Dignity. The word has been with us in Latin and French since the 13th century. It was used to exalt human characteristics of moral and ethical uprightness. We’ve celebrated our dignitaries and, as we have the tendency to do, emulated the trappings of those we believed qualified to carry the term. We acknowledged status, but this is a far more superficial understanding of what it means to hold dignity, or to be a dignified human being.
The Enlightenment brought the understanding of treating human beings with respect and recognized dignity to be an inalienable right. In 1948, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed that ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.’ And while this marked a major milestone in human evolutionary thought, little has changed in the ways we’ve treated one another or have allowed others of us to be treated.
In fact, when you dive into the word (as Frederick Douglas did) it becomes apparent that political, legal and scientific scholars are ambiguous about the term. Dignity is largely left undefined.
But this is when the true meaning of dignity can emerge; when people cannot agree to a definition because the term cannot be encapsulated. Dignity cannot be caught in the trappings of language, and not in the mindset of intellectualism.
Dignity must be felt. Each of us has the right to claim and manifest the inherent dignity that lies within – which no one can take away and no law can circumvent.
It is our right and duty to manifest dignity. But first we must tap into it. Be courageous. Be human.
The photo is of my Diné friend and mentor who lived “Walk in Beauty”
“The soul that is within me no man can degrade.” Frederick Douglas
“No power on this earth can destroy the thirst for human dignity.” Nelson Mandela
Prem Rawat on Realizing Your Potential as a Human Being
let kindness win 