OCTOBER 2024
SPARK! is a somewhat monthly post and newsletter for our volunteers and activists with news about human rights education, skills training, and new opportunities for volunteer engagement and leadership development.
LEARN ABOUT PROTEST ART AND TAXES!
Here are two topics you don’t normally see together! Surprisingly, they are the subjects for two new Amnesty International Human Rights Academy online courses.
Art and Protest: Promoting Human Rights through Creative Expression delves into the powerful role that art and creative expression play in promoting human rights and advocating for change. It highlights how art can be a transformative tool in challenging oppressive systems. This course is designed to equip participants with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to harness the power of art for activism.
You can complete this self-paced course in approximately 45 minutes.
By the end of this course you will be able to:
- Recognize the connection between human rights and protest art.
- Analyze multiple art forms used in advocating for justice and human rights.
- Describe the impact of art in advocating for human rights.
And for something completely different! Tax and Human Rights explores tax through a human rights lens.
The course is based on What’s Tax Got To Do With It: A Resource Guide on Tax and Human Rights, a new guide especially for researchers and campaigners.
You can complete this self-paced course in approximately 20 minutes.
By the end of this course you will be able to:
- Explain how taxation is a human rights issue.
- Challenge common myths and misconceptions about taxes.
- Argue for key principles of a rights-respecting tax system.
ON THE SIDE OF HUMANITY:
SECOND SEASON FOCUS ON ABORTION RIGHTS DEFENDERS
For the second season of this highly insightful and informative Amnesty International podcast series, On the Side of Humanity host Tatyana Movshevich meets abortion rights defenders from across the world – from Venezuela to Morocco, from Malta to Namibia. Amid all the disinformation and hostility, abortion rights defenders have found themselves in the blinding spotlight – against their will and expectation.
Over three episodes we hear their stories and find out how they work against the backdrop of violence and stigma, and how they are also driving one of the most significant social shifts in recent years.
The first three-episode season features courageous activists from Chile, the U.S., Nepal, Ireland and Ghana who are fighting for the rights of the marginalized and risking their lives because of it. Also hear the story behind the watershed UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and explore how the human rights movement is changing.
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In case you missed it, in 2023 Amnesty Canada released a limited series of podcasts of our own. Rights Back at You, which examines anti-Black racism, policing, and surveillance.
This award-winning five-episode podcast dives deep into stories of resistance and the people making change unstoppable. From facial recognition and the right to protest to the war on drugs and defunding the police, this series connects the dots and passes the mic to people building a better future now.
Together, we unravel the Canada you think you know and challenge the systems that hold back human rights.
NEW TO AMNESTY? AMNESTY 101 IS FOR YOU!
In just one hour, Amnesty 101 answers these burning questions and more: What are human rights? What prompted the creation of Amnesty International? How is Amnesty organized? How do I get involved? The next Amnesty 101 is October 23 – Register HERE!
SAVE THE DATE — WRITE FOR RIGHTS IS COMING!
Plan now to host a Write for Rights event at your school or workplace, or in your community. Watch for the launch of the Write for Rights website on October 22.
