At some point amidst the feasting and shopping, the holiday season also serves as a time to remember the less fortunate. International Human Rights Day falls annually on Dec. 10 and serves as a solemn reminder that some people — including many Iraqi civilians — live in conditions that most would consider inhumane. The commemorative day celebrates the United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that each person should have the right to freedom of religion and expression, peaceful assembly, a fair trial, and the ability to seek asylum, as well as "a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family." In honor of the public observance, Stazja McFadyen and Larry Jaffe, founders of local group Poets for Human Rights, are joined in a reading by fellow poets Renee Duke, Venus Jones, Alicyn Lopez and Wayne S. Williams; a guest speaker from the Tampa chapter of Amnesty International is also scheduled to appear. Sun., Dec. 10, 1 p.m., Florida Holocaust Museum, 55 Fifth St. S., St. Petersburg, free admission, 727-820-0100, flholocaustmuseum.org.
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2006.