Weekly Blog #25

This past week, as well as over the weekend, I have exposed myself to a variety of new platforms and opportunities for understanding human rights on a global scale, and how to protect and uphold them, whether that be through an activists perspective or through a lawyer’s perspective, or maybe even both. After a week of continued reading over the appropriate documents to establish the content of my human rights documentary, I have gotten the opportunity to learn how countries so different geographically and culturally, can relate and overlap in regards to their human rights protections and enforcements. After reading over the most recent Amnesty International Reports from 2017/2018, I have been able to draw connections between countries that each reside on a separate continent.

In addition to conducting research, I was able to attend the March for Our Lives in Dallas this weekend. At the march I was able to see exactly how human rights intertwine with gun violence and how we need reform as a nation in order to prevent this. Gun violence becomes a human rights issue when one’s inalienable right to life is taken away from them as a result of a gun. When human rights are infringed upon, the government must step in with offered protections (as it has done with segregation and discrimination in the past) in order to uphold the standard of human rights inscribed in the United States Constitution as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, on the other end of the spectrum, I see people that have had negative reactions to the March on social media, misinterpreting the anti-gun violence protest for an anti-2nd amendment right protest. While participating in the march, I felt that it was also necessary to understand the value of the 1st amendment, freedom of expression and freedom of speech. I believe that the 1st amendment epitomizes the fundamental values of the United States, and that it is freedom of expression that turns the wheels of our nation and allows ideas to be heard and acted upon. I feel that the ability to move forward as a collective society is only catalyzed by our ability to speak our mind without fear of instant punishment. After researching many countries this year that do not have enforced laws protecting this simple freedom, my value and appreciation for it has grown even more.