Several members of the HFCC Amnesty International club attended the 2012 Midwestern Amnesty International Regional Conference from Friday, November 9 to Saturday, November 10 at the Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, IL.
Amnesty International is a global nonprofit organization with over three million members who strive to end the abuse of human rights. The movement is independent of any governmental, political, economic, or religious interests and is funded by the members and public donations. Members achieve their goals of ending infringements on human rights by raising awareness of such acts, creating and signing petitions, as well as sending vast amounts of letters to officials.
Club members and activists from the thirteen Midwest states came together at the conference to learn and discuss current issues, network with fellow activists, and expand their activism. The event featured interactive programs and workshops, fantastic speakers, and intriguing exhibits.
Ed LeMaster, a Methodist missionary who was a prisoner of conscience in Angolia during the 1960s, opened the event with a moving speech. After attempting to educate Africans at the secondary level, he was accused of subversive activities and was subsequently imprisoned for three months. While imprisoned, the young Amnesty International organization sent him a plethora of cards pledging their support for his cause. He was later released and became a permanent member of Amnesty and still has those cards to this day.
After the introductions were concluded, a large variety of educational workshops were offered. In order to maximize efficiency, the HFCC activists split up and attended different workshops at the same time. The first set of workshops included a seminar of how to increase student club membership, how to continue being an activist after graduation, and a general discussion of key Amnesty causes.
The second of workshop sets was composed of more immersive topics such as the rights of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, transsexual, and bisexual) community, publicity techniques, public speaking skills, and a strategic action seminar for the Middle East. The Middle East seminar focused on hot topics such as the imprisonment of Bahraini teachers who were on strike, the aftermath of the Libya revolutions, as well as the bloody Syrian revolution. The speakers stressed that people should not jump to conclusions and believe everything they hear. Rather, it is imperative to seek verified facts beyond what is portrayed in the general media. Such verified information about Syria can be found on the Amnesty sponsored website, eyesonsyria.org. The website tallies every act of human injustice on both sides of the war through an interactive map of Syria.
HFCC’s Amnesty students left the conference enlightened, educated, and shocked about human rights violations across the planet.
“It was very educational. We learned a lot on how to spread awareness of our club on campus and we gained exposure to more issues that we may want to tackle next semester,” said Lizzy Hines, President of the Amnesty International club at HFCC.