Every year, on December 10, International Human Rights Day is celebrated across the world. The day was selected to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on December 10, 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its stated purpose is to celebrate one of the first major achievements of the United Nations. The day is normally marked by high-level political conferences and meetings, in which world leaders make vague promises to uphold human rights in their respective nations.
This year, in the United States, a diverse array of leaders from grassroots movements (including myself) marked the day by speaking out against homelessness and poverty. Millions of people across the United States are now at risk of becoming homeless because of the crisis and its economic impact. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, over 550,000 people experience homelessness on a single night. California has the biggest homeless population in the country, with 129,000 experiencing homelessness on a single night.
Many of those are women, children and people of color. Campaigners for homeless rights, however, point out that these figures are likely low estimates, since they leave out dorm-less college students, people who are living in their cars, people who are temporarily staying with friends or family, and the housing insecure. In Los Angeles, there are at least 60,000 homeless people on the streets every night. Homeless encampments are springing up in every city across the United States. Nearly 140 million people in the United States live at or close to the poverty line, according to the Institute for Policy Studies. Women and children represent 73 percent of poor people in the United States, with a majority of them being Black and Brown.
Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you exclusive audio from a webinar entitled, Winter Offensive Human Rights Day Virtual Gathering. The National Union of the Homeless and the National Welfare Rights Union, as part of what it calls the 2020 Winter Offensive, hosted a Human Rights Day Political Education and Panel Discussion Virtual Gathering in celebration of the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The event highlighted the history of struggle in the U.S. for our basic needs as humans, such as housing, healthcare, a living wage, and an adequate standard of living and our general welfare. The panel included national organizers from various fronts of struggle discussing their work to unite poor people and building politically independent organizations.
