Lily Peng

Sophomores Saahithi Koneru and Joyce He write letters to individuals currently in jail. Amnesty International planned to mail the letters to the victims as a sign of support and to advocate for their release.

Amnesty Club wrote letters to governments and government-silenced individuals around the world to promote social justice in their first club meeting on Oct. 10.

They chose to support a list of 13 artists in prison for their work in protesting against oppressessions in their countries and organizations aiming to eliminate book banning. The meeting honored National Banned Books Week from Sept. 22-28, which focused not only on books but a variety of multimedia work like music, poetry and journalism. 

Some individuals that members wrote to included graffiti artist from Argentina Pierina Nochetti and Uyghur university student Kamile Wayt to urge their release. Incarcerated for four years, Nochetti painted a piece in defense of a trans man who mysteriously disappeared, and Wayt posted pictures of a protest honoring those who suffered from the Urumqi Fire.

Founders Avery Jones (12) and Valerie Li (12), along with officers Kyra Cui (12) and Aanya Mukherjee (10), introduced the club mission to defend and protect all individuals who experience personal rights violations.

“Amnesty has national campaigns, so we want to amplify the campaigns that they’re holding,” Valerie said. “Censorship is a really detrimental issue in many countries, so I think it’s important that we work to fight against it, even if we’re in the United States. We can still have an impact globally if we talk about it.” 

Avery and Valerie highlighted key events the club will host throughout the year, including fundraising activities and celebrating National Week of Student Action. They welcomed recommendations from members about human rights topics that the club could explore in future meetings.

New member Amber Wang (9), who believes that censorship is a prominent human rights issue, joined the club to help combat social injustices.

“It was interesting how quickly we got to do something concrete and not just talk for the entire time about what [book banning] is,” Amber said. “You read all these stories about human rights abuses in the news. Since I read the news a lot, I was really concerned, and I was interested in finding a way that I could help.”

The club is part of the global nonprofit Amnesty International, the largest grassroots organization in the world. They advocate for human rights universally by engaging in activities on a local level to inspire change globally.

Returning member Cam Jones (10) observed the increased number of students participating compared to last year and hopes that the increased engagement levels will help spread an interest in upholding the club values.

“This year, the energy in the club was a lot different and better,” Cam said. “There are a lot of people chatting and having fun. That was a great way to combine serious issues with a fun club meeting.”