"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." These stirring words from the Declaration of Independence are a powerful statement of the importance of human rights in Western civilization. But many of the freedoms we enjoy today were not so "self-evident" to lawmakers throughout much of our history.

Instead, many of those freedoms - from racial segregation, from enslavement, from persecution for one's religion or ethnicity - were the result of long and fierce struggles that took place in courtrooms and meeting rooms, in churches and on battlefields, in classrooms and on streets, at home and abroad, often over many years.

Now an award-winning author and honored teacher and scholar tells you this inspirational and profound story in a series of 24 riveting, often moving lectures designed to strengthen your appreciation of both your rights and the long struggles to obtain them.

You'll follow the battle for human rights from the initial visions of history's greatest philosophers, religious leaders, and political thinkers to those who fought to make their visions of equality a reality, including Lucretia Mott, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela. Each lecture gives you an overview of historical movements like the struggle for women's suffrage, the emancipation of serfs and slaves, and the development of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.