5 June 2008
Dance, dance
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
30 May 2008
The cell tour has arrived
The City of Brotherly Love got its first exposure to the Guantánamo cell replica today – the cell traveled all around Philadelphia today with canvassers covering over 8 miles of Center City Philly, with stops at Dilworth Plaza - the main event site, LOVE park, the Ben Franklin Parkway, Independence Mall, Old City, South Street, and Rittenhouse Square, passing out almost 3,000 flyers about the event.
News of the event is spreading – even without flyering throughout the city, posters, radio promotion, and word of mouth have already started to spark interest – canvassers had many great conversations. Stay tuned for the weekend – Philly promises to be an exciting stop on the national tour.
-Jen Horwitz
