Rising Together: The political Power of Social Movements

As everybody knows there has been a worlwide movement for my political rights, this is, that my right to be a candidate and my right to be elected and thus become a politician be effectively respected. This worldwide movement didn't start in 2020 during the Pandemic years, like many think, started when I was a candidate for the first time in 2016. This year this movement is doing ten years. In 2020, when some people don't allow me to be a candidate was when the movement started to become this really huge worldwide movement that we all can see today on internet, mainly on my social medias. This worldwide movement isn't only to my pre candidacy, but also for justice, for reparations for me, my family and millions other who has had their rights violated around the world and those are waiting for justice.  I'd like to thank all persons doing part in this huge worldwide movement. During many years I've heard that people don't care about injustice, now we all know that this is a lie, thanks a lot good and fair people of the world. This post is a summary of two articles. The first with the title above was published at https://www.heinz.cmu.edu/media/2021/May/rising-together-the-political-power-of-social-movements. The second was written by AI from Google Chrome.

Heinz College professor Silvia Borzutzky has been studying the impacts of movements for decades. While she says movements can organize more easily in the digital age, protests and political action have a long history and should see technology as a tool in the fight for justice, not a solution unto itself. In history books, commentary, and popular media there can be an understandable tendency to focus on transformatice leaders like Martin Luther King, or dramatic events like the Stonewall Uprising. A kind of mental shorthand takes over, we connect "there was a great leader who fought for progress" or "there was a catalyzing incident" to hard-won changes, such as shifts in public attitudes, civil rights or landmark judicial decisions. It's a clean narrative, but it ignores the reality of social movements and the many people who work, organize, assemble, and demonstrate to push for change as part of those movements, sometimes for years or even decades. "I've been teaching American politics for a long time and I often hear myself saying that we need to look more closely at the civil rights movement," said Professor Silvia Borzutzky, a political scientist who has published extensively on political movements in Latin America. While lasting policy and structural changes may be the end goal, Borzutzky suggest that some of the greatest impacts of social movements come in the form of expanded political participation and gains in public support. Inspired by her recent work on social unrest in Chile as well as justice protests in the U.S., Borzutzky created a Social Movement Course at Heinz College with her research assistant, that allows students the space to deeply analyze the origins and impacts of a movement of their choosing. During the course, students heard from academic experts and practitioners in this space. Also, students researched and presented on a movement from across the world, including movements related to the environment and climate change, disability rights and inclusion, pro-democracy, and human rights. While social movements may be most effective when they are locally based and powered by people, there is a role for large institutions to play. Borzutzky refers to support from the U.N. for human rights movements in Latin America. The U.N. not only has the money and resources to finance, for example, investigations into human rights abuses, it also has access to advanced technology. Technology has played a growing role in the success of movements, in particular the growth of social media. However, as Borzutzky notes while social media has a role to play, it can't be the only element and must not take the place of on the effective leadership and localized activism. On and off social media, Borzutzky makes one other key point regarding how we talk about movements that organize and communicate online. She says politicians, media figures, and everyday users of social media should be careful not to conflate groups like the Proud Boys with movements like Black Lives Matter. They aren't comparable.

Movements for the political inclusion of victims of systemic human rights violations in Latin America focus on transforming historical injustices into active political participation. These grassroots and transnational initiatives and direct political representation to prevent future abuses. Core Pillars of Inclusion Movements:   1) Transitional Justice and Truth Commissions: Movements leverage testimonies to hold state and non-state actors accountable. Organizations use documentation of historical violence and abuses to force institutional reforms in the legal and political spheres.   2) Direct Representation and Peacebuilding: In post-conflict areas, victims directly participate in peace negotiations to ensure their demands shape reforms. A notable example includes delegations of victims participating directly at peace negotiation tables.  3) Collective and Reparative Justice: Activists advocate for remedies. Rather than only offering monetary compensation, these movements push to dismantle the systems that allowed the violations, guaranteeing non-repetition through civic education and anti-corruption policies.  Legal and Civic Mechanisms:  1) Inter-American System of Human Rights: Victims and civil society organizations (CSOs) litigate cases at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to mandate state reparations and overturn exclusionary domestic policies.   2) Shrinking Civic Space Activism: With rising authoritarianism and shrinking civic spaces in countries like Nicaragua, Venezuela, and El Salvador, networks focus on securing international oversight to protect the fundamental rights of activists and journalists.

Organized Crime and Human Rights in the Americas

              This book was written by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission with the objective to help member States to fighting crimes, violence, oppression from criminal organizations, evil and injustice. There are 50 recommendations to policy makers to follow. Reparations is not only a matter of money, it is a matter of justice, to compensate the victims of human rights violations who have their lives destroyed for almost three decades. Some people speak how the impact of those violations were not so devastating, but those same people don't allow their rights being violated not even for one day. And if this happens, they want to be compensate wihtout delay.  We can't let those people diminish the values of human rights protection and even not allow these unpunished violations used to make people afraid to fight for their rights, democracy, justice, peace, reparatioons and a better country. This post is a summary of the book with the title above published in February 2026 at https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/decisions/pdf/2026/res-1-26-en.pdf

                In the light of the advances and profound impact of crime in the Americas, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) warns of the urgent need to adopt a regional approach, as well as specialized treatment of policies and strategies in the areas of citizen security, administration of justice and guarantees of truth, justice, comprehensive reparation, and non-repetition for victims and their families. The IACHR issues this resolution with the aim of recommending the adoption and implementation of public policies geared toward the design and evaluation of effective security strategies that incorporate respect, protection, and guarantees for human rights. This should be achieved through the social prevention of violence, the strengthening of the administration of justice, and comprehensive reparation for victims and communities affected by this phenomenon. This resolution seeks to contribute to the strengthening of state functions in the area of security and the adoption of comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable strategies instead of fragmented, or exclusively repressive approaches to security. The IACHR reaffirms that the full and cross-cutting incorporation of a human rights approach is a prerequisite for the legitimacy, effectiveness, and sustainability of security policies, in accordance with the international obligations. Crime is one of the main causes of loss of human life in the region, as evidenced by high homicide rates. For example, although Latin America represent only 9% of the world population, they account for one-third of homicides and this rate is three times higher than the global average. While violence used as a control mechanism by criminal groups affects the population, its impact is disproportionate on individuals in situations of vulnerability. Organized crime practices not only physical violence, but also socioeconomic, which erodes the rule of law, hinders access to justice, and affects the exercise of human rights. In turn, it generates mistrust in governance and in political and judicial systems. This resolution constitutes an urgent call to action. Reaffirming that the administration of justice is an indispensable component for guaranteeing the rights of victims of human rights violations, by ensuring the clarification of the truth and effective access to justice and to comprehensive reparation. Reaffirming that Inter-American jurisprudence has held that, no activity of the State can be based on contempt for human dignity. Noting that in some countries, criminal organizations have emerged and consolidated within prisons, from where, in certain cases, they continue to be run today. This reinforces the need to incorporate the prison system as a central axis of security strategies in the fight against organized crime. Affirming that the full and comprehensive incorporation of human rights principles is not only compatible with crime prevention and reduction, but also an essential element for the legitimacy, effectiveness, and sustainability of state security policies and strategies.  In the light of the above and exercising the functions confered upon it by Article 106 of the OAS Charter, the IACHR resolves to make the following 50 recommendations to the member States:      1) Development of information ecosystems and warning systems.   3) Prevention of forced child recruitment and comprehensive protection.       11) Special protection for human rights defenders.     14) Protection of freedom of expression and journalists.   16) Principle of maximum disclosure and dissemination of information of public interest.      18) Guarantees of safety and priority attention for victims and witnesses.       19) Comprehensive protection during judicial proceedings.         32) Registration and analysis of victims with a focus on diversity and intersectionality.         33) Participation of victims in judicial proceedings and guaranteeing of their rights.        34) Access to comprehensive reparation and guarantees of non-repetition.       36) Strengthening transparency and accountability.       37) Investigation and punishment of corruption.      39) Transparency and access to information on public policies.     41) Policies to control drug use and trafficking.      45) Institutional modernization and professionalization.     47) Strengthening technical and investigative capacities.     48) Non-coercive investigation methods and prevention of torture.          49) International cooperation.           50) Strengthening of multilateral forums. 

50th Birthday of Chester Bennington

             Almost four months ago, precisely on 20th March, the lead vocalist and songwriter of the band Linking Park would complete 50 years old. In his songs he wrote about the importance of mental health, peace, respect to our humanity and justice.  We all have to help each other to resolve the problems that we possibly can have, but we should never give up to fight for our life and against what affects our mental health. This post is a summary of two articles and a third paragraph written by AI. The first was published at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Bennington. The second was published at https://www.thomann.de/blog/en/inspire/chester-bennington-linkin-park-tribute-50th-birthday/. The third was written by AI from Google.

Chester Charles Bennington (March 1976 - July 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist and songwriter of the band Linkin Park. Bennington first gained prominence following the release of Linkin Park's debut album, "Hybrid Theory" (2000), which was a worldwide commercial success. The album was certified diamond in 2005, making it the bestselling debut alnum of the decade. Bennington was born in Phoenix, Arizona to a mother who worked as a nurse and a father who was a detective. He had two sisters and an older brother. He took an interest in music at a young age, citing the bands "Depeche Mode" and "Stone Temple Pilots" as his earliest inspirations. In a January 2011 interview, in response to the 2011 Tucson shooting, Bennington said, "There is a non-violent way to express yourself and get your point across. In a free society, people have a right to believe whatever they want to believe. But nobody, has the right to take another person's life." He struggled with depression, anxiety and substance abuse. He overcame his drug addiction and denounced drug use in later interviews. He battled with alcoholism, which he overcame following an intervention from his bandmates. Bennington was a close friend of Chris Cornell. The friendship between the two strengthened during the 2007-2008 Revolution Tour when Bennington joined Cornell on stage. Following Cornell's suicide in May 2017, Bennington wrote that he couldn't imagine a world without Cornell in it. On May 26, 2017, Bennington sang Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah" at Cornell's funeral in L.A. On July 20, 2017, Bennington was found dead at his home in Palos Verdes, California. Authorities ruled his death as suicide by hanging. Linking Park went on hiatus following Bennington's death in 2017, during which the band didn't tour or work on new music. In September 2024, Linking Park announced they would reunite after a seven-year hiatus to release a new album, which was released in November 15, 2024. Several publications have commented on the music legacy Bennington left behind. While describing the success of Bennington and Linkin Park, AllMusic's Andrew Leahey said,"Linkin Park became one of the most successful of the 2000s by welcoming elements of hip-hop, modern rock, and eletronic into their music. The N.Y.Times' Jon Caramanica commented that Benington's ability to "pair serrated rawness with sleek melody" separated him from other singers. Mikael Wood of the L.A.Times argued, "more than Linkin Park's influential sound, Bennington's real legacy will be the message he put across, the reassurance he offered from the dark." Ben Beaumont noted, "His cleanly articulated tales of emotional struggle gave millions the sense that someone understood them, and the huge sound of his band around him magnified that sense, moving listeners from the psychic space of their bedrooms into an arena of thousands of people who shared their pain." After Bennington's death, his widow Talinda launched a campaign called 320 Changes Direction in honor of her husband to help break the stigma surrounding mental illness. 

His legacy as a singer, songwriter, and key figure of rock music will continue to be remembered worldwide. His voice and lyrics touched millions of people. Chester would have celebrated his 50th birthday. We offer our posthumous congratulations, wherever you may be now.  Chester suffered from deep emotional scars throughout his life. When he died, the music world was deeply shocked, having lost a role model and rock singer whose openness and honesty had inspired and encouraged countless people around the world.

Chester Bennington and Linkin Park famously addressed emotional scars, injustice, and a lack of personal privacy in their music. The band often sang about the painful feeling of being exposed, judged, and unable to escape scrutiny. Several key songs capture these specific themes:

• "Crawling": The definitive song about battling emotional scars and feeling exposed. Lyrics like "Crawling in my skin, these wounds they will not heal" capture the feeling of psychological vulnerability and being unable to escape your own mind.
• "Points of Authority": This track directly addresses the feeling of being unfairly targeted, judged, and having your boundaries crossed. Lyrics like "You put your name to shame, cover up your face" tackle themes of betrayal and a loss of personal privacy.
• "One Step Closer": The ultimate venting song for feeling crowded and lacking breathing room. The famous bridge ("Shut up when I'm talking to you") embodies the frustration of having one's boundaries violated and being pushed to the breaking point.
• "Faint": A track about screaming to be heard and noticed, fighting back against feeling ignored or undermined by those who judge you.