Mach 8, 2020
Eleanor Roosevelt wrote at least 500 words for her My Day newspaper column six days a week, with few interruptions, for nearly 26 years (1936 – 1962). She was the first Blogger. This blog you are reading is only 300 words, and I can barely finish one a week when she did six.
The name of her column was “My Day.” She gave her thoughts on the domestic and international events of the day. The purpose of this blog is to reflect on the events of the day, family or international, as she did, and ask “What would Eleanor say?”
And let me be clear, I don’t always know what Eleanor would say. I try to channel her because I admire her and think she was one of the great leaders of the 20th century. She truly wanted a world that works for all, not this country or that country or this religion and not that one. We will do well to think about “what would she say,” even if we do not know precisely, we may be inspired by her thinking.
Eleanor often wrote about family and I will too. From the micro family to the human family. It’s fitting that the Eleanor Lives! website went live on March 7, 2020, my mother’s birthday, Betsy Roberts, a school teacher. The memories of those we love can help us look back to see our way forward. Often it’s the great women in families that pull us together.
It’s also fitting the the actual launch day of Eleanor Lives! is March 8, 2020, International Women’s Day. Eleanor was a strong advocate for women’s rights. Eleanor Lives! is a success every time we rekindle memories people still have of Eleanor, or we teach young people about a visionary role model.
It’s a challenge within one’s own family and the human family to meet the needs of everyone. It helps to have love and a plan – two reoccurring aspects of Eleanor’s life. This photo, our logo, captures what Eleanor felt was her most important accomplishment, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
She hoped, as is anticipated in Article 28 of the document, that there would be future documents to make the rights in the UDHR fully realized for people in all countries. To achieve this, we offer a draft International Bill of Rights on this website that everyone can work on together. It includes a framework for courts that can make rights truly enforceable.
Eleanor said “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” She believed in her dreams, let’s make the future hers. First Lady for the world.
Thank you, Eleanor, and you, readers and signers.
Eleanor Lives!
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