Profiles in Humanity The Battle for Peace, Freedom, Equality, and Human Rights

by Cohen, Warren I.

• ISBN13: 9780742567016
• ISBN10: 074256701X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-07-16
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

This compelling book tells the inspirational stories of men and women who fought for peace, freedom, equality, and human rights throughout the twentieth century. These courageous individuals include leading figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, VOclav Havel, and Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as Nobel Prize winners Aung San Suu Kyi, Andrei Sakharov, and Muhammad Yunus. Readers will be reminded why Pope John XXIII, long overshadowed by the charismatic John Paul II, was the greatest pope of contemporary times. A new generation will learn that Margaret Sanger was responsible for the single most important advance toward the liberation of women worldwide. They will also come to know some of the valiant women who fought at great personal risk for equal rights in Muslim communities. Cohen highlights the vital roles of Bram Fischer, Helen Suzman, and Donald Woods in fighting apartheid in South Africa and of Jack Greenberg in the struggle against Jim Crow in America. He traces Liu Binyan's efforts to win freedom of the press and to end the abuse of power by the Chinese Communist Party. Finally, he recounts the remarkable stories of some of the thousands of men and women of many nationalities and walks of life who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. Together, these biographies paint an unforgettable portrait of the famous and unsung people who stepped forward with the moral vision to intervene, often at great personal cost, to alleviate human misery.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
Nonviolent Resistance
Mahatma Gandhi and Nonviolent Resistance	p. 3
Vaclav Havel and the Power of the Powerless	p. 25
Aung San Suu Kyi: Martyr for Democracy	p. 41
Women's Rights
Margaret Sanger and the Liberation of Women	p. 59
Muslim Feminists	p. 73
Racial Equality
Jack Greenberg and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund	p. 89
Martin Luther King Jr. and the Struggle for Racial Equality	p. 97
Donald Woods, Bram Fischer, Helen Suzman, and the Fight against Apartheid	p. 113
Grace in Victory	p. 125
Human Rights
Holocaust Rescuers	p. 147
Pope John XXIII and Catholic Humanism	p. 163
Mikhail Gorbachev, Andrei Sakharov, and Human Rights in Europe	p. 183
The Quest for Truth and Justice in China	p. 199
Freedom from Want
Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt and the Welfare State	p. 211
Muhammad Yunus, Microfinance, and an End to Poverty	p. 231
Conclusion	p. 241
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 245
Index	p. 251
About the Author	p. 261
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