Here in the United States, much of our media coverage of human rights is about antidemocratic foreign regimes and the crimes they perpetrate against their people. Less common is discussion about human rights issues within our own borders: the civil, political, economic, and social rights of every American and the efforts we take as a society to advance and protect them.

Throughout our country, in secular and religious circles, academic institutions, small businesses and corporations, nonprofit organizations, and our local and national government, people are working for human rights in America. They help strengthen our educational system, improve public health, fight discrimination and injustice, and protect our freedoms. But the lack of media coverage of these initiatives limits public awareness of domestic human rights issues and our engagement in efforts to address them.

Rightswire is an online media initiative providing comprehensive coverage of human rights in the United States. Rightswire’s contributors—journalists, activists, scholars, politicians, and community leaders—offer insight into the human rights issues we face as a nation and the people, projects, and organizations that are addressing them. By informing about human rights in America, we open an important doorway to civic engagement that strengthens our democracy and protects our freedom.