On Thursday, 10th of December, our group had a representative of an organization, called Amnesty International, meet with us and the 8th and 7th grade. This organization was currently hosting an event by the name, “Write For Rights.” This event included a writing activity which quickly grabbed my group’s attention. This activity involved a list of several journalists, protestors, activists, and other various people who were arrested and or unjustly prosecuted. Amnesty International gave us the opportunity to communicate with these people, by sending letters, drawings, or other forms of sympathetic gestures.
My group and I developed a presentation that explained the basic overview of the activity, defined some terminology, and selected four particularly striking cases to present to the 8th and 7th grades. This included people like, Zunar, Phyoe Phyoe Aung, Albert Woodfox, and Muhammad Bekzhanov. These were all people who were silenced for their beliefs and or political views. Our representative had also prepared a slide show of his own, further explaining what his organization deals with, asking us how we can make a difference, and then giving some examples of ways we can help in our community. This was helpful for those attending because it gave them some insight about what they were going to do.
After the presentations had concluded, students and teachers alike were instructed to find two cases, these were not limited to the ones we reviewed, and then composes a letter to each of them. These letters could include pleas, asking for the government of that country to free them, but it also be a direct message to the subject who was unjustly locked away. This was to encourage political action, and to explain that anyone, anywhere, could participate in social justice. Even though many of these cases were stated far out side of the US, we couldn’t afford to let that stop us showing our love and respect.
A special thanks to all who participated in the exercise, and to our representative, who took the time out of his day to come and shed some light on the injustice around our world. I believe that activities like this have the power to change the world for the better and to influence our young minds about what we want to accomplish as we grow older. Education on this topic was extremely beneficial to our group, and I hope it will continue to spark hope for those who were put in prison for speaking up. Amnesty International gave us the chance to speak up for those who can’t, and for that I am grateful.
