In a post I wrote on January 1st, 2010,  I highlighted the effort of four immigrant students who intend to walk 1,500 miles from Miami to Washington, D.C. along a Trail of Dreams. Their goal? To inspire a nation to stand up for immigration reform that respects human dignity. With great enthusiasm for their continuation of a long tradition of student activism, mirroring the courage of the Freedom Riders (but this time traveling north), it is exciting to announce that these students, along with many others who have joined them along their long journey, will be arriving in Atlanta on Saturday, February 27. A festive welcome party hosted by the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights will be held at the First Iconium Baptist Church.  To follow the Trail of Dreams, click on this map.

In honor of Valentine’s Day I attended a benefit production of Eve Ensler’s award-winning play The Vagina Monologues. This year the V-day global campaign focus is “Stop Raping our Greatest Resource: Power to Women in the DRC.” Over 5.4 million people have died in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since 1998 – currently 45,000 people die each month. Thousands of women experience brutal sexual violence on a daily basis. Thankfully journalists like Nicholas Kristof are keeping the DRC in the news – most recently with this moving video of a Message for President Obama. However, as one Congolese woman says, “we speak but nothing changes.” The Enough Project highlights how our demand for conflict minerals – the material in the cellphone in your pocket – fuels this deadly war. Congolese women and men risk their lives so we can talk on our cellphones, check our email and update our Facebook status. What will we do for them?

When this woman would not be quiet in the face of her perpetrators, they shot her three times. Photo credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

On February 11th, journalists and human rights bloggers around the world are using their voices in the media to stand in solidarity with Iranian human rights activists. In Iran, February 11th is recognized as “Victory of the Revolution Day,” which is meant to celebrate human liberty and freedom. The Iranian government, however, has long violated these principles and is responsible for numerous human rights abuses including torture, arbitrary arrests, censorship and a recent execution of  two activists accused of inciting the post-election protests on June 12th, even though they had been held in detention prior to the demonstrations. For more information on the current state of human rights in Iran, Amnesty International’s country report is a great resource. Also, for details on how to use media and social networking to stand in solidarity with Iran, please visit the Iranian human rights information page at Bloggers Unite.

The rights of those serving within the ranks of the U.S. military (or employed by its contractors) made the news this week. On Monday, the 2011 Defense budget proposal was released and included prohibitions against defense contracts with companies that deny court hearings for sexual assault victims. The prohibitions mirror Sen. Al Franken’s Anti-Rape Amendment, which was adopted in December in spite of opposition from the Defense Department. On Tuesday, during a Senate hearing top U.S. military officers endorsed the gradual repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” the policy which “forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.” Controversial statements by Sen. John McCain speak to some of the issues at hand: “Many gay and lesbian Americans are serving admirably in our Armed forces, even giving their Lives so that we and others can know the blessings of peace…{this is} military life which is characterized by its own laws, rules, customs and traditions.” How much longer will the U.S. military exempt itself from the very values that it purports to defend?

Photo Credit: Johnny Symons, Ask Not

Fifty years ago today, on February 1st, 1960, four black students in Greensboro, North Carolina refused to leave a segregated lunch counter in a direct challenge to Jim Crow laws in the South. This tactic of civil disobedience spread like wildfire, especially among students- by the end of the year, more than 50,000 students defiantly and strategically used the sit-ins to protest racial segregation and injustice. A great article by Hasan Kwame Jeffries in Race-Talk rightfully highlights the importance of recognizing that the students were not only protesting against something, they were also positively asserting their human rights and actively living out their alternative visions of a free and just society. (Photo: Courtesy of Greensboro News and Record)