Assignment 1
My name is Charmaine Bennett. I have a seven year old son named Dylan, and he’s in the second grade. This is my fourth semester at CWE. My concentration is in Childhood Studies. After I graduate I plan to attend graduate school either for Special Education or Social Work. Maybe both. I know that I want to work in the educational field, just not fully sure in what aspect. I would love to be a Middle a School guidence counselor. I currently work in a middle school in harlem, and I see some of the things these students go through and I wpuld love to help. On the other hand, my principal wants me to become a Special Education Intervention Specialist. Which wouldn’t be bad since i currently work as a ELA Teacher Intern, just undecided I guess. What drew me to this class is my fascination with women’s rights both pass and present. With this pass election i thiught it would be the perfect time to take a class like this. I recently participated in the Womens March in NYC. It was an empowering moment for me to see not just women from all walks of life, but men as well. That experience made me even more excited about starting this class and all of the things I will learn, and taking what I’ve learned and being able to share it with others.
In the introduction of “Inventing Human Rights” by Lynn Hunt (2007), I’m beginning to see where the first conceptions of humans started. The whole concept of human rights seems to be more perception based than anything else.As far back as the Declaration of Independence the wording is where the perception comes to play. The perception of what is self evident? If it is truly self evident that we are all equal than how can it be questioned? The word men is repeated over and over throughout the Declaration of Independence, but not in terms of man kind, to include everyone, but to only include men. Not all men, white men, men with property. Even the word men, excluded men? This is an intersting concept to me. Not only were women excluded, free blacks were also excluded. The fact that one can be considered free, yet not have equal rights to other men is ridiculous. This helps me to conceptualize why we have to fight so hard for equal rights for all.
