We start by inquiring, What is a right? What makes a right human? How and why do we make the effort to conflate the two into a universal day of Human Rights?

A right is something is something we have earned during our life journey. Human Rights are, by their very terminology and definition, for all of us, regardless of circumstance and situation. Human rights are moral principles or norms for certain standards of human behavior and are regularly protected in municipal and international law. They are commonly understood as inalienable, fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because they exist in the form of a human being. Human rights are inherent for all of us.

That these rights have been systemically and systematically ignored, overrun, over-turned, misused, and abused is beyond question over the nearly 250 years our country has in its history. The question that remains to us as we enter 2022 and celebrate this years International Human Rights Day (Dec. 10), is: How does the world bring human rights to the forefront of all human endeavor? More and most importantly, what can we each of us, you and me do to install them into each day and each act of our existence?

Here, I pause as I wonder, What does it take to get genuine and authentic agreements, across peoples, places, and cultures, to create and sustain human rights as inalienable? At present, our nation and the world are highly dichotomized and hyper-charged, with a chasm wider and deeper than the Grand Canyon.

What has happened, I contemplate. As a developmental and intercultural psychologist, I have come to understand that there is a different breach at work the breach of open, honest, and civil discourse and communication. I observe that people have stopped listening and caring form one another when there is a diversity of opinion present. Without the patience, the poignancy and the respect to listen deeply for what lies underneath the surface of the days headlines, it becomes nearly impossible to build a community focused on seeking unity.

In our busy little city of Greenfield, we, too, have daily human rights challenges. Sadly, this has personally affected many of us, and our neighbors and colleagues lives in ways too many of us just dont see or experience.

At the same time, we are fortunate to have written right into the essence of our City Charter that there is a standing statute that affords all of us a voice and a place to advocate for our human rights: the Greenfield Human Rights Commission.

As the current chairperson of this group, I know that many people dont know much about us. We are currently composed of seven individuals who are steadfastly committed to bridging the gap in our services, attitudes, systems and activities when they do not promote equity throughout our diverse community.

Rest assured, those involved and those wishing to be involved want to know that our your needs and wants are being respected and held with equanimity. And, we are actively seeking two more commissioners.

If you are interested in serving on our Greenfield Human Rights Commission or know someone in Greenfield who might be or are just curious about who we are and what we are doing our meetings are generally held on the second Monday of each month. All are welcome, as is each and every voice. Dates, times, and further information are supplied on the citys Website approximately three days before each meeting is held.

In the ordinariness of everyday life, I can and do commit to all of the following to exercise and strengthen my and our human rights:

I will willfully engage in holding others accountable for jokes, slights, and stereotypes and interrupt them.

I will greet each person kindfully and with respect as though they are an intimate friend.

I will seek the goodness out in each person and each interaction I have and appreciate them.

I will look for opportunities to bring people with differences of opinion and perspective together so that they will listen and hear one another out.

I will use the worlds best-ever question, Is there more? to aid in gaining deeper insight and understanding.

And, I will ask myself, What else can I do on a daily and moment-by-moment basis?

On this International Day of Human Rights, it will help our friendship circles, professional and working relationships, and our community if we each take a moment to consider how each of us can be more active and engaged in the dynamic interplay of human relations to build an ever-strengthening network of human rights, and what is right about being human.

Daniel Cantor Yalowitz, Ed.D., chairs the Greenfield Human Rights Commission.

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My Turn: On the power of sharing International Human Rights Day - The Recorder