Do human rights matter?

Recorded today (16 April) Morning Tinto podcast, episode 11

Author

Chris Musei-Sequeira
April 16, 2025

This image shows a painting of the "Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen" in the form of two large tablets sitting in front of a rectangular structure (potentially stone or marble). The tablets are colored black, with white text. Sitting on the structure are a person clad in red and blue on the left of the painting, and an angel clad in white and pink on the right of the painting. In the middle of the structure is a block with the words in yellow, "DÉCLARATION DES DROITS DE L'HOMME ET DU CITOYEN." In the top middle of the image is a triangle with an eye in the center, hovering in the sky. Image title from source: Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier (dit l'Aîné, attribué à, 1738-1826). "Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen. La Monarchie, tenant les chaînes brisées de la Tyrannie, et le génie de la Nation, tenant le sceptre du Pouvoir, entourent le préambule de la déclaration". Huile sur bois. Paris, musée Carnavalet. Author from source: Le Barbier, Jean-Jacques-François (dit l'Aîné) [d.1826-05-07] SOURCE: File:Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. (2020, July 4). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Citizen_in_1789.jpg

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Do human “rights” matter? Do they even exist? If so: then who has the power to grant those rights… and to take them away?

Morning Tinto Episode 11: Do human rights matter?

Recorded today, my friend Heather Luna of keduzi and I discuss the United Kingdom Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman, released earlier today. We talk about the concept of “human rights” and the problems with turning to institutions for recognition of rights. Heather and I also raise the United States Declaration of Independence, the illegal deportation of a Maryland (USA) man to El Salvador, and H. Peter Steeves’ book Up from Under the Rulers: The Anarchic Phenomenological Communitarian Manifesto (RPI, Inc. 2024).

Take a listen, subscribe, and hit “REPLY” in your email app to let us know what you think!

Previous Morning Tinto recordings

  • Episode 1: The Trump Administration and DEI (23 minutes and 59 seconds)

  • Episode 2: Do not obey in advance. (21 minutes and 16 seconds)

  • Episode 3: An illiberal intervention (23 minutes and 7 seconds)

  • Episode 4: Who Are “We, the People”? (19 minutes and 22 seconds)

  • Episode 5: Off the spectrum? (32 minutes and 1 second)

  • Episode 6: The mask is off (28 minutes and 58 seconds)

  • Episode 7: Meeting each other’s needs (33 minutes and 18 seconds)

  • Episode 8: Survival and community (27 minutes and 6 seconds)

  • Episode 9: Being relational in resistance (31 minutes and 52 seconds)

  • Episode 10: Is hoping waiting? (32 minutes and 29 seconds)

Where to find the perspectives you’ve been missing

FIRST: Subscribe to the Morning Tinto podcast, where my friend Heather Luna and I use the lenses of oppression and resistance to talk about events that happen right before recording.

SECOND: Subscribe to our professional offers-and-needs networking events announcement list. Heather and I regularly host FREE online events where professionals can offer help (free or paid) and ask other professionals to meet their needs.

THIRD: Follow these awesome folks on LinkedIn:

FOURTH: Forward this issue to people you know who are doing decolonial and anti-oppression work.

Got something to say to me?

Hit the “reply” button and give me a piece of your mind.

Image source: File:Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. (2020, July 4). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Citizen_in_1789.jpg

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My name is Chris Musei-Sequeira, and I use he/him pronouns. My mother was born in Trinidad and Tobago as a descendant of African slaves brought to the islands during the time of European colonization. She came to the United States of America (USA) at the age of 10. My father is Goan and was born in India, in Mumbai, and raised Catholic and English-speaking. He came to the USA for his graduate studies, where he met my mother.

My sister and I were born in the USA and lived a middle-class life in the suburbs of multiple American cities. I studied aeronautical engineering and technology policy in university, then worked at the Federal Aviation Administration and as an aviation consultant. I've lived in cities up and down the USA East Coast since the age of 18; I now reside in Queens, New York with my wife.

I thank Heather Luna and Lavinia Muth for showing me the importance of publicly expressing our positions. Because of our positions, all of us are very familiar with some aspects of the world while having no idea of other aspects. Positionality expresses how our individual positions affect our relationships with other people and with the world as a whole.