Rashid Ali
11-22-2011
How is Language related to Human Rights?
11-22-2011
How is Language related to Human Rights?
Human Rights are ideas that are written, spoken or conveyed in order for an individual's safety and security. These ideas are written down as laws by our fore-fathers which are enforced throughout the societies by the legislative branch of government and enforced by the executive. The judicial branch is there to interpret these laws in our daily lives. There are ways in which language can be used to promote or to deny human rights. For instance some people use language to fight for their rights, while other use it to deny these rights for their own advantages and benefits. Whether it is social power, economic, political or financial greed. The language of human rights can also be described as person's experiences in life, how their rights were favored or abused by others and the governments who have control over its citizens. Although the governments are made to ensure the safety of it's people, sometimes it can get too powerful and take many shapes such as Aristocracy, Communism, Dictatorship, Totalitarianism, and the Democracy which is based on a corrupt Capital system.
When it comes to an individual, meanings of human rights may vary. I myself went through many struggles and hardships in life up until this day. The story takes place in a small village town called Panian, in North West Frontier of Pakistan where I was born. I was four years old when my mother passed away. I grew up in poverty with a large family. Life was hard in those days especially without a mother. I have seen all the faces of people who claim themselves our relatives and well wishers. One thing I realized as I grew up, people love you for what you have, not for what you are. that's an important lesson I learned from my so called relatives. My father who used to drive a cab didn't spend much time with his children, it was not his fault, he worked hard to feed us. I remember my elder brother used to give money to my uncles and aunts to cook for us. All this time I was thinking that they are so nice that they cook food for us, clean our clothes, and stuff, but I didn't know the fact that they were paid by my elder brother thousands of Rupees every month for these things. i was mistaken. They would do it for money, not because they loved us and considered us needful of their help. Father was a great man, who bring us all sorts of fruits when he came home and we went running to hug him and he'd hand us the bag full of things. I have seen ups and downs in life. Going to school and having all the neccesary things required like pens, notebooks, books, and uniforms was also a struggle. We could hardly afford them all. Some teachers were nice others didn't care less what our conditions were. If we were missing something in school, got whipped with a stick, and in our tears were constantly reminding ourselves that there is hope for a better tomorrow.
A miracle happened after my Father came to Americas sponsored by my uncle who used to work for the U.N. I was in Eighth grade when I got my visa to come to USA. Thank God, a relief from poverty and ignorance. This was a life changing experience. I couldn't believe my eyes after I landed from the plane. I stepped into a new world, the Americas, Land of Opportunities. The journey was eighteen hours long and we, Me and my three elder brothers, were all exhausted. My Brother-in-law came to pick us up from the JFK airport. All I can remember so far of that day is the streets were clean like a shiny glass and it smelled so good like I was in now in Heaven. God knows we are. Some people, especially my elders who migrated from here from Pakistan call it that name my uncle in particular, thanks to whom we are now living here. After being exposed to poverty, ignorance and greed of all the people in my town, we now appreciated the new land where people of all colors lived in harmony and appreciated their lives not complaining for what they don't have but for what they do have. After spending sometime and trying to adjust to a whole new world, I was now taken to be admitted in a middle School. There I picked up some words in English, met new people and made new friends of different color, race, ethnicity and religion. The name of the school is Walter H. Crowlly located on Queens Boulevard, in short I.S.5. I had so much fun in that Junior High that i still can't forget those good old days. The shift from there to a High School was also extraordinary for Me. As a freshman, I was now faced with becoming a man from a child. It was an unforgettable transition. During these years I was bullied, struggled to learn English fell in love with a Pakistani girl and had the best time of my life.
Here we are now in a community college located in Queens, one of the Borough of New York City where we are assigned a Project for our LIB Hour, part of a cluster doing a project on Language of Human Rights. This is my first semester in a college and I am so excited and motivated to achieve and accomplish the my goals as well as my dreams. I am greatful to God for granting me this opportunity to attend college, graduate from High School and work on fulfilling my dreams one by one. It is a pleasure studying with a group of students who are also seeking the best education out there even if the economic conditions are not so good. Being a part of the cluster that has honorable professors like Professor B, Dr. Jerskey and Professor Cooper is a great opportunity for us to learn from them as well as from each other while sharing our ideas. Bringing our skills and knowledge we are seeking from each class together is as if we are setting a strong and healthy foundation for our future courses, whether it is extending our degree to a four year college or getting the essential tools and skills we can use to improve the Americans system, politically, economically and socially as one nation under God with liberty and justice for all.
Many people value money more than education, but I myself am not one of them. I believe knowledge is power and it should be every man and woman's obligation to acquire education so that we can live our a moral life. This is what makes us humans. We are gifted with an extraordinary potential of learning, teaching, and communicating in various languages depending on our preferential which is not given to any other species so therefore we should take advantage of it. Although it was not easy for me growing up without a mother, I did somehow manage to adopt to a whole new enviroment where the people are educated, civilized and open minded more than the people back home. Unfortunately due to the rate of poverty and ignorance caused by a weak economy and a vulnerable political regime, the people in Pakistan are under constant challenges financially, socially, and economically. My personal experience of how language plays a role in our lives is to constantly learn new things and trying to implement the ones that are applicable and useful in my life. Learning English became compulsory for me in order to adjust myself and be able to communicate to the surroundings around me. Going to high school without knowing English was tough for me. Most of the time I was bullied around because of the fact I didn't speak English nor did I understand anything. I struggled from not knowing a whole sentence in English to becoming fluent in the language. Now that I can communicate in English I feel more confident and comfortable speaking. The gift of language will help me achieve the things I've always dreamed of and progress towards achieving my goals. Everything we learn in our lives is useful and we can teach others from what we have learned in our own lives so far. This experience of teaching others can be influential to yourself in the way you keep reminding yourself of the stuff that you think is important and passing it on to someone else.
