Students from the Amnesty International Club at West Hartford’s Conard High School invited U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal to meet with them in conjunction with a ‘Write for Rights’ event.

By Ronni Newton

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal spent more than an hour speaking with more than two dozen students who are part of Conard High School’s Amnesty International Club, assuring them that activism is more important than ever and answering questions on a variety of topics including human rights and civic engagement.

“You are bearing witness. You are making sure that activism stays alive,” Blumenthal told the students at the event held on Friday, Jan. 9 in the Conard library. “I can tell you that everyone who writes makes a difference,” he said of the letter-writing campaign that was underway.

Conard Amnesty International Club President Luke Kalke, and Vice President Jacob Jackson, organized the event and invited the senator to speak.

Blumenthal told the Conard students that he often references letters he receives, especially those that are persuasive, and believes that handwritten letters are extremely powerful. “It’s more human,” he said. Letters have had an impact on his views on a topic and policy decisions.

Letters also “alert me to injustice,” Blumenthal said.

One student asked Blumenthal for his advice to young activists, who may be feeling overwhelmed with everything happening in the world and questioning how they can have impact. “Get involved, engage,” he said. “Go to the rally, do what you’re doing, communicate, elevate issues … and secondly, never give up. … Democracy is not a spectator sport.”

Blumenthal also urged the students to stand up for people’s voting rights, and to vote as soon as they are eligible. “Voting is the lynchpin of democracy,” he said.

In the wake of the shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota, one student asked how to ensure immigration officers are protecting human rights and adhering to the law.

“What we’re seeing is a lawless, reckless, agency that’s out of control,” Blumenthal said, calling for the public to be more aware and to call for an immediate and independent investigation. Guidelines need to be in place and followed when deadly force is being used, and agents should wear uniforms with clear identification, he added.

In response to a question about protection of human rights in Venezuela, Blumenthal said it’s important to “use our moral force. … Our example of rights and respect for rights is more powerful [than the military],” he said.

To further education about rights, Blumenthal told the students to continue to write letters, attend public rallies and demonstrations, and continue to engage in “conversations like the one we’re having now.”

Write for Rights is letter-writing campaign promoted annually by Amnesty International as a means of advocating for the human rights of individuals throughout the world. “Each year, around Human Rights Day, hundreds of thousands of people worldwide write letters or take digital action on behalf of prisoners, and others at risk of human rights abuses,” Kalke and Jackson said in their description of the effort. “Letters have the power to change lives, and throughout Amnesty International’s 64 years of human rights activism, many people have been freed because of the action taken by people who participate in Write for Rights. Letters and online actions taken by activists have given former prisoners of conscience, human rights defenders, torture survivors, and death row prisoners hope and helped changed the minds of decision makers.”

On Friday, the Conard students were writing letters to Leqaa Kordia, a 32-year-old Muslim Palestinian woman who has been detained by U.S. immigration authorities and is being held at a detention facility in Texas where her religious rights – including halal meals, prayer time, and wearing of the hijab – have not been respected, event organizers said.

“Leadership is something that is service based, not for yourself,” West Hartford Superintendent of Schools Paul Vicinus said, thanking Blumenthal for taking time to spend with the students.

“Take away as a lesson that he wants to hear from you,” Vicinus told the Conard Amnesty International Club members. “Continue to raise your voices on issues where you have passion.”

“The fact that you’re here speaks volumes about the West Hartford School system,” Blumenthal said, urging the students to “never give up.” It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon, he said. “You can make a difference, you will make a difference if you keep writing.”

According to Kalke and Jackson, the Conard Amnesty International Club has been active in other ways, and raised more than $1,000 at the West Hartford Holiday Stroll in December. The club continues to advocate against mass deportations, and will continue their public advocacy throughout Connecticut.

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