Racism, sexism, and human rights violations haven't gone anywhere since June. Children are still in cages, Black people are dying at the hands of police, people are dying of COVID-19, and our human rights are in critical danger (and for some of us, they are already nonexistent). Here's a list of immediate action items that you can take to do your part in fighting for global human rights, broken down by issue. As always, let us know via email if any of this information is incorrect. US General ElectionThis election is quite possibly the most important one in our lives thus far. Matters of literal life and death are on the line - from bodily autonomy to LGBTQ+ equality to racial justice to climate change to public health. The election is so important that Scientific American, which has never endorsed a presidential candidate in 175 years, has endorsed Joe Biden because we simply cannot survive four more years of science denial and fascism. Here's what you can do to salvage what's left of our semblance of a democracy:
Uyghur Muslims in Concentration CampsUpdate as of 1/9/2021: we previously posted an incomplete and possibly incorrect account of the Chinese government's treatment of Uyghur Muslims, along with some action items related to the situation. We now realize that there has been a lot of misinformation about this issue that has been driven by Western media in a US government-fueled attempt to undermine and decolonize China and use Uyghur Muslims as pawns in this imperialist quest (after all, the US inflicts mass violence on MENA countries and on Muslims both domestically and abroad). We still may not have the full facts of the situation and are by no means the authority on this issue, but this document and this account have one of the most comprehensive breakdowns of the situation - we recommend checking them out before further sharing incomplete information on social media. US Supreme CourtOn September 18, 2020, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away. Though would be lovely if we could collectively take a few days to just mourn her death, President Tr*mp and Senate Republicans are already rushing to confirm her replacement. With this 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court, our lives are on the line - women's rights to bodily autonomy, LGBTQ+ people's rights to exist, the fates of millions of immigrants, and the fate of our environment are all at risk. While RBG fundamentally served a racist, anti-Indigenous, and capitalist ruling class, replacing her with a Tr*mp nominee will only mean more people dying. Hence, we are not going to idolize her, but we will encourage you to take action within the scope of our current system. Some resources:
Environmental EmergenciesMany of you who are based on the west coast of the United States probably woke up to orange skies sometime in the past few weeks. Needless to say, this is not normal. While the air quality may be improving slightly now, people are still struggling to recover from the wildfires, and the policies (or rather, lack of policies) being implemented by our governments are only going to make this situation worse, ultimately leading to the destruction of our environment. California just passed legislation to allow former prisoners who served on firefighting crews to become paid firefighters, but this is barely the bare minimum. What to do:
Children in CagesThe Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) is committing atrocious human rights violations. Not only are children being detained at the border in cages, but ICE is also violently and forcefully removing the uteruses of people who have been detained. This is nothing short of ethnic cleansing and White supremacy. What's more, COVID-19 is still ravaging these detention centers unchecked. What to do:
Black Lives MatterAs always, the movement for racial justice is not over. Please continue to check this site for resources. Some concrete things to do:
This Post Is Not ExhaustiveThere are obviously many more injustices occurring in the world than were covered in this post - from human rights abuses in Yemen to disaster recovery in Lebanon to a pandemic still ravaging the United States for completely preventable reasons. We will continue publishing more action items on this blog, and be sure to also check out this site for resources.
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January 2021
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