Local Amnesty International volunteers will be tabling at long time Amnesty supporter and death penalty abolitionist Steve Earle‘s concert at The Moore, Thursday June 9. Stop by on your way in or at intermission to sign a petition or two, take some literature or say hi!
Waitin’ on the Sky -Steve Earle with The Dukes (and Duchesses) on Sirius XM:
Join us for our monthly meeting on Tuesday June 7, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm in the den at the Mosaic Coffee House, 4401 2nd Ave NE. First half hour is letter writing and socializing. Meeting starts at 7 pm.
Updates & upcoming events, including our annual booth at the Fremont Fair from June 18 – 19! This year we’ll be sharing space with our friends & collegues from the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
The Mosaic Coffee House is a nonprofit coffee house located in Seattle First Church (behind the Dick’s Drive In on 45th Street in the Wallingford Neighborhood). Check for directions, free parking and bus line information at: http://www.mosaiccoffeehouse.org/directions.html
Facebook event page at: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=177557578969410
It’s almost here! Local Amnesty International volunteers will be tabling and collecting signatures at the U2 concert at Qwest Field this Saturday, June 4. Join us and take a few minutes to sign a petition or two, take some literature or say hi!
Video of Bono raising a toast to Amnesty International on their 50th Anniversary last week in Winnepeg, Canada, followed by a special message from former prisoner of conscience Aung San Suu Kyi from Myanmar (Burma):
http://youtu.be/NvUlXfSZIIU
Aung San Suu Kyi, was finally freed on November 13 last year after many letters, faxes, e-mails, online actions and signatures on petitions at U2 concerts and elsewhere. Your actions do make a difference!
Our local Amnesty International group will have a speaker at the 23rd Annual Tiananmen Square Anniversary Memorial event at the University of Washington, Gowen 201, on Friday, June 3rd, 3:30-5:30 pm. Come join us!
Facebook event at: https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=213959555292666
We have a new page on Facebook, as they’ve made recent changes to their groups and will soon be archiving ours. After reading through the changes, a Page seemed the best option for us. So, stop by and “Like” us!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amnesty-International-Group-4-Seattle/167515709975096
Sunday, May 22: Shine a Light on Azadi Square Westlake Center, 2:00pm
Amnesty International is transforming Westlake Center into Azadi Square for the day to call on the Iranian government to release all prisoners of conscience! On May 22, 2011, Majid Tavakkoli’s birthday, we will shine a light on freedom of expression in Iran through a virtual protest in Azadi Square. In Iran, students continue to face egregious forms of repression and human rights abuses, as the Iranian authorities attempt to… exert control over students opposed to their policies. Those who dare speak out, do so at great risk and with devastating consequences.
Majid Tavakkoli may spend over eight years in prison for simply criticizing the government. The student leader was arrested in 2009 after speaking at a university rally. Azadi Square (Freedom Square) in Tehran is a place where demonstrations have occurred throughout Iran’s history. Recently, it was the site for student led demonstrations in 2009, which took place in the days and weeks following the disputed Presidential elections in Iran.
We will gather with signs and banners and take pictures documenting the protest, to be used in the virtual global protest in June.
For more info, visit www.amnestyusa.org/majid.
The Facebook event can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=224757830868014.
Thursday, May 26: Protest, Revolution and Human Rights – Uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa Seattle University, Bannan Room 401, 6:00pm
Amnesty International presents an interactive teach-in and discussion on the uprisings in the Mid-East and North Africa region over the last several months. Speakers will be both in person and via Skype, and will cover the region broadly with a focus on Egypt, Syria and Libya.
Speakers:
— HIND AHMED ZAKI, EGYPTIAN ACTIVIST AND ACADEMIC
— ZANE AHMEDEIN, EGYPTIAN YOUTH ACTIVIST via Skype
— CHRISTOPH KOETTL, HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGNER
– AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL via Skype
— MARWA MAZIAD, ARABIC MEDIA AND JOURNALISM INSTRUCTOR
— MAHSA MALEKI, SYRIAN COUNTRY SPECIALIST – AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL via Skype
— SALEM A. SALEM, LIBYAN POLITICAL ACTIVIST AND MID-EAST COUNTRY SPECIALIST via Skype
Moderators:
Sophia Hansen-Day, Shorewood Amnesty International
Jordan Palmer, Lakeside Amnesty International
The event will be streaming live online and will include a live chat for those watching the event from outside of Seattle. Free and open to the public.
Campus map: http://www.seattleu.edu/uploadedFiles/Facilities/SU-CAMPUS-DIR-Handout-2010%20.pdf.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=108566669231427
We will be having our regularly scheduled AI Group 4 meeting this Tues. night, following the Mon. night UW Center for Human Rights event featuring AIUSA Executive Director Larry Cox (see previous post). Apologies for the last minute cancellation last month!
Join us for our monthly meeting on Tuesday May 3, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm in the den at the Mosaic Coffee House, 4401 2nd Ave NE. First half hour is letter writing and socializing. Meeting starts at 7 pm.
Laura will be filling in for Larry E. who can’t make it, and so far the agenda includes letter writing, review recent events (such as the AGM), and discuss upcoming events.
Update: Actions included Mother’s Day Action cards shining a light on maternal mortality:
The Mosaic Coffee House is a nonprofit coffee house located in Seattle First Church (behind the Dick’s Drive In on 45th Street in the Wallingford Neighborhood). Check for directions, free parking and bus line information at: http://www.mosaiccoffeehouse.org/directions.html
Join Group 4 & other local human rights supporters on for the University of Washington Center for Human Rights Symposium and Reception featuring Amnesty International USA’s Executive Director Larry Cox. Event is on Mon. May 2 with Keynote & Symposium at 6 – 7:30 pm, Kane Hall, Room 220, and a Reception Celebration 7:30 – 9 pm at Kane Hall, Walker-Ames Room.
The event will celebrate human rights work in our communities and across the globe. Featured panelists include:
Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, Keynote
James Bible, President of the NAACP Seattle/King County
Pramila Jayapal, Founder and Executive Director of One America
Magdaleno Rose Avila, Global Justice Leader and Activist
This event is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served. No RSVP required for individual attendees.
Further information: http://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/
Facebook event (secure link) at: https://www.facebook.com//event.php?eid=139479606123848
Join us for our monthly meeting on Tuesday April 5, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm in the den at the Mosaic Coffee House, 4401 2nd Ave NE. First half hour is letter writing and socializing. Meeting starts at 7 pm.
No word on the agenda yet, but report backs from group members attending Amnesty’s Annual General Meeting in San Francisco last month and updates on Troy Davis’ death penalty case are likely topics of discussion.
The Mosaic Coffee House is a nonprofit coffee house located in Seattle First Church (behind the Dick’s Drive In on 45th Street in the Wallingford Neighborhood). Check for directions, free parking and bus line information at: http://www.mosaiccoffeehouse.org/directions.html
WE ARE ONE: RESPECT OUR RIGHTS !
On April 4, 1968, shortly before his assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood with sanitation workers in Memphis to demand human rights, basic respect and collective bargaining to gain a better life. Today, hundreds of thousands of people are taking the same stand—together.
All workers have a human right to organize and to bargain collectively. Amnesty International stands in solidarity with all those seeking to defend collective bargaining rights anywhere these rights are threatened, and on April 4 we urge all legislators to protect workers’ rights by rejecting any attempt to limit collective bargaining.
Honor Dr. King’s vision for human rights. Join us on April 4!
As you know, there is an ongoing battle over collective bargaining rights that started in Wisconsin and is now growing in several states around the country on whether collective bargaining rights are indeed respected and recognized by elected officials. Amnesty International USA has signed on as one of the partners of the WE ARE ONE Campaign, a national mobilization effort led by the AFL-CIO and over 200 partnering organizations (labor, faith, human rights and others) from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
On Monday, April 4 organizations fighting for the respect of workers rights, specifically collective bargaining, will be organizing rallies and vigils as well as teach ins all around the country to e nsure that the voice of workers an all working people are heard. Thousands of events have been organized nationwide, and we encourage members to participate in their area.
To find an event in your area, visit www.we-R-1.org. Another good resource is your state labor federation, as well as Jobs with Justice (www.jwj.org). Here are some additional resources:
Blog: http://blog.amnestyusa.org/us/shine-a-light-on-workers-rights/
Facebook events page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=205891326106778#!/event.php?eid=205891326106778
Talking points and AI statement http://blog.amnestyusa.org/us/workers-have-a-right-to-organize/
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/warning-us-states-plan-severely-restrict-workers-rights-2011-03-17
Here are some good slogans to use at events on and around April 4:
WE ARE ONE.
You cannot divide us. Public employees, private sector, men and women, all ages, races and ethnicities, we are one.
WE ARE ENERGIZED.
We are inspired by the courage and convictions of our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin and other states where elected officials are targeting collective bargaining rights.
WE DEMAND RESPECT FOR WORKERS’ RIGHTS.
Elected officials have a responsibility to uphold workers’ rights as human rights.
WE WILL WIN.
In Solidarity,
Sara
Sara Schmidt
Field Organizer – Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington
Amnesty International USA
facebook.com/amnestywest | Twitter @amnestywest
Take action for imprisoned student activist Majid Tavakkoli! www.amnestyusa.org/majid
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*Note: At the moment, no word on official participation from our AI group members, but there are at least 2 events in the Seattle area:
Noon – 1 pm at UW (15th & Stevens Way, just off 40th), hosted by Washington State Jobs With Justice:
http://local.we-r-1.org/weareone/events/show/274
5:30 – 7 pm at MLK Jr Park (2200 MLK Jr Way), sponsored by Communications Workers of America Local 7800:
