The logo of international activist group, Amnesty International. (© Pavel Kusmartsev - Dreamstime.com)
For over 50 years, Amnesty International has worked to support human rights around the world. It is active in over 150 countries and works to represent political prisoners, equal rights, and groups affected by massive poverty or health crises.
And one of its biggest annual events happens today, December 10. Write For Rights Day!
Using your voice for change
The idea behind this day is simple. Whether over email or on paper, people writing letters to world leaders is a great way to be heard. But single letters here and there can get lost over a year. What if somehow everyone could write letters about a single cause at the same time? It would certainly make for a powerful statement to receive 1,000 letters all at once, right?
That's what Write For Rights Day is trying to achieve. Focus the voices of people to get the biggest possible impact!
Grassy Narrows
Every Write For Rights Day, Amnesty suggests causes in need of support that people can write about. For W4R 2019, one of those causes is Grassy Narrows in Canada.
Over the past few decades, the Grassy Narrows First Nation, or Asubpeeschoseewagong, has seen many tons of mercury dumped into its water systems. This is a major health hazard, but despite this, the Canadian government has been slow to acknowledge this problem and react. Amnesty is calling people to write letters of support for Grassy Narrows today.
Watch a video about the cause below.
If you want to help out by writing, you can register right here. This campaign does really work—in fact, Owlkids Books published a book about it, Letters To A Prisoner.
In the end, words are powerful—it's exciting to see what they can do!
