Outside of the weekly tabling we do in Commons, Yale Amnesty International consistently holds a number of events every semester by itself as well as in partnership with other organizations at Yale. The following are just some of the events that we have brought to campus.
Fall 2012
Very Young Girls Screening
Thursday, November 15 | 7:00-8:30 pm | WLH 208
This film is about one of the ways in which human trafficking occurs in the US. Very Young Girls is a film about the commercial sexual exploitation of girls in New York City as they are sold on the streets by pimps and treated as adult criminals by police. This film is a targeted documentary, produced by the anti-trafficking organization Girls Education and Mentoring Services (GEMS) in New York City, which raises awareness about the complicated, coercive nature of sex trafficking of minors domestically.
Human Trafficking Awareness Event
On Wednesday, November 14, we were on Cross Campus to raise awareness about human trafficking in the garment industry. We had a petition for passersby to sign, a creative and interactive action for people to participate in, and information sheets for those interested to take home with them. Our display for the event included a world map, colored according to US State Department TIP Report Tier Rankings, and shaded according to documented patterns of garment industry trafficking; passersby were asked to cut out tags from their apparel and pin them on the world map to see if there might be a likelihood of slavery somewhere in the supply chain of their puchases.
Spring 2012
Amnesty International Letterwriting Event
Another instance of our recurring series of Letter-Writing in Blue State Coffee events. Members of Amnesty International came together with members of the Yale and New Haven community to write letters about individual cases of human rights abuses. Letters could help free a prisoner of conscience! People stopped by the community table for 5 minutes in the midst of studying or while grabbing an afternoon coffee.
Secure Communities Panel and Discussion
As Secure Communities rolls out in Connecticut, we have a responsibility to protect our communities. Governor Malloy and leaders from our community have come together to oppose this bill, but there is still much more for us to do. Join MEChA de Yale for a panel featuring Professor Michael Wishnie (Yale Law School), Armando Ghinaglia (Connecticut Students for a DREAM), Alderwoman Migdalia Castro (Ward 16), Latrina Kelly (Director of Development and Programs for JUNTA), and Mayor DeStefano to discuss New Haven and Connecticut’s role in combating the Secure Communities Act. The panelists will offer ideas for student to get more involved and answer questions from the audience.
The People’s Crisis
Yale ThiNK and Amnesty International presented a screening of “The People’s Crisis.” The real crisis in North Korea is not about its reclusive leaders or its nuclear weapons. It is about 24 million people living under the most ruthless system of political oppression ever assembled by humankind. The North Korean people have suffered through crippling poverty, humanitarian disasters, chronic food shortages and a denial of even the most basic of freedoms. This documentary offers a comprehensive overview of the North Korean people’s crisis, featuring interviews with North Korean refugees who have escaped, their journey to freedom, expert analysis, and insight into some of the little-known grass-roots changes that are happening inside the country.
Pierson College Master’s Tea with Sarah Stillman
Sarah Stillman is an investigative reporter and visiting scholar at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, where she teaches a course on reporting the global city. Her recent New Yorker feature story on human trafficking on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, “The Invisible Army,” was named a finalist for the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting. Her coverage of America’s wars has also appeared in The Washington Post, Slate.com, The New Republic.com, The Atlantic.com, and The Nation.
Global Poverty Project’s 1.4 Billion Reasons
Meg Watkins, road scholar with the Global Poverty Project, Davenport ’08, presented a multimedia lecture on the 1.4 billion people living in poverty in the world. Members of the Yale community attended to learn more about how to get involved in the movement to end extreme poverty. For more information, visit the presentation’s website. The presentation was co-sponsored by Yale Amnesty International, Global Microfinance Brigades, and World Micro Market.