hey activists!

Dear friends and fellow activists,

Hi!  I'm contacting all of you because you're involved with activism in South Florida, and because we share goals of global justice, although we often approach these issues from different angles and understandings.

I (like some of you) am a human rights activist with Amnesty International at FAU, but I've realized that every human rights issue has complex, interrelated causes... and I've begun to see those complexities as opportunities for connections and understandings.   After all, global warming helped cause the genocide in Darfur; unfair free trade decimates labor rights as well as the environment; and the War on Terror has lead to horrific human rights violations.  These are just some examples of how the causes we specialize in impact each other. So I've started to think that getting moderates, environmentalists, anarchists, communists, artists--everyone together in one room to talk about global justice and human rights can help make our approach to activism more nuanced, dynamic and holistic...both on the FAU campus, and in our communities.

So, I would like to invite you and everyone you know to a meeting...to plan the fate of Amnesty International at FAU with both its own members and all members of the larger community; to open a dialog between diverse groups to deepen our understanding of each other's organizations, causes, and the connections between them; and to begin to determine how we can all work together to reach common goals.

S. Fla Activism Networking/Planning Meeting
Saturday, July 28
4PM
24-Hour study building (next to library),
Florida Atlantic University,
Boca Raton
(click here for maps)

If you are unable to attend the meeting, please e-mail me at amnesty.ana@gmail.com to let me know any causes or campaigns you're already participating in or are interested in participating in this year.  Just throw out any kind of ideas or plans, and I'll make sure to bring them up.  Of course, you can also e-mail me if you have any questions/ideas/thoughts/etc.

If you'd like to know more about Amnesty International at FAU, please visit our myspace page, facebook group, or our brand-new blog!  And while you're at our blog, vote for the issues you care about in the sidebar on the right.

Thanks,

Ana Halper,
Group Coordinator, Amnesty International at FAU

The State of Florida gets ready to help SAVE DARFUR

After we all worked so hard to raise awareness for the ongoing crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan this year, Amnesty International at FAU is proud to announce that Senate Bill 2142 was passed by the Florida Senate-- which will withdraw Florida money from the government of Sudan as a measure against the Sudanese government's role in the mass genocide.

Now, Governor Charlie Crist is ready to sign the Bill into Law, and he is doing it right here in our backyard!

This Friday, June 8, at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, Governor Crist will be conducting a public signing of the Bill, and you are invited to attend in order to be recognized as a member of the FAU Chapter of Amnesty International for all the work we've done on the issue of Darfur! The signing takes place at 12pm noon, so if you'd like to come, please contact Josef or Ana and let them know so they can give you directions.

In the meantime, we hope you're enjoying your summer, and we're looking forward to starting off our second year of Amnesty International at FAU in the Fall!

Won't you stand with us to end Genocide in Darfur?

Friends and fellow Amnestyers, we're writing to you with extreme urgency. Today, Senator Ted Deutch (D-Delray Beach) had his bill on Divestment from Sudan to stop the genocides of Darfur heard by Florida's House of Representatives-- and it PASSED!

Because of our collective efforts to MAKE SOME NOISE! for Darfur this year, the House was able to hear us loud and clear. Now, we must continue to make noise as the Bill goes before a Senate subcommittee this afternoon.

Please take a moment of your time to contact the following Florida State Senators on this committee today and urge them to MAKE SOME NOISE! in support of Senate Bill 2172. Together, we can all do our duty as fellow citizens of humanity in saving our brothers and sisters in Sudan.


-------------------------
END GENOCIDE TODAY
WITH SENATOR DEUTCH

WE MADE NOISE IN
THE HOUSE...THANKS TO YOU!
Thank you Rep. Porth & Rep. Schwartz

Before 2:15 Call the Senate Committee
TELL THEM TO SUPPORT SUDAN DIVESTMENT!

Sen. Al Lawson, Tallahassee
Committee Chair
(850) 487-5004

Sen. Bill Posey, Rockledge
Committee Vice-Chair
(850) 487-5053

Sen. Nancy Argenziano, Ocala
(850) 487-5017

Sen. Jim King, Jacksonville
(850) 487-5030

Sen. Steve Oelrich, Gainesville
(850) 487-5020

Sen. Frederica S. Wilson, Miami Gardens
(850) 487-5116

Let them know that you will stand against GENOCIDE
TOGETHER in the State of FLORIDA

F Y I

General Meetings have been postponed for the month of March to allow for the pre-production of our upcoming MAKE SOME NOISE! Concert to Benefit Darfur. This event, an all-day music festival presenting music from Punk Rock to Hip-Hop, takes place in the Kaye Auditorium of the Student Union (formerly the UC) on Friday, March 30th, from 12pm to 6pm.

ALL Student Organizations are invited to attend with a table in the Lobby (to be provided by Amnesty). Here's who has signed on so far:

• HILLEL. Hillel and the Jewish Student Union will be presenting a display on the Holocaust, a genocide not unlike the current conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan.


• ARMENIAN STUDENTS ASSOCIATION (ASA). This group will sponsor a table highlighting the Armenian Genocide that took place during the early part of the 20th Century.


• NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN (NOW). NOW will be presenting a table on how sexual violence is being used as a tool of genocide against women and girls in Darfur. Rape and molestation are common human rights violations that MUST be stopped.

So if you would like to get your Student Organization involved, please contact us ASAP!

SEE YOU ALL AT THE CONCERT... AND GET READY TO MAKE SOME NOISE!

Next General Meeting for the FAU chapter of Amnesty International

This semester, we will be holding two General Meetings bi-weekly in an effort to accommodate our members' schedules. The meetings will cover that same information, so feel free to pick one that best fits your schedule that week.

The next General Meeting(s) will be held Monday, January 29th, at 12:30pm, and again on Thursday, February 1st at 4:00pm on the Bookstore Lawn next to Starbucks in the Breezeway. Look for us with the bright orange Amnesty International banner and our now-trademark blankets on the lawn! We plan to discuss in detail the three major campaigns we'll be working on this semester, as well as forming committees for our upcoming events.

See you then, if not sooner!

Meeting Notes from 2007's first General Meeting!

Happy Thursday! We're posting to give you an overview of what had been discussed at last week's General Meetings.

As you know, this semester we began holding the same General Meeting twice in one week to be able to accommodate more of our over 200 members. So on Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 4 p.m. and on Thursday, Jan. 18 at noon, Assistant Group Coordinator, Ana Halper, and our Darfur Action Coordinator, Sapna Talati, chaired the meetings, respectively. Below is a bulleted list of highlights from the meeting:

CAMPAIGNS FOR SPRING 2007

• Every semester, our chapter votes as a group on the three major campaigns we intend to focus on bringing to the campus. This semester, the members have spoken, and we will be concentrating on Darfur activism to end the genocides of Sudan, Conflict diamonds (also known as "blood diamonds") that are being harvested to finance terrorism, and the Business & Human Rights campaign, aimed specifically on stopping sweatshop labor.


• At our next meeting, we will need to organize our members into Campaign Teams, so if you would like to join one of our campaigns this semester, please e-mail and let us know which team you would like to be a part of, and we'll make sure you get added to that list. For more information on the campaigns we've selected, as well as the other Amnesty International campaigns currently underway, click http://www.amnestyusa.org/activism/campaigns.html to check them out.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Save Darfur Interfaith Rally: This Sunday, January 28, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., our chapter will be joining with several different area groups to co-sponsor an inter-faith rally for peace in Darfur with the Save Darfur Coalition of South Palm Beach. This is going to be an amazing event with speakers from all the major world religions coming together in the name of peace. In addition, there will be interactive tents that you can visit, petitions that you can sign, and free food and music for your entertainment. The event is free of charge, and we would love to have you come show support to the tent we are sponsoring with Hillel of Broward and Palm Beach! The rally will be held at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, and for a map, click here: map to Temple Beth El. If you would like to arrive early to assist with the set-up of our tent, feel free to call/text Josef, or e-mail him. (And special thanks to all of you who have already RSVP'ed to this event on Facebook! Kudos to chapter member Melanie Tolchin for setting up the event information.)


• Amnesty International Florida State Conference 2007: This year, our very active and very new FAU chapter has been selected to host the annual state conference. Our chapter member, Stacey Ray, is a professional event planner who has undertaken the monumental task of coordinating this conference. Currently, we have a list of workshops that we are going to be presenting to the delegates in attendance from all over the state. The UM and FIU chapters are also going to be assisting us with these workshops. We'll get you more information as it develops!
  
• MAKE SOME NOISE!: Concert for Peace in Darfur: During the National Week of Student Action (March 23 to March 30), student groups from all over the U.S. will be hosting events aimed at raising awareness for Darfur and calling for a stop to the genocides in that region of Sudan. On the last day of this amazing week, March 30, we will be holding an all-day music festival for peace in Darfur in conjunction with MTV and their college network, mtvU. In addition to a full lineup of musical acts ranging from hip-hop to punk rock, the FAU Housing Lawn will be covered in booths sponsored by different organizations that will be focused on the crisis in Darfur. WE'RE GOING TO NEED HELP PLANNING THIS, SO IF YOU'D LIKE TO BE A PART OF THIS HUGE EVENT, PLEASE E-MAIL US!


• No Sweat: A Sweatshop-Free Fashion Show: In April, we will be organizing a sweatshop-free fashion show sponsored by No Sweat Apparel and Luis Hernandez Salons. This will be a full-on fashion show with a cool, relaxed vibe (and a live band, courtesy of mtvU) designed to promote fashionable, sweatshop-free alternatives to the FAU student body. If you or someone you know makes their own clothes, and would like to have them showcased in our fashion show, please let us know-- we want to hear from you! And, as always, if you'd like to get involved with planning this event, e-mail as well.

So as you can see, we have a very exciting semester coming up! Feel free to post a comment if you have any feedback-- especially if you'd like to participate in the preparation of these events. We give volunteer hours for your transcript through the FAU Volunteer Center, so get in touch if you'd like to make that happen.

In the meantime, we'll see you at one of our next General Meetings! The next General Meetings are scheduled for Monday, January 29th at 12:30 p.m. and Thursday, February 1st at 4 p.m. And remember to join our Facebook group or stop by our MySpace page!

Make your New Year's resolution to get more involved with Human Rights!

Hey there, and welcome back to an exciting semester for Amnesty International at FAU! We've got a very busy Spring 2007 planned, and we're eager for you to be a part of it.

The event information below is for our first rally of the year with the Save Darfur Coalition of Palm Beach County. This is going to be a great event, and we're co-sponsoring a tent at the rally with Hillel of FAU on the theme of genocide prevention and awareness.

So come by Temple Beth El in Boca Raton on Sunday, January 28, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for an amazing inter-faith rally calling for a stop to the genocides in Darfur-- because no matter what your religious beliefs are (or aren't), everyone can share in the beauty of peace.

And also, don't forget our bi-weekly General Meeting! Make sure you stop by the Bookstore Lawn next to Starbucks in the Breezeway tomorrow at 12 p.m. noon! Look for Ana, our Assistant Group Coordinator, or Sapna, our Darfur Action Coordinator, on blankets in the sunshine with the Amnesty banner.

See you soon!

-------------------
SPREAD THE WORD
AND Get Involved in our
RALLY FOR DARFUR : STOP THE GENOCIDE
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
More Info:561-391-8900 or SAVEDARFURSPB@GMAIL.COM

Sunday, January 28, 2007 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Temple Beth El, Boca Raton
333 SW 4th Ave
SW 4th Ave , Between Palmetto Park Rd and Camino Real, Across from St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church.

Dynamic Speakers including Pastor Billy Thompson, Miami Heat invitees, interfaith clergy, humanitarian aid workers and governmental officials
Music, Dance & Poetry
TAKE ACTION