As Amnesty International members, we were elated at the opportunity to bring a replica of a Guantánamo cell and our call to action to Philadelphia. We have confidence in the power of our message of reliable evidence and a call for justice in the U.S. “war on terror.” Well, we’ve spent 3 days in Philadelphia and were overwhelmed by how welcoming the city has been.
Philadelphia has welcomed our message of justice with open arms and the experience of speaking with city residents who were concerned about human rights violations in the “War on Terror” sparked new excitement among our volunteers and staff. As expected, we also had the opportunity to talk with a number of people who had never heard of the detention center at Guantánamo.
It is a great responsibility to be the person bringing this knowledge to others and our teams of AIUSA volunteers and staff took this responsibility very seriously as they provided facts, figures, and a call to action. My faith in the power of justice was not misplaced as passerby after passerby walked straight to the action table after hearing about the human rights violations carried out by the U.S. government at Guantánamo.
Despite unexpected closures due to harsh weather conditions, over 700 people had the opportunity to view the inside of the cell in the city of brotherly love. For those who weren’t able to make it to Dilworth Plaza to see the cell in person, our street teams took the message to the people by handing out flyers and gathering petition signatures throughout the city. And, we welcomed a variety of local and national media outlets in Philadelphia which will help us extend the reach of the cell tour even farther.
With a successful weekend in Philly behind us, the cell has been packed up to hit the road for Portland, Maine. We’ll see you there!
- Cecili Thompson Williams
