In this volume, we have chosen to highlight the importance of education to human rights by reprinting two articles written by Paulo Freire (1921-1997) in 1970 for the Harvard Educational Review.

These articles contain many of Freire's original ideas on human rights and education—issues that are central to his work. Freire was a pioneer in promoting the universal right to education and literacy as part of a commitment to people's struggle against oppression. As Jerome Bruner recognized after Freire's death in May 1997, Freire left as a legacy his commitment to basic human rights: "He was a brave man as well as a far-sighted one. He made us aware of our mindless cruelties, and now the challenge to all of us is to do something about those cruelties." (e-mail communicaton to CREA Research Center, University of Barcelona, May 1997.)