Bloggers Unite For Human Rights

I've known about this for a few weeks now and have gone back and forth about what to write. I talk to myself a lot about these kind of things. You should know that about me. Anyway, This is a subject that I take very seriously.

So, I thought about a long post on Darfur. I thought about China. I thought about many places around the world where people don't have the right to live as they chose.

But, instead of focusing on those topics, I've picked another. I think we need to talk more about what can be done to help those who are denied basic human rights. Yes, awareness of the problem is the first step and it is an important one. But, for the moment, let's assume that we all know about the problems in Darfur. Now what?

Now, we tell people that these problems are important. We contact our Congressional Representatives and Senators and we tell them that we think these problems are important. We work with organizations such as Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch or others to help bring about change.

Most importantly, we teach our own children that the world can not stay silent when other people are being denied the most basic human rights that we enjoy. We teach them to be good and responsible citizens of the world and to help those in need. And, we are proud of them when they join groups such as Youth for Human Rights or local school groups focused on protecting human rights.

The human rights crises that exist in the world today can not be solved by any one person. We need to act as a community and we need to help those who are not in a position to help themselves.