LibGuides: Library Spotlight: Human Rights Month

Welcome and Introduction

Welcome to the Lewis Library's digital display celebrating the month of December as Universal Human Rights month. As a result of the tumultuous experiences of World War II, the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948 adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights --shining forth key features of inherent rights, dignities, and freedoms deserving of all humankind that should be applied universally and internationally.

Because of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, the International Day for People with Disabilities on Dec. 3, the International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, and the International Human Solidarity Day on Dec. 20, the Lewis Library will highlight resources that allow you to step into the history of human rights, understand issues that have been forged from the ideas of human rights, and walk in the shoes of those who have struggled and achieved great deeds in the name of promoting human rights.

All of the print materials can be checked out at the circulation desk on the 2nd floor of the Lewis Library.

Human Rights History

Human Rights after Hitler by Daniel Plesch; Benjamin B. Ferencz (Foreword by)
Call Number: KZ1174.5 .P58 2017
Thousands of forgotten US and Allied war crimes prosecutions against Hitler and other Axis war criminals provide a great foundation for twenty-first-century human rights and accompany the achievements of the Nuremberg trials and postwar conventions.
Women's Rights by Lynn Walter
Call Number: HQ1236 .W6527 2000
This book provides fifteen case studies exploring the problems surrounding the fight for women's equality in every region of the world. The history, the public perceptions, contemporary problems, the future of women's rights, and the roles of activists concerning these rights are examined.
1956 by Simon Hall
Call Number: D842.5 .H34 2016
In 1956, all across the globe, ordinary people spoke out and protested to win their freedom. This book tells the stories of the people who worked to overturn oppressive systems in order to build a brave new world.
Freedom on Fire by John Shattuck
Call Number: JC571 .S453 2003
The author writes this book to focus on recent global human rights atrocities at the time of his writing and tells the story of how the Clinton Administration's human rights policy changed from disengagement to saving lives and bringing war criminals to justice.

UN International Human Rights Day Website
Explore the United Nations' website telling you about the background and initiatives of International Human Rights Day. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is accessible by clicking the "Resources" link on the UN Human Rights homepage.

International Human Solidarity Day, Standing Up for Fair Labor and Rising Against Poverty

Famine, Affluence, and Morality by Peter Singer; Bill and Melinda Gates (Foreword by)
Call Number: BJ1475.3 .S56 2015
This book discusses our moral obligations to and challenges people's attitudes towards extreme poverty.
We Are All Fast-Food Workers Now by Annelise Orleck
Call Number: HD4901 .O75 2018
This book traces the evolution of a new global labor movement started by low-wage workers from across the globe. This is an up close and personal look at globalization and its costs, as seen through the voices of low-wage workers.
Levi's Children by Karl Schoenberger
Call Number: HD9940.U6 L457 2000
Corporate complicity in human-rights violations is a controversial issue. Using the story of Levi Strauss & Company as a guide, the author assesses the challenge companies face in balancing the need to protect human rights against economic globalization.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD)

What We Have Done by Fred Pelka
Call Number: KF480 .P45 2012
This book shows the voices of disability rights activists who transformed how society views people with disabilities, and recounts how the various streams of the movement came together to push through the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

United Nations IDPD Website
Learn about how the UN advocates internationally for rights of people with disabilities, especially by exploring the "Background" and "Resources" tabs on the UN IDPD homepage.

The People's Advocate—Against the Odds: Inspiring Stories of Disability

This video highlights Robert Martin, international speaker and disability rights advocate, who was instrumental in drafting the "Rights of Persons with Disabilities" for the United Nations Convention.

“Robert Martin: The People's Advocate—Against the Odds: Inspiring Stories of Disability.” Films On Demand, Films Media Group, 2014, https://niagaracc.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=103836&xtid=115774

World AIDS Day

HIV Pioneers by Wendee M. Wechsberg (Editor); James W. Curran
Call Number: RC607.A26 .H5768 2018
The author shares 29 personal narratives of doctors, scientists, and government bureaucrats alongside those of survivors and their loved ones. Illuminating the multiple facets of the HIV epidemic across the globe, the book captures the ongoing fight against HIV.
Virus Hunt by Dorothy H. Crawford
Call Number: RA643.8 .C73 2013
The hunt for the origin of the AIDS virus began over twenty years ago and involved much research to unravel how the virus first infected humans. The author starts with the African rainforests to reveal how HIV-1 first emerged and then follows it to its pandemic state, while exploring why and how it was able to spread so widely.
When We Rise by Cleve Jones
Call Number: HQ75.8.J66 A3 2016
A longtime LGBTQ and AIDS activist offers an account of his life from sexually liberated 1970s San Francisco, through the AIDS crisis, to his cofounding of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and conception of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and up to his present-day involvement with the marriage equality battle.
Stand by Me by Jim Downs
Call Number: HQ76.8.U5 D69 2016
This book argues that gay life in the 1970s was about much more than sex and marching in the streets, especially during the onslaught of HIV/AIDS. It tells stories of gay people who stood together to build a community. Attacking critics who used the HIV/AIDS outbreak to say that sex was the defining feature of the gay lifestyle, the author shows the true causes and effects of the historical gay liberation movement.

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