“Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding line, and no way of knowing how near the harbor was. "Light! Give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.” ~ Helen Keller

In the 1980s, I was Karana, a young girl abandoned on the island of the blue dolphins. I crafted a hut from whale bones and hunted fish. In the 1990s, I watched Mr. Darcy intervene in the budding relationship between his friend and my sister. In 2009, as an American journalist in Paris, I discovered unsettling connections between my husband’s family and a young Jewish girl whose brother perished when the French police ripped her and her family from their home.

I admit these alternate lives were nothing more than luxurious dips in the dream worlds of literature. But I often wonder how different my life would be if I hadn’t had the opportunity to go to school and learn to read. Had I been born in a poor country, not attending school would have done more than deny me the joy of reading; it would have been a detriment to my health and well-being.

While life distracted me, February and March offered a myriad of opportunities to talk about women’s issues.

International Women’s Day was observed on March 8th, a Colorado bill ending gender discrimination in health insurance rates moved into the Senate after passing the House with only 2 “no” votes, and Half the Sky, a national simulcast event, placed a well-deserved spotlight on heroes who are fighting abusive practices against women around the world.

It’s a nice way to shepherd in the spring. But distractions or no distractions, this post is late.

Well, better late than never.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “I think it is necessary to realize that we have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights.” These words, though uttered in 1967, are hauntingly relevant today. It seems unbelievable that over the last 24 months, poverty rates rose to an all-time high, medical debt was behind 6 in 10 bankruptcy filings, and thousands of students of color were denied access to a quality education. In a nation of such wealth, visible signs of persistent inequalities remain.

Dr. King did not live to see his vision of respect for human rights fulfilled in the United States. But since his death, researchers and advocates in our nation have spearheaded efforts to make human rights the framework for social justice across the country.

So what are human rights? The world celebrated the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December. According to this historical document, all members of the human race are endowed with the same and most importantly, equal rights. Researchers such as Jack Donnelly have written extensively on the need to protect human rights to secure human dignity. He and others go so far as to equate having human rights and being human. Or as Donnelly says, "human rights say in effect, treat a person like a human being and you’ll get a human being.”

Yesterday, the Dignity in Schools Campaign (of which I am a core group member) released the National Resolution for Ending School Pushout. Below, you can read excerpts from the press release.

More than 200 organizations and individuals from across the country have signed on to support the Dignity in Schools Campaign National Resolution for Ending School Pushout, a call to action for our school systems to end harsh discipline policies and law enforcement tactics that push too many young people out of school each year. The National Resolution calls for schools to implement positive alternatives that protect the human rights of young people and keep students in school.

November 9th commemorated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Germany marked this historic day by strategically placing and then knocking down artistically rendered dominoes, symbolizing the overthrow of the concrete barrier that once separated East and West Berlin. Part of the Festival of Freedom, the toppling of the dominoes took place in Pariser Platz, a central square in Berlin framed in part by the Brandenburg Gate (itself a renowned monument that has been both a sign of peace and an icon of the iron curtain).

I was 9 years old in June 1987, when American President Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate and admonished the then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.” I don’t have vivid memories of Reagan’s speech, or of Berliners wielding sledgehammers to gouge out holes in the graffiti-covered body of the wall. This year, though, Reagan’s speech gave me pause.

Representative Joe Wilson’s infamous “You lie” outburst would have taken on a more childish hue had he shouted “Liar, liar, pants on fire.” But, imagine if he had instead solemnly delivered these lines from 19th century poet William Blake:

Obama understood the daunting task he faced on Wednesday night - speaking to a nation less than two days before the 8th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Addressing us that night about the challenges of improving health care access for millions of Americans, he would, a mere 24 hours later, have to once again step up the proverbial moral pulpit.

I don’t envy him. Enthusiastically new to the blogging scene, I have learned that “blogging” is a close kin of “bumper sticking.” That is, choosing a topic, publishing your thoughts, and then awaiting feedback is a little bit like sticking a bumper sticker to the back of your Chevy; sooner or later, someone concludes that that one sticker embodies your ideals and opinions – and they hold you to it.