FINAL

Michelle Jackson December 14th 2011

Final

In this paper I will focus on Martin Luther King’s ideas about non-violence. I will connect what I have learned about King to the other class in this cluster by explaining how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was greatly affected by what King stood for. I will also explain how the language of human rights works and how it is effective.
Martin Luther King’s non-violent theory was overpowered by the use of love. The love that he had for God as well and the love he had for his “brothers and sisters.” He felt that the love he had for God gave him the inner strength to do what he did best…love those who loved AND hated him. I believe that the reason king’s non-violent theory worked was because; no matter how many times his people were beaten, bitten by police dogs, and sprayed down with the water hoses, they were still able to get back up and stand for what they believed in. If you fight violence with violence you are only going to make the situation worse. It’s going to create more chaos and will play a huge role in the destruction of one’s soul and spirit. Nothing will get accomplished. King states, “If we assume that mankind has a right to survive than we must find an alternative to was and destruction” (J. Washington 39). If we continue to fight fire with fire, it is inevitable that mankind would eventually be destroyed. As King puts it so elegantly, “True nonviolent resistance is not unrealistic submission to evil power. It is rather a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love, in the faith that it is better to be the recipient of violence than the inflictor of it, since the later only multiplies the existence of violence and bitterness in the universe, while the former may develop a sense of shame in the opponent, and thereby bring about a transformation and chance of heart” (J. Washington 26). I believe, and I’m sure that King’s beliefs were the same, that love is contagious. If we can all learn to turn the other cheek and do the right thing, more good would come out of it.
Law and Human Rights was an interesting class that was a part of this cluster. I learned that we are all born free and equal, we have the right to life, we are all equal before the law, we have the right to no torture, no unfair detainment, the freedom to move, the right to asylum, the freedom of thought, the freedom of expression, the right to public assemble, the right to education, and the right to food and shelter for all. These rights are just of few that are part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted by the United Nations on December 10th 1948. Martin Luther King fought hard to keep these rights intact from the Poor People’s Campaign, to the Montgomery boycott, to The Birmingham March, to Selma. These were movements that were greatly affected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights one way or another.
I thought that language was just another form of expression that we use to understand each other. However, I have learned that it is more to language than just speaking it. It’s not just English, Spanish, French, etc. I’ve learned to thing outside the box just a little bit, because now I realize that language can be used to affirm or deny someone their human rights.