Philly Cell Tour A Success
Posted June 11th, 2008 by April | Amnesty News
Here’s a note from the Mid-Atlantic staff. Thanks to everyone who gave their time and energy to help make the Cell Tour Philadelphia stop a success!
The Philadelphia stop on the national Guantanamo cell tour was a huge success. Despite a run-in with bad weather, over 700 people visited the cell during its stay in the city of brotherly love. Over forty local activists volunteered their time over the course of the event including a core group of five volunteer leaders who served on a volunteer planning committee for the event – Eric Merlino, April Zappaterrini, Emily Helms, Aditi Dubey, and Jenn Price.
Other highlights included a special event featuring Larry Cox, AIUSA’s Executive Director, and local musicians, The Late Night Drifters.
Check out photos and blog entries from the cell tour at celltour.amnesty.org and www.amnestyusa.org/celltour
Cell Tour Special Event Postponed – Come Tomorrow!
Posted May 31st, 2008 by April | Amnesty News
The Amnesty International Cell Tour Special Event that was to be held today at noon was postponed due to the thunderstorm. Instead, it will be TOMORROW from noon to 2 pm.
Philadelphia Cell Tour Special Event
Sunday, June 1, 2008
12 noon – 2 pm
Dilworth Plaza, 1400 JFK Blvd., Philadelphia (right next to City Hall)
Larry Cox, Executive Director of AIUSA, will speak
Music by The Late Night Drifters
The Cell itself will be open for tours from 10 am to 5 pm tomorrow. Come and see Amnesty International’s replica of a Guantanamo Bay prison cell. While there, you can record a video of your own thoughts about the cell to be published on YouTube and tearitdown.org, and also sign our petition asking for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
The Cell arrives in Philadelphia in just a few days
Posted May 27th, 2008 by April | Amnesty News
A replica of a Guantánamo Bay prison cell is on its way to Philadelphia.
Amnesty International is bringing a life-size model of a maximum security cell from Guantánamo to cities across the USA. The tour is a way to enable people in the United States to get a glimpse of the harsh realities of illegal detention and prolonged isolation. Visit Amnesty International’s replica of a Guantánamo cell and join us in calling on the U.S. government to charge detainees and give them fair trials, or release them.
When:
Friday, May 30th, 1pm – 7pm
Saturday, May 31st, 9am – 7pm
Sunday, June 1st, 10am – 5pm
Where:
Dilworth Plaza, 1400 JFK Blvd, Philadelphia, PA
Special Event:
Saturday, May 31st, Noon – 2pm
Keynote Speaker: Ellen Dorsey, Chair, Amnesty International USA Board of Directors
Also featuring: The Late Night Drifters and singer-songwriter Tom Mullian
The cell will be traveling around on the back of a truck on Thursday, before it makes its debut in Dilworth Plaza on Friday… watch out for it in the Philadelphia and Valley Forge areas…
Chinatown group meeting night – typo and meeting change
Posted May 7th, 2008 by April | Amnesty News, Chinatown
The calendar on this website had listed the Chinatown Amnesty International group’s next meeting as May 13. In fact, their May meeting was held last night, May 6. I apologize to anyone who missed the meeting!
Also, please note that the Chinatown group is changing their meeting night to the third Tuesday of each month. So their next meeting will be held Tuesday, June 17, at 7:00 pm at 1032 Arch Street, Philadelphia.
Witness to Persecution – Falun Gong Practitioners in the US Speak Out (Philadelphia)*
Posted May 1st, 2008 by April | Other Human Rights News
Sedgwick Gallery
7137 Germantown Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19119
*This is not an Amnesty International event, but may be of interest to AI supporters.
Witness to Persecution – Falun Gong Practitioners in the US Speak Out
Photographs by Nathea Lee
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual cultivation practice that includes five sets of meditative exercises and teachings based on the universal principles of Zhen, Shan, Ren – Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance. In 1992, Mr. Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Gong in China. Seven years later – after a state survey revealed that up to 70 million people across the country had taken up the practice – China’s Communist government banned Falun Gong and began an inhumane campaign of persecution against its followers. Today, it is freely practiced by more than 100 million people in more than 80 countries. While the persecution continues inside China, practitioners in other countries bear witness and use various peaceful means to expose the truth. The images in this exhibition were taken at awareness activities in the U.S.
Exhibition Hours:
Opening Reception: May 2, 5:30PM
Mondays & Wednesdays: Noon – 8:00PM
Saturdays & Sundays: Noon – 6:00PM
Witness to Persecution exhibit flyer (PDF)
Center City group 112 to hold table this Saturday at symbolic Torch Relay
Posted May 1st, 2008 by April | Philly Center City
Amnesty International Center City Philadelphia, Group 112, will be having a table at the symbolic Olympic Torch Relay from noon to 4pm at Independence Mall, near the Liberty Bell at 5th and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia. The group will sell candles and will have letters and petitions for people to sign, as well as information about Amnesty International and Group 112.
The Olympic Torch Relay event will include a free concert, rally, and the torch run, all as a means of spotlighting the human rights situation in China. For more information about the symbolic torch relay, see humanrightstorch.org or email HRTR@comcast.net.
Amnesty International is pressing for substantial reforms in the human rights situation in China in four key areas: the death penalty; punitive detention without trial; treatment of human rights defenders; and unwarranted censorship of the internet. To learn more about Amnesty’s campaign, “China: Olympic Legacy,” please visit www.amnestyusa.org/chinaolympics
Center City group table at Olympic Torch Relay event
Posted May 1st, 2008 by April | Philly Center City
May 3, noon to 4:00 pm
Independence Mall, near Liberty Bell (5th and Chestnut)
Philadelphia, PA
Amnesty International Center City Philadelphia, Group 112, will be having a table at the symbolic Olympic Torch Relay from noon to 4pm. The group will sell candles and will have letters and petitions for people to sign, as well as information about Amnesty International and Group 112.
The Olympic Torch Relay event will include a free concert, rally, and the torch run, all as a means of spotlighting the human rights situation in China. For more information about the event, email HRTR@comcast.net.
Guantánamo Bay Cell Tour – Volunteers Needed!
Posted April 24th, 2008 by April | Amnesty News
If Amnesty International has ever needed your help as a volunteer, it is NOW. All Amnesty members and supporters in the Philadelphia area are asked to contribute some of your time, however small, to help plan and staff this incredible event. Please see details below. Thanks in advance for your help.
Guantánamo Bay Cell Tour – Coming to Philly
The lack of human rights and the assaults on human dignity present in Guantánamo Bay must end. On May 8 in Miami, Amnesty International will launch its national tour of a life-size Guantánamo prison cell replica. The cell tour is a way to raise awareness about the torture and abuse that takes place and to demand an end to Guantánamo Bay. The event will give participants the opportunity to enter the cells, experience the conditions of isolation and then comment on your experience.
The cell will visit our region twice, first in Philly (May 30 – June 1) then in Washington DC (June 25 – 29).
Volunteer to help with the Philadelphia Cell Tour Event
The cell will be on the ground in Philadelphia between May 30 – June 1. Volunteers are needed:
- to help plan smaller events leading up to the cell tour stop in Philadelphia to help educate the community about this issue
- to help with the actual cell tour stop in Philadelphia
As many volunteers as possible are needed. Please contribute any amount of time you can.
If you’re interested in volunteering either to help plan a pre-tour event or during the cell tour stop, please e-mail PAcelltour@gmail.com
Film: “Screamers” (University of Pennsylvania)*
Posted April 22nd, 2008 by April | Other Human Rights News, University of Pennsylvania
*This is not an Amnesty International event, but may be of interest to AI supporters.
April 22, 8:15 pm
The Armenian Student Association at the University of Pennsylvania is holding a film screening as part of Genocide Awareness Week.
Screamers is a 2006 documentary by director Carla Garapedian. The film explores why genocides have recurred into the modern day, and involves the band System of a Down, Serj Tankian’s grandfather (who is an Armenian Genocide survivor), the human rights activist and journalist Professor Samantha Power, and various people involved with genocides in Rwanda and Darfur. Screamers also examines genocide denial in current day Turkey, and the trend of neutrality that the United States generally holds towards genocide.
University of Pennsylvania AI General Body Meeting
Posted April 16th, 2008 by April | Student Groups, University of Pennsylvania
April 23, 8:00 pm
Huntsman F96
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania Amnesty International group be watching a documentary as well as brainstorming for next year. This is the group’s last general body meeting of the year.