OTTAWA – Amnesty International is pleased to announce that its first-ever online human rights conference in Canada will feature an array of high-profile activists, Indigenous rights advocates, and award-winning authors.
Sparking Connections is an online, nation-wide gathering of Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking membership and wider community. Organized by Amnesty International’s members, the conference will take place over two weeks from Nov. 7-21.
Everyone is invited to participate in skill-building workshops, attend community events and tune into the incredible keynote speeches.
Dr. Pam Palmater, a Mi’kmaw lawyer, scholar and social justice advocate, will launch the conference on Nov. 7 on 1 p.m. EST with a keynote address on what it means to do human rights work on stolen, Indigenous lands. The general public can live stream the keynote here.
On Nov. 8 at noon EST, participants will also be able to engage with Farzana Doctor, an award-winning Toronto-based author, about her book, Seven.
Other not-to-be-missed speakers include Husoni Raymond, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement in Fredericton; Jani Silva, an environmental defender from Colombia who, despite threats to her life, continues to fight for the conservation of the Amazon ecosystem and for the rights of hundreds of peasants (campesinos); and Danny Ramadan is a Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker and LGBTQ+ refugees activist, who will read from The Clothesline Swing, his debut, award-winning novel.
Full details of the Sparking Connections human rights conference can be found here.
Media contact: Lucy Scholey, Media Relations Officer, Amnesty International Canada (English branch), 613-853-2142, lscholey@amnesty.ca
