In this space at this time last year, I wrote a “My Turn” entitled “On the Power of Sharing International Human Rights Day,” which this year falls on Saturday, Dec. 10. I raised a number of both existential and pragmatic questions concerning what human rights are, what it takes for us to build, maintain, and sustain them, and how to continue to learn how to listen to one another across ever deeper and steeper political and other divides.
This year, even more than the past, we have seen highlighted in all forms of media and a present-day reality nationally and around the world that the fissures between us are ever wider, while simultaneously beginning to crumble. It is to the latter of these upon which I will focus here, keeping attention on what is happening here in our own country.
With the recent U.S. national election cycle now embedded in our history, we have now witnessed a holding of accountability, both nationally and also in our small city of Greenfield. We are seeing, and demanding, that within our rights is the right to hold those in power — from a small-town mayor to a former president and all those in-between — to full accountability, and complete transparency. And, we are seeing that when they fall short, they must account for themselves and own their mistakes and missteps. We are “right” to do so; ‘tis human to make mistakes, address them, and learn to change our ways.
Our national Constitution allows for — encourages — all constituents to have their voices, to utilize them, and to access opportunities to express them. Among other things, this is our human right. Yet, we have seen, here and elsewhere around the world, severe attempts to curtail and manipulate this right, and that, of course, isn’t right. We are beginning to see an ever-brighter light emerging from a deep darkness: the light of those who have been disenfranchised for so long, too long, now beginning to shine. In the U.S. and across our globe, people are demanding that human rights be attended to, and that those in the extremes and the margins and fringes of politics be displaced through open and fair elections. These, in themselves are a right, but one we’ve had to fight for, and have sadly come perilously close to losing altogether. As it is across the world, across our country, so too are we witnessing this here in Greenfield.
In Greenfield, we are fortunate and blessed to have a Human Rights Commission built into our city charter. As the local constituency grows stronger and bolder in demanding its rights, our GHRC stands alongside, and at the forefront, of this new movement. Together, we, the people, the voters, are holding those in power accountable, and demanding change when they see it is clearly not so. Through our national declaration of independence, we hold as inalienable rights the rights of everyone to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These must be upheld, cherished and celebrated at every level of our government, in every sector of our society. And now more than ever. Your citywide Human Rights Commission is continuing its recent trend toward seeing and building these energies to make a positive difference in our community. There are so many issues — emanating from past mistakes, errors, and omissions by those in power — that we all must continue to flag and address without let-up. It is right to do so, and it is within our rights to make it so.
Locally, supporting everyone’s human rights can play out by supporting our HRC. Suggest to us your ideas, your visions, your aspirations, for how to grow Greenfield into what we want it to be. Give us your best thinking, your guidance, your support, your energy. If you can, promote and attend our events as they come into being. We, your commissioners, take our lead from you. Engage us in person, via letters, email, presence, and at our monthly meetings. We are “in it” only to support you, and all constituents, to get things right, and better, in our city. As we build it in Greenfield, let’s make it an exemplar of how we could have it in our world-writ-large. Let’s all work together to address the wrongs of past and present and demand that we get things right, that we learn from our mistakes of the past, from reparations to justice in all its forms: environmental, social, economic, race-based, and more. Let’s take a collective breath, and a moment, to acknowledge International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10 and bring us ever closer to our vision of living right as humans, with fuller accountability and transparency than ever before. And, finally, let us never let up!
Daniel Cantor Yalowitz, Ed.D., is the chair of Greenfield’s Human Rights Commission. An intercultural and developmental psychologist, he is also a community change activist who is passionate about building community and achieving greater understanding across the divides that fracture our common humanity.