The Unanimous Declaration of Youth of the United States of America of Independence from Fossil Fuels (July 4, 2013)
Editor’s note: After watching the documentary An Inconvenient Truth as a 12-year-old, Alec Loorz took it upon himself to galvanize youth to take a leading role in curbing our dependency on fossil fuels. He started a a nonprofit environmental organization for youth, Kids vs. Global Warming, and penned a compelling declaration of independence from fossil fuels. Alec crisscrossed the country to speak […]
“What is required is a new declaration of independence” — President-Elect Obama, Jan. 17, 2009
Editor’s note: On January 17, 2009, just three days before his first inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama called for “a new declaration of independence.” This isn’t the only time he’s harked back to the Declaration. ” In calling for the legalization of same sex marriages on June 4, 2013, he said, “It’s something that can be traced back […]
Universal Declaration of Rights of Mother Earth (April 22, 2010)
Editor’s note: The product of the 2010 World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother earth, held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and attended by progressive activists and indigenous leaders from around the world, among others, this expressive document asserts that the Earth itself is a living being has inherent rights. Universal Declaration of Rights of Mother […]
Declaration of Equality, by Fredric K. Schroeder, National Federation of the Blind (July 5, 2007)
Editor’s note: This declaration of equality, composed by Fredric K. Schroeder, First Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind and a research professor at San Diego State University, draws upon our July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Lincoln’s Gettysburg address in making its stirring case for equal rights for the blind. […]
Declaration of Montréal on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Human Rights (2006)
Editor’s Note: This declaration was approved on July 29, 2006 at the International Conference, the largest ever gathering, on LGBT Human Rights in Montreal. It is described by organizers as a conference “attended by 1500 people from more than hundred countries in the world.” The declaration itself “was drafted by the Co-Presidents of the Conference…and unanimously […]
Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans: Whales and Dolphins (2010)
Editor’s Note: This declaration, which spells out what it maintains should be the legal rights under international law of whales and dolphins, is a product of the Helsinki Group, formed, as the website issuing the document says, “out of the ‘Cetacean Rights: Fostering Moral and Legal Change Conference,’ held in Helsinki, Finland in May 2010, […]
Declaration of Food Sovereignty – Sedgewick, Maine (2011)
Editor’s Note: In March 2011, the Maine town of Sedgewick became the first of four municipalities to pass an ordinance that effectively amounted to a declaration of food sovereignty, one that effectively gives them the right to “a local food system” food that’s sustainable, organic, local; that promotes self-reliance; and that provides an alternative to […]
Occupy Wall Street Principles of Solidarity (2011)
Editor’s note: When the September 30, 2011 manifesto of Occupy Wall Street was released, a statement promised that it would soon be accompanied by a ‘declaration of demands’ and also a document elaborating ‘principles of solidarity.’ A footnote to these principles states: “The Working Group on Principles of Consolidation continues to work through the other […]
A Draft Declaration of Demands for the Occupy Movement (2011)
Editor’s Note: Released on November 21, 2011, this declaration is a follow-on to the Occupy Wall Street Manifesto that was issued on September 30, and in which it was promised that a “declaration of demands” would soon follow. If there is another later version that supplants this ‘draft,’ I haven’t been able to locate it. […]
A Declaration of Gay Independence (2012)
Editor’s note: Tracy Baime prefaces her Declaration with this: “We know that the original signers of the Declaration of Independence didn’t really live by their own words. Very few people in this country’s early years actually had the full rights of citizenship. But those forefathers had a dream, and that dream has been slowly fulfilled […]
