2017 Year in Review – Tennessee United for Human Rights

2017 saw the expansion of Tennessee United for Human Rights, carrying out the work of the international organization United for Human Rights in the Southeast United States.

Tennessee United for Human Rights (TnUHR) was formed as a non-profit public benefit corporation in 2015 to educate Tennesseans on the basic principles and foundations of human rights. In 2017, the organization has taken great strides to provide help to people of all ages so they may understand their basic human rights.

Volunteers began the year by participating at the annual convocation for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Tennessee State University Gentry Center. They distributed the What are Human Rights? Booklets, spoke to community and religious leaders about the human rights education curriculum and how to help people with this knowledge.

Next, volunteers gave a workshop on Human Rights 101 during the Tennessee Conference on Volunteerism. The workshop was aimed at volunteers, to help them first learn their basic human rights, then enlighten them on how to help others understand their rights, too.

In September, the chapter organized a large event for International Day of Peace centered on the theme of religious freedom. The theme was “Religious Freedom and What This Means Today,” and featured a panel discussion of religious leaders including the Rev. Dr. Jason Curry, Dean of Fisk Memorial Chapel; The Venerable Bhante Nanda, Spiritual Adviser of the Kentucky Meditation Peace Center; Michael Spencer representing the Baha’is of Middle Tennessee; and Rev. Enoch Fuzz, Pastor of Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church.

Next month the group followed up on this discussion with a Public Listening Session on Religious Freedom, held on International Religious Freedom Day. Several faith leaders representing Muslim, Sikh and Christian denominations contributed their views during this listening session. They were posed and answered questions about their faiths, public perception of their religions, and religious discrimination. TnUHR plans to publish a State of Religious Freedom Report for Tennessee in 2018, which will include the information gathered through this focus group.

Then, to close out the year, TnUHR was a co-organizer for the annual Tennessee Celebration of International Human Rights Day, a spectacular event which showcased human rights leaders for their work and uplifted others.

TnUHR is planning to begin 2018 with several events to continue promoting human rights and gather information for the 2018 State of Religious Freedom Report for Tennessee.

TnUHR is the local chapter of United for Human Rights (UHR), an international, not-for-profit organization dedicated to implementing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its membership is comprised of individuals, educators and groups throughout the world who are actively forwarding the knowledge and protection of human rights by and for all Mankind. United for Human Rights was founded on the Declaration’s 60th anniversary, in the face of continued worldwide abuses which violate the spirit, intent and Articles of this charter of all human rights, the first such document ever ratified by the community of nations. For more information about United for Human Rights, go to humanrights.com. For more information on the Tennessee chapter, visit tnuhr.org.