by TONDRA L. LODER-JACKSON, PhD. Black History Month’s conclusion seems to me an opportune time for reflecting on America’s age-old tension between supporting civil rights versus human rights. As an African American woman educator, I have observed this tension among students, colleagues, community members, and the national media. The paraphrased statements below capture the essence of […]
Archives for February 2018
The ‘Invisible’ Killer
Simply because you cannot see air pollution, does not mean air pollution does not exists. Often, pressing issues such as air pollution and other environmental problems such as soil contamination are dismissed because the effects of pollution are not always tangible until extreme environmental disasters occur. On December 5, 1952 the residents of London, England […]
Moving Beyond ‘Victim’
The normative value of universal human rights is constantly scrutinized both within the academy and in the field alike, as has been previously featured on the Institute for Human Rights Blog. Universal human rights, codified in international documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention of the Rights of the Child, […]
Be a Real Man: Toxic Masculinity
What does it mean to “be a man”? The traditional response would involve being dominant, physically strong, and emotionally closed off. Some might see someone who is tough and intimidating, who never cries in front of others, and say that he is a “real man.” Men in our society are pressured to fit perfectly into […]
Nonviolence as a Demonstration of Black Identity
February is Black History Month. This blog series seeks to challenge the narrative of Black criminality, inferiority, and violence by presenting a counter-narrative that explores the ethic of nonviolence as a method for the acknowledgment of existence, rejection of exodus, and expression of identity for Blacks. Nonviolence is a demonstration of Black identity. It is an […]
Iran and the Conflict Over Human Rights
Throughout his work, the Iranian poet and academic Hasan Honarmandi vividly illustrated the predominant Iranian view of the West in the wake of the Islamic Revolution of 1979. In his poem The West is Fast Asleep, Honarmandi claimed “[f]rom the land of glitter all happiness has left / Chains abound, but of faith it is […]
Identify: An Olympic Spotlight on Transgender Athletes
The Olympics are often heralded as a celebration of international cooperation, but they also reflect the current political and cultural moment in which the games take place. Explained in the book The Games: A Global History of the Olympics, the first modern Olympics in 1896 were only composed of white males, mirroring those who had […]