Write for Rights and Petition Signing for De-Escalate Washington

Join the International Human Rights Day celebration and potluck at the YWCA, 1026 N. Forest St in Bellingham on Sunday, December 10 from 6-8 pm. Co-sponsored by the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force and Amnesty International Bellingham Chapter Group 270, the event will include guest speaker Vernon Damani Johnson, PhD on “The State of Human Domicile: Housing as a Human Right, and the annual Amnesty International Write For Rights. Dr. Vernon Damani Johnson has been a faculty member in the Department of Political Science at Western Washington University since 1986. His research interests include: the politics of development, African politics, and race and public policy. In addition to teaching courses on the politics of Africa, race and public policy, Dr. Johnson leads a summer service-learning class in South Africa that involves Western students in Political Science and Human Services and Rehabilitation in the work of local NGOs. He currently serves as the Program Director for the Munro Institute for Civic Education and is editor in chief of the “African Journal of Governance and Development.”Every year, to mark Human Rights Day on December 10, hundreds of thousands of people around the world send a letter or sign a petition on behalf of someone theyve never met, as part of Amnesty Internationals Write For Rights. Our messages help convince government officials to release people imprisoned for their opinions, support human rights defenders, stop torture, commute death sentences and end other human rights abuses.Please bring a dish to share. Water, coffee and tea will be provided.