Amnesty International

I'm a member of Amnesty International.

Tonight at 8:02 I debated whether or not to brave the sub-zero frigidity and show up to Amnesty, which meets every Tuesday at 8 p.m.

I almost stayed home. I was feeling a little icky. A little like staying in my chair, wrapped in my blanket, reading random articles on Wikipedia or playing chess against the computer. I was feeling empty--lacking community, lacking any real importance to the world at large, and of course, lacking sunshine in my life. It's January, after all.

But I scraped myself off my chair and trudged across campus to the meeting. I wrote two letters to officials in Libya about a man named Fathi, who has been held in solitary confinement without charge or medical attention for nearly four years. It's suspected he's being held for non-violent protest against the government.

There is almost no part of me that believes that my letters will do Fathi a bit of good. And yet it does me a world of good. Sitting in that room while talk flies around me of politics and world events and human rights and travel and the environment soothes me. Putting my head down and diligently (hand-)writing on the behalf of another human being gives me peace. I think of the "your excellency" who might read my letter. I think of the innocent man in a Libyan prison. I analyze my own handwriting (tonight I have especially fluid thinking and a desire to be creative and artistic, according to my "S"s and "g"s and "E"s). I embrace the feeling of connectedness to humanity and doing something that is outside of myself.

Amnesty International has over 2.2 million members. It is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. Its supporters are outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world - so we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. [This paragraph is plagiarized from their website.]

Need a pick-me-up? Join Amnesty International, or donate to the cause. I'm sure you won't regret it.