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| RIGOBERTA MENCHÚ TUM |
Edited excerpt by Carolyn Bennett
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| Still seeking justice Protesting past atrocities Guatemala 2013 |
‘I was a survivor, alone in the world, and had to convince the world to look at the atrocities committed in my homeland’, says INDIGENOUS WOMAN, ACTIVIST, NOBEL LAUREATE RIGOBERTA MENCHÚ TUM, born in Guatemala in 1959. She has devoted her life to the struggle for the rights and well-being of indigenous peoples.
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| Still seeking justice Protesting past atrocities Guatemala 2013 |
Under the Guatemalan government controlled by people of
Spanish descent, colonizers the land, Menchú, of her Mayan background, suffered
extreme hardships. Her family was very poor and worked as seasonal laborers on
plantations; they had no citizenship rights.
Members of her family were leaders
in their community and in the 1960s actively involved in this struggle with ‘Indians’
of Guatemala for economic and social justice. At the height (1980) of this Guatemalan
civil war, Rigoberta Menchú’s father and brother died in a fire at the Spanish
embassy where they had been protesting abuses to their people.
No longer safe
in Guatemala, Menchú escaped to Mexico. While living there she dictated the
story of her life to a trusted translator who later helped her publish Book I:
Rigoberta Menchu. She gained the world’s attention, her story brought global
news attention to the plight of indigenous people in Guatemala; and ever since that time,
she has worked for the dignity of all indigenous peoples.
The year she received
the Nobel Peace Prize she also served as Good Will Ambassador for the
International Year of the World’s Indigenous People and helped to establish of
a United Nations Working Group to address injustices against indigenous people
throughout the world.
International Day of the World’s Indigenous People was
created to raise awareness about the rights and concerns of more than 300
million Indigenous People worldwide. Every day, international and local events
affect the lives of Indigenous Peoples.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms the
inherent dignity, equality, and inalienable rights of all members of the human
family. The rights of all members of indigenous populations are included in
this declaration but Indigenous Peoples also have rights as distinct cultural
groups or nations.
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| Still seeking justice Protesting past atrocities Guatemala 2013 |
Sources and notes
The word INDIGENOUS has many meanings. In every region of
the world, many different cultural groups live together and interact, but not
all of these groups are considered indigenous or inherent to their particular
geographic area. In fact, it is only in the face of a collective or shared
sense of identity that the term “Indigenous Peoples” has been internationally
recognized.
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/indigenous/identify.asp
UN Cyberschoolbus
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/indigenous/index.asp
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/indigenous/identify_focus.asp
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/indigenous/identify_project.asp
UN Cyberschoolbus - Home
comments and suggestions:cyberschoolbus@un.orgCopyright © 1996- 2013
United Nations
Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy
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