The Call To Defend Humanity!

Yesterday, as I sat in the Church parking lot where the FCSA has their offices, I received a phone call.  As I informed the caller- “we are a military family”, the sound of the Church bells ringing brought an immediate smile to my face.  The joy came from realizing at that very moment, that my granddaughter, the child of two United States Marine Veterans was sitting behind me.  Her Mom, my daughter, a Female Veteran was sitting beside me. I knew there was a message to be found in that perfectly timed moment.

Later as I sat in my office thinking about the phone call, I was drawn to Peter M. Cicchino’s “Defending Humanity” chapter in the Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law.  I keep a printed copy stored underneath the FCSA check ledger that sits on the church bookshelf in my office.

The chapter consists of a talk Peter gave in 1998 when he was the keynote speaker at a public interest law conference in New Hampshire.  Peter begins by telling us the story of Dr. Seuss “Horton Hears a Who”.  He explains that Hortons enhanced Auditory Ability is a metaphor for Heightened Moral Sensitivity. Peter tells us that the other animals are not able to hear the voices of the Who’s and do not recognize that people live on the dust speck of a flower.  They mock, abuse and call Horton insane, they endanger the lives of the Who’s and force Horton to endure countless hours of tedious work finding them. Horton urges the Who’s to make themselves heard and at last minute they organize themselves and speak one unmistakably audible “We are here! We are here!  The other animals hear the voice and are finally aware that the Who’s exist and change their behavior accordingly.

Peter uses this story to convey the idea of human rights. He explains that his choice to convey the message through a rhetorical form derives from the “ferverino” form he learned as a Jesuit novice. He further explains that his intent is not to use the form as a metaphor of preaching to the choir, but instead as a moral call to arms, to inspire and console with the hope that the commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights be strengthened.

He dwells on three fundamental implications of human rights and their relevance to the work of public interest lawyers:

1.     Human Rights Imply a Shared Human Nature

2.     People are Not Things and Should Not be Treated as Things

3.      Defending the Human Rights of Others is itself a Constituent Part of Leading a Good and Human Life

Peter reminds his audience that The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent covenants identify the physical and psychological needs of human beings that our own legal tradition calls “liberty”.  He reminds them that oppression requires work and that wherever human beings are denied things they need to flourish, they will act out. He goes on to urge them to demand that their clients be treated as the human beings that they are and that our political community honor the claims their client’s humanity makes on that community. He promises them that if they protect the human rights of their clients, they will make a good and happy human life for themselves. He consoles their fears by acknowledging how frightening the pursuit of justice can seem. His closing statement contains the following powerful message:

“Be human beings.  Go out and befriend the poor and the oppressed wherever you may find them.  Identify those who impoverish and oppress them.  And then make some trouble!

Reflecting on the experience at the Church parking lot, made me think about the work we are doing through the Fibromyalgia Care Society of America, inc.  The email I shared earlier in the day detailed my disappointment with the lack of empathy, support and resources for all people living with fibromyalgia. More than 90% of the 351 people waiting for supportive services from the FCSA are Women who once held Matriarchal roles.  Similar to the Who’s, the community I serve seems non-existent. My heightened moral sensitivity urges me to do more. I fearlessly pursue justice because the thought of handing over heirlooms of inequities, poverty and trauma to the women who sit behind and aside me seems a lot more frightening. With that in mind, I invite you to join me in being a human being! Make a Donation, Volunteer, Get Involved!

In Peace, Power & Progress

Mildred Velez

Founder & Executive Director

*Peter M. Cicchino, a native of Kearny, NJ was professor of constitutional law and jurisprudence at American University in Washington, graduated magna cum laude in political science and philosophy from the University of Scranton in 1982. He received a Master’s degree in philosophy in 1986. From 1982 to 1988, he served in prisons, hospitals, homeless shelters, and soup kitchens, working especially with young people. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he was a staff counsel on the Lesbian and Gay Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York City and the founding director of the Gay and Lesbian Youth Project at the Urban Justice Center, since renamed the Peter Cicchino Youth Project. 

In 1998, the following month after Peter had accepted a tenure track position teaching law at American University in Washington, he was tragically diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. Peter nonetheless moved to Washington to spend the final two years of his life teaching Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, Torts, and Sexual Orientation & the Law. Peter passed away on July 8, 2000, at the age of 39.