The president emerges as an incredibly easy target for criticism on the human rights issue considering what has been done in less than a year.  Most obvious is his use of a paramilitary force as ICE infiltrates, SNAP cuts, the recent boat strikes on Venezuela.  

Meanwhile on this day, the House of Representatives passed a $900 billion bill for military and defense spending, later signed into law. 

The state of Texas posted their recognition of Human Rights Day. “In Texas, we’re fighting every single day to make sure that every Texan that stands on our soil has basic human rights.”- even as they continue to execute the death penalty.  

While these are just the more recent examples, we’re reminded of what happened back in 2004 in Katrina, where thousands were stranded or the water crisis, or six years later in Flint, Michigan as thousands were exposed to toxic water, or the global pandemic in 2020.  

In today’s America, political prisoners, the prison conditions, the death penalty, ongoing use of the methods and tactics of counterinsurgency not only compromise and threaten human rights but shed light on the role of the state, relationship with government/state actors. 

The issue of human rights is one that defines and highlights the Black experience in America, the struggle to recognize and acknowledge Black humanity. From the early days of American settler colonialism, Black people were considered to be "3/5 of a person". This constitutional clause helped to shape and influence Black resistance and rebellion ever since. 

There is a strong historical context of Black folk engaging with humanism and human rights during the 18th and 19th century that extends beyond the pursuit of integration and the legal protections of civil rights. In the 20th century, there “We Charge Genocide” campaign, and Dubois letter that predates the analysis of Malcolm X that drove his approach to human rights versus civil rights. 

This tradition continues today as a number of Black radical and revolutionary formations pursue a self-determination approach to human rights; organizations such as December 12th Movement, Black Alliance for Peace, Cooperation Jackson, Community Movement Builders, Jericho Movement, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Mississippi Center, 

Back in 2021, Ajamu Baraka, Director of the North-South project, developed a “Peoples centered human rights” framework, describing the framework this way, ”…They are “those non-oppressive rights that reflect the highest commitment to universal human dignity and social justice that individuals and collectives define and secure for themselves through social struggle,” he goes on to explain, “...They are not just a specific set of rights. Peoples centered human rights reflect a process informed by an ethical framework as opposed to a pre-figured list of items defined as representing human rights. This is one of the key differences between the liberal framework and Peoples centered human rights...” 

During the interview, Baraka explained that human rights must be created from the bottom-up, rejecting the idea that human rights can only come from legal texts via negotiation and compromise: “...The people themselves write their own laws…So for the people centered human rights framework, the foundation begins and ends with the people…”

In, “A People's orientation to the praxis of People(s)Centered Human Rights: proposed approach and application,” Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright asks important questions to guide thinking as folks grapple with the self-determined approach:  “…That’s the what of PCHRs, yet many are rightfully inquiring about the how - what does a PCHRs framework look like in practice and, given that this framework centers oppressed and colonized peoples, how do they become effective practitioners?” 

Meanwhile today’s headlines continue to chronicle the current moment as war, famine, deaths, hunger continues uninterrupted in real time yet fails to capture the fundamental hypocrisy and contradictions of human rights. 

But there’s a new and different narrative taking shape around human rights as more and more Black people in the US and around the world resist their daily existence of being commodified, exploited and weaponized.