Imagine being a child or a young woman, being refused the opportunity for an education. Imagine growing to adulthood not having learned the basics of reading and writing. How would it affect your life?
And looking at another of the many human rights violations: Imagine being a black person, not allowed the freedom of a white. Perhaps living as a slave, not allowed to be a person unto yourself—not allowed to live the free life others enjoy,
And, closer to home. Imagine if you were labelled with a mental illness or some other disability, causing your community to look down on you, to shun you, to exclude you, to think the worst about you.
In addition, as such a person, not to be given the credibility others have; not to be believed when you complain about being wronged by a person in authority; not thought important enough to receive the attention you deserve from those who should be able to defend you.
Who’s going to protect those children of God who are considered unworthy by society? Who’s going to speak for them? Who’s going to uphold the human rights they, like everyone else, deserve?
Who will stand up for them?
All the leaders we have featured so far in this series, as well as those we will be featuring later, were ready to stand up and fight for some form of human rights violation. Their belief in fighting for what is right was so strong, they were ready to risk their life to pursue it. With passion they worked to make the world a better place for those whose rights were being denied.
We will now look at Mahatma Gandhi, the “Great Soul” who made a name for himself in South Africa when he spent twenty years there as an Indian immigrant. We will see how he later took his leadership back to his native India, freeing it from British rule. What was the innovative way he developed to overcome injustice?
This has been Part 26 of the series A Life Worth Living. Read Part 27 – Mahatma Gandhi.
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