Dr. Martin Luther King and The Language of Human Rights

Juana  Sanchez

Final Blog

       In this cluster, we have come across the works and movements of Dr. Martin Luther King and his non –violence theory. We have also studied and dissected the topic of Language of Human Rights and its way of being used. Somewhere along the lines, Dr. Martin Luther King’s theory of non-violence and the topic of the language of human rights come together. Kings theory was about not fighting back, learning to control natural human reflexes, and overall maintaining yourself humble and loving even when your rights are being taken away. But the topic of language is about how one articulates and communicates with others in order to cause understanding, and how someone uses their speech to come across a point. Dr. King was really good at communicating with others and his language of human rights was his non-violence theory. In this blog I will discuss Dr. Martin Luther King’s Non-violence theory and how this theory connects to the topic of language of human rights.

        Besides marching as a form of rising public sentiment, one of Dr. King’s strongest skills was his way of communicating. Whenever he preached or spoke out in public, people listened and cheered for him. He spoke with emphasis and strength in his voice. He knew how to articulate well enough in order to cause someone to pay attention. He was repetitive and precise, backing up his words with facts and pure knowledge. His words were what made people want to follow him in his quest to make the United Sates a just country.  He was an amazing public speaker and that caused his campaigns and marches to carry on. This shows how much language was a big part of Martin Luther King’s movements in the time he lived.

         Another way, in which these two topics come together, is when you talk about Human Rights. Dr. Martin Luther King was a fighter, and his main goal was for African American and colored people to be treated equally in society and to have the privilege of using their human rights in full form. The language of human rights is the kind of language used in order to obtain human rights. This is when you use your speech to obtain your human rights. Dr. King’s “Language” of human rights was his non-violence practice. He communicated with people and got his point across by preaching and giving speeches in order for the public to understand the injustice in the treatment that African Americans were getting.

        The language of human rights works when someone uses words and meaning to fight for their human rights, not using violence, but expressing their feelings, thoughts and ideas through speech. And this is exactly what Martin Luther King did all throughout his movements. There are certain limits to how you use language thought. Language should never be used to harm anyone else, and that’s the exception of our right to freedom of speech. King never hurt anyone with his words, on the contrary, he uplifted people and gave them faith to keep striving and keep fighting to get their human rights.

My piece :)

Analysis/ Reflection

In the Language of Human Rights cluster i learned about how important language could be when it comes to maintaining the rights that we deserve as humans. I learned that this is important because someone can easily use a certain language that we are not use to, to take our rights away. Now a days i find myself thinking on a daily basis about how my rights are being taken away and how. I've been more interested in whats going on around us the in our country because of this cluster. I have also learned things about the origin of language and languages around the world that i never thought could be possible and even though at the beginning i wasn't as interested, now its definitely fascinating to me. I drew this picture and named it "We The People" because in all reality we should have a say in everything because the government is there to protect us and our rights. The message that i tried to give with the picture is that no matter who you are and where you come from, you should always have your rights protected. I think its very important that were all treated equally no matter what country we come from, what language we speak or what we look like and i think that i will always take this message with me where ever i go.

My bio

My name is Juana Sanchez. I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, but just until i was 9 years old and moved to the United States. I was born on February 8th 1994, so right now I'm 17 going on 18. I went to Freeport High school until my junior year , which is in a little town called Freeport in Long Island ,NY. Then i finished highschool in Hostos Lincoln Academy in the bronx. Moving from one place to another in the middle of my junior year really affected me and my academic career. But at the same time it made me stronger and who i am today because i had to learn to meet and deal with different types of people and new responsibilities. I am now a Liberal Arts Major at La Guardia Community College. I speak both English and Spanish. Being bilingual to me has become both a gift and a skill because i can communicate with different people all around me, which shows how important language can be. I like to say that i can talk two different kinds of English and two different kinds of Spanish. I can speak standard academic english, which is the kind you learn in school or the type you use while in a job interview. But at the same time i can speak a dialect of english, which is what i use when i talk to my friends or people im close. And the same goes with spanish. Knowing two languages could also be a disadvantage for me because even though i prefer to speak english, i tend to mix both languages and cause myself confusion. This doesnt happen much often anymore but when i was younger it was kind of what blocked me to learn english quicker. At times i didnt even know what language i was thinking in and it was kind of fascinating but scary and confusing at the same time.I remember in grade school, some of my classmates would make fun of me and because i didnt know the language i didnt know what they said and couldnt defend myself. As a little girl i felt that since i was in an american country i wouldnt really need my language, but growing up i learned otherwise. Now i understand the importance of being bilingual and keeping my language alive no matter where i go.

My Trip To The Land of Gandhi

In this blog i will discuss what i learned from another group in my class about the main idea of the passage My Trip To The Land of Gandhi, from the text Testament of Hope edited by James M. Washington. This passage talks about the trip that Dr. Marin Luther King Jr made to India and the important ideas he got from this trip. He talks about how during his time  there he barely saw any violence in a place where people had little and were very poor. There was very little crime in India and people didn't take their misery out on each other. There was spiritual equality and no greed. I was taught that this passage it talks about how there are similarities and differences between what Gandhi fought for and his methods of approaching and practicing his believes, and what Dr King fought for and the methods that he used. There were two different kinds of oppressions. Gandhi was trying to get rid of the colonist in India and gain their independence. Dr. King was trying to get justice and equality for a country where everyone was "equal" and "equally protected under the law". Both used the Non-Violence Theory, but for two different kinds of situations.

Blog #4 : Cluster Reflection

Throughout the cluster there have been certain themes and subjects that we have come across that intertwine with each other . Between these themes is the language of human rights. This brings us to the argument of how language is used to deprive someone of their human rights. Another theme might just be human rights itself. We have compared historical stories of human rights issues to present day and we incorporate political science into our argument and debates.These themes have also shown up in the texts When I Was A Slave  edited by Norman R. Yetman, Southern Horrors edited by Jacqueline Jones Royster. Also in our political science class we used the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which goes with the theme of the cluster explaining to us all of the rights that we as humans have universally.
Each class has its own puzzle piece to what it is that we are suppose to learn from this whole cluster experience. In our English 101 course we have come across 2 types of literature that connect with the human rights issue. We have talked about slaves in the mid and late 1800's and how their rights were taken away by white southerners. This is very much associated with every theme that we have covered. In our linguistics class we have learned  about language and how language is used in other countries, not only its ways of use but also the history of our language and how we use it. This helps us understand how people today use language to take away someones human rights.In our law and political science course we learn about the human rights we have as humans. We have learned how the government is suppose to protect us from our rights being taken away.
There is a big diversity in our cluster. We have people from different countries all come together to showcase our opinions on what human rights mean to each and everyone of us. This has made the cluster a little bit more interesting and unique because even though we all come from different cultures and backgrounds, we all agree that we should have the same right and that we should all be equal under the law.In our LIB 110 course we are now in the process of writing a book about the language of human rights, which is like a combination of all the courses in our cluster and how we feel language and human rights connect.
This cluster has made me open my eyes and had broaden my knowledge of the history of our human rights and how our human rights are being taken away form us today. I believe that every course we encounter with during our college experience somehow has to connect with human rights and even language which i think is one of the things i will take with me everywhere i go. I now know more about the rights that we have as humans and how certain people might use language to take these right away from me and people around me.

What do i need ?

Right now im not yet complete with the whole project. I only got the bio and thats not completed yet as well so im really behind. I dont know what it is that i want to contribute to the book but i was thinking maybe a poem would do or maybe even a drawing about the language of human rights. When i finish with my draft i would like to know if it makes any sense to the reader and if its clear enough. I have not yet done my critical reflection. But i will do it over the weekend. Is this a good idea ? What else do i need ?