What: Amnesty International Write For Rights
When: 11:00am to 4:00pm on Saturday 9 December 2023
Where: Kitchener Public Library, Meeting Room D
Location: 85 Queen Street North, Kitchener, Ontario Map 1
E-mail: groupnine9@gmail.com
Write for Rights is the world’s largest human rights event. It’s a moment when Amnesty International’s 7 million supporters around the world join together in a letter-writing blitz calling on governments to respect human rights!
Drop in and find out about the 11 cases we are highlighting this year. You can make a difference by signing letters and petitions to governments defending the rights of refugees, women, indigenous peoples, and human rights workers!
A letter from the organizers
Hello,
We hope to see you soon at our first in-person Write for Rights event since COVID!!! This year it will be held in KPL Room D Saturday December 9 from 11am to 4pm.
We will be joining together with Amnesty International’s millions of supporters around the world in a letter-writing blitz calling on governments to respect the rights of eleven selected groups and individuals at risk.
We have had many successes over the years including the release of political prisoners, the ending of torture in specific cases and in bringing human rights offenders to justice.
We are including a package so that you can print and sign letters in advance and bring them to the event. Then when you arrive, you can focus on creating cards of support for the individuals at risk. We will have cards and art materials available for you to use.
We are also including a young people’s activity package — so if you are a parent, teacher, grandparent and have some time to sit down with your young person — you can create a card of support for indigenous Torres Strait islanders and bring it to our event. Take a picture of your activity and send it to groupnine9@gmail.com so that we can post it to our Facebook page. The young person’s activity will also be available at the KPL event as well as a creative activity for younger children!!
At our regular meeting on Tuesday, 5 December 2023 we’ll be firming up plans for the event as well as signing letters — so if you have downloaded and printed the package, please bring your letters to the meeting.
Helpful information about the event:
- If you are coming to the KPL by car, you can park for free in the open-air lot to the east of the Library. If you park underground you’ll have to pay.
- Room D is on the lower level. Food brought from outside is not allowed. If you wish to have something you can purchase it at the café upstairs.
- If you are printing your own letters at home and do not want to bring them to the Library on the 9th, you can drop them off in the W4R box which will be on the front steps at 97 John Street West Map 2 from 10-17 December. In either case, please do NOT put your letters in individual envelopes. Fold each letter in half and write the country to which it is being sent on the outside. Please have all your letters in a single large envelope with your name on the outside, or held together with a rubber band and a label giving your name.
Take care,
David and MargaretPS — If you want to edit your letters please send a request to groupnine9@gmail.com and we will send you a WORD version.
350.org
Bergie: The term “bergie” is a South Africanism that refers to people that are homeless. This short film presents the view with a problem — a law enforcement officer has to remove homeless people sleeping on a path in the city in order to make way for a 10km fun-run. To do this, he has to wrestle with fundamental questions about the dignity of human life.
When We Fight: In the second largest school district in the United States, in Los Angeles, California, 98% of the teachers vote to authorize a strike. Watch as one of the largest educator strikes in modern U.S. history unfolds in real-time, highlighting the stories and leadership of some of the women who led it, from union leaders to classsroom teachers. When We Fight goes behind picket lines, documenting how and why teachers strike. 
Not Another Ballet Story: Choreography is traditionally a male dominated occupation. In this inspiring documentary, a small contemporary dance company in San Francisco provides dancers, many of them female, with the unique opportunity to choreograph modern ballet productions. The hope is that this experience will give rise to more female creators, leaders, and choreographers.
Where Are You From? This film depicts a true story based on the producer’s life. A young woman goes to an interview and is asked a simple question — one commonly asked in Canada. Her not so simple answer gives us a personalized glimpse into the often complicated histories, experiences, and identities of refugees, migrants, and immigrants. 
Box Fox: In this exciting animated film, a intrepid fox-adventurer travels through a dangerous fantasy world to find a enigmatic girl whose face appears in a a mysterious token. Is this really an adventure, or is this just a job?
We Are The Earth: A powerful short animated poem that takes us from anxiety and fear about the current state of our world to empowerment and hope for the future. It is is call to collective action.
Whitewash: Whitewash looks at the pressure felt amongst Iranian immigrants tin Canada to change their given names to Western names to increase their chance of getting a job, and the consequences that develop due to this act of cultural and identity erasure. 
