Supporters “Dance for Rights” to raise awareness for Amnesty’s global letter-writing event Write for Rights
This past Saturday on December 6th, supporters of Amnesty International took to the streets in Montreal to be a part of the largest grassroots human rights campaign in the world, Write for Rights! The new flagship event, dubbed “Dance for Rights” brought community members out to dance in solidarity with people fighting injustices all over the world, and to promote and protect human rights. With our music devices in our pockets and headphones in our ears we became a SILENT DISCO, using a flash mob style of street activism to garner attention!
Dance for Rights, supported by both the Anglophone and Francophone branches of Amnesty International Canada, was organized by the Silent Disco Squad and Amnesty’s Montreal Youth Organizer, Valérie Savaria (pictured right). For over an hour, we danced through streets, parks, sidewalks and crowds!
Support from people, passing cars, buses, and local police was overwhelming!
We were cheered on and were asked questions wherever we went! The event culminated in a ground stomping dance in front of Place des Arts, the location of the Amnesty Francophone’s annual Write for Rights event, with local drummers providing a striking sound, drawing in crowds who signed petitions and engaged with our dancers!
With the 25th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, and the call to end violence against women, Amnesty International’s message of protecting human rights and celebrating International Human Rights Day resonated in Montreal. People were enthusiastic and motivated to take part in an event to show the world that with everyone’s support, we can end injustices occurring in our own country and countries over.
Sign the petitions featured in Write for Rights:
- Huseyin Celil – A Canadian wrongfully detained in China
- Raif Badawi – An internet activist sentenced to flogging in Saudi Arabia
- Stolen Sisters – Murdered and missing women aboriginal women in Canada
- Bhopal – Justice for the survivors of the world industrial accident in history
See all letter-writing cases featured in Write for Rights
