Members of Amnesty Canada's National Youth Action and Advisory Committee (NYAAC) share their thoughts on the cases from Write for Rights 2020. It's not too late to sign-up, you can register your event or sign-up as an individual here. Also, be sure to check out the collaborative Spotify playlist you can use as background music in your virtual events and the #W4R Influencers who are sharing content across their social media platforms!
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Our global letter-writing marathon is now more than 15 years old, and bigger and better than ever before.
It started in Poland with a young man trying to impress a young woman. He met her at a festival and she told him about 24-hour events she’d been to in Africa, where people wrote letters of protest to governments. Inspired by her story – and wanting to see her again – he invited her to his local Amnesty group where they decided to do the same thing.
The idea caught on and within a year, Write for Rights grew into a global letter-writing phenomenon. That was 2002. Today, Write for Rights is the world’s biggest human rights event, and with good cause. Over the years, the campaign has helped free at least 48 people from wrongful imprisonment. That’s 48 lives renewed and transformed – thanks to millions of actions by people like you in almost every part of the world.
Here are just 15 highlights from the last 15 years – reason, if any, to get writing for rights this year.
Apparently, he fit the description of a suspect they were chasing: he had dreadlocks. Shackelia Jackson lost her brother when police shot him dead.
Since that moment, Shackelia has been demanding justice, and has become a leader in the battle against police killings in Jamaica. She features in this year’s Write for Rights, Amnesty’s global letter-writing campaign and the world’s biggest human rights event. In a recent letter, she tells us what difference Amnesty has made to her quest for justice.
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All,
Crafting the perfect response took longer than I anticipated and so I resigned myself to writing from the heart.
I spent the last three years speaking as a broken sister; ensuring that others wouldn’t forget. I later saw the evolution of that role; the doors it opened for others; but also the threats it posed for me.
The death of my brother Nakiea Jackson and my subsequent actions, made me synonymous with a struggle that was bigger than Nakiea; one in which, stopping became difficult.
by Catherine Brunelle, Write for Rights Support Team
Amnesty Canada campaigner Hilary Homes has seen many events during her work with Amnesty activists. As we approach Amnesty International’s biggest global activism day of the year, Write for Rights on International Human Rights Day, December 10, we’ve asked her to share some favourite organizing takeaways. Haven’t signed up yet? Join Write for Rights at writeathon.ca!
Partner with a coffee shop or library! Or hold it in a university campus common space, an art gallery, or at the market. Think of spaces that naturally have a lot of people. It’s an easy way to boost your numbers!
Join the global movement for human rights.
Contact an activist leader or staff member about getting involved.
