| Media
and Updates [past media and Updates]
January 17, 2010, Dr. William Pepper, an international human rights attorney, friend and associate of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., will give a talk entitled “Remember Martin.” Pepper will speak on MLK’s life and legacy. He is the author of An Act of State that details the true account of Dr. King’s assassination. The event, sponsored by NESRI ally Picture the Homeless, will take place at St Mark’s Church, 2nd Avenue at 10th Street, in New York City. A $5 donation is requested, but no one will be turned away. January 16, 2010, NESRI partner United Workers (of Baltimore) will hold their Justice Theater Conference where participants will explore the intersection of theater and struggles for dignity and justice through Theater of the Oppressed, the Battle of Stories Framework, street theater and puppet making. Presenters include Classlines, Theater Action Group (TAG), Puppet Underground, Bashi Rose and Mitchell Ferguson with NOMMO Theater, and the United Workers. The conference is being held in preparation for Our Harbor Day on May 1, 2010. January 14, 2010: Cathy Albisa, NESRI Executive Director, and Rob Robinson of NESRI ally Picture the Homeless discussed public housing, homelessness and the foreclosure crisis on GRITtv with host Laura Flanders. Alibsa and Robinson emphasize the need to build a social movement for the human right to housing. See the interview >>> January 11, 2010, Change.org recently compiled a list of the 10 news stories on homelessness that stood out the most in 2009. The UN Housing Mission to the US, coordinated by NESRI and partners, came in at number four. See the entire list >>> January 6, 2010, In an audio report entitled “Workers Lobby For Single Payer Health Care” on today’s Vermont Public Radio, James Haslam, Director of NESRI partner the Vermont Workers’ Center, states "What we heard loud and clear in communities across Vermont is that the time is now for change on health care and today we're here to deliver that message." Haslam made these comments to a crowd of over 200 who turned out as the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign delivered over 4000 postcards to the VT Statehouse urging legislators to take action on the two single-payer healthcare bills, S.88 and H.100, and mend the broken healthcare system this year. Sue Lucas, president of the Nurses Union at Copley Hospital, stated "We know that Vermonters believe that health care is a human right. I don't think we need to sell that today - we know that's true. What we're here to do today is to change what is politically possible." To listen to the report >>> January 4, 2010, NESRI Ally Housing is a Human Right, a collaborator in the 2009 UN Housing Mission to the US, recently posted an e-newsletter featuring their latest ongoing multimedia documentary portraits of the struggle for home in New York City. To see the enewsletter >>> September 22 – October 6, 2009, The Vermont Workers’ Center is organizing a series of People’s Forums to be held across the state of VT. The People’s Forums are designed as people’s accountability sessions to document the people’s demand for universal, equitable health care and to elicit commitments from state legislators to meet those demands. Public Forums are currently scheduled for the end of September through the beginning of October in Monpelier (9/22), Bennington (9/24), Brattleboro (9/29), Burlington (10/1), and Rutland (10/6). August 28, 2009, Jeffrey Buchanan from RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights posted an article today, entitled “Four Years Later, Let's End the Human Rights Crisis in KatrinaRitaVille” to the HuffingtonPost regarding the human rights violations, including the right to housing, still taking place in the Gulf Coast region and action steps. As this is the fourth anniversary of the disaster, the concerns addressed in the article are particularly poignant today >>> August 27, 2009, The Institute for Southern Studies issued the attached report card “Grading the Katrina Recovery: How Gulf Coast leaders rate the President and Congress four years after the storm” based on a survey of over 50 grassroots advocates, community, environmental and faith based organizations leaders around the Gulf Coast, on how those working on the ground feel about federal efforts in 2009 as a follow-up to their acclaimed series of annual reports on Gulf Coast recovery. This information shows a very different side of the recovery story as of 2009 than what has been coming out in the media and what has been stated in recent press releases from DHS and other agencies and really gives credence to our local and national partners efforts to urge Congress and the Administration to continue working to make good on their promises and obligations to the people of the Gulf Coast. >>> August 26, 2009, Representative Maxine Waters’ held congressional hearings in New Orleans last week. The hearings focused on the Road Home Program and the Status of the “Big Four” public housing developments. Representative Waters reverberated her commitment to one for one replacement on demolished units and questioned developers around the status of rebuilding. Resident testified, including Stephanie Mingo from St. Bernard. To view Stephanie’s testimony >>> To view Times-Picayune coverage of the Road Home hearing >>> and of the Big Four hearing >>> August 25, 2009, NESRI’s Board President, Professor Martha Davis, has been appointed Associate Dean for Clinical and Experiential Education at Northeastern School of Law. Associate Dean Davis will lead the School of Law’s unique, comprehensive and widely acclaimed program of integrated experiential learning. July 31, 2009, Today the Advisory Group on Forced Eviction winds down its Fact Finding Mission on the forced eviction situation in New Orleans with final visits with federal officials in Washington DC. We're pleased to offer a listing of the Mission's press coverage >>> as well as a photo gallery from the mission >>> July 30, 2009, NESRI's Human Right to Health Program Director, Anja Rudiger, is the author of this insightful post, Why “Health Insurance Reform” Fails to Meet Human Rights Principles, on the OpenForum: a blog supported by the community of Health and Human Rights: An International Journal. July 28, 2009, Ken Neubeck, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut, wrote a book review of Bringing Human Rights Home, the three-volume set, co-edited by NESRI’s Executive Director Cathy Albisa and NESRI’s Board Chair Martha Davis, that focuses on implementing international human rights within the United States. >>> July 20, 2009, Lisa Buriss of Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), a member of the Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights, testified in New York City Council Chambers at a Congressional Hearing entitled “Legislative Proposals to Increase Work and Health Care Opportunities for Public and Affordable Housing Residents.” The Congressional Hearing was sponsored by Congresswomen Velazquez (D-NY) and Waters (D-CA). Campaign members May Day New Orleans and the Chicago Coalition to Protect Public Housing provided written testimony for the record. See their testimony >>> July 15, 2009, Dozens of protesters converged on the Housing Authority of New Orleans' headquarters today demanding their human rights to jobs and housing. They expected a board meeting, but were told at the last minute of its cancellation. HANO did not offer a reason but said Friday it will reconvene the board. Read more >>> July 15, 2009, NESRI and twelve organizations and coalitions working on issues of education, school culture and school discipline submit a Joint Statement on Revisions to the New York City Discipline Code to the Department of Education >>> Also see our recent Teachers Talk report on school culture and discipline in New York City schools >>> June 28, 2009, In an article entitled “Vermonters Must Lead the Way,” which appeared in the Burlington Free Press, NESRI Partner James Haslam of the Vermont Workers’ Center responds to what he sees as a lot of “tinkering around the edges of a health care mess.” Haslam suggests that Vermonters will need to lead the way be establishing health care not as a market commodity, but as a basic right.” He continues “Having health care as a right means that we’ll pool our money together to provide health care for everyone who needs it, like having a fire department, public education system and maintained roads.” Read the article >>> Read an earlier version of the article which appeared in the Bennington Banner >>> June 26, 2009, 5:30 pm, "Rally for Human Rights" at Union Station Plaza in Washington D.C. Speak up for the Human Right to Health Care and Single Payer Right Now! The rally is being organized in conjunction with the 2009 National Health Care for the Homeless Conference & Policy Symposium. Join service providers, advocates, and people experiencing homelessness in publicly declaring and demanding the need for Federal recognition of the human rights to health care, housing and livable incomes. Rally will be held at the north side of the Capitol building between New Jersey and Louisiana Streets. Read the rally flyer >>> View a photo gallery from the rally >>> Listen to an interview with Amnesty International's Sameer Dossani who as the rally >>> June 25, 2009, Today Radhika Balakrishan of the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University released a statement entitled “A Human Rights Response to the Economic Crisis in the US.” The statement was given at the Church Center in New York City at a NESRI co-sponsored panel by the same name. The statement looks at the impact of the economic crisis on the economic and social rights of people in the United States, and illustrates how a human rights framework is needed to analyze why the crisis was allowed to happen and what we can do about it. >>> June 24, 2009, NESRI and other members of the Student Safety Coalition testified today at a public hearing held by the New York City Department of Education (DOE) on the Discipline Code. NESRI criticized changes proposed by the DOE which continue to prioritize zero-tolerance suspensions and removals, and instead recommended that the DOE adopt positive models for discipline that are consistent with fundamental human rights principles for ensuring dignity and the full development of young people. Read the testimony >>> June 23, 2009, The Dignity in Schools Campaign was cited in a recent article entitled “Black Male Conundrum” which appeared in the Catalyst Chicago. The article references DSC’s advocacy around having federal stimulus money be targeted toward programs that promote alternatives to suspension and expulsion. Read the article >>> June 22, 2009, In a blog posting entitled “Demolishing Public Housing In Order To Save It?” the Grassroots Policy Project references the Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights’ commitment to the notion that “housing is a human right that should be guaranteed through social policy.” The post continues “Making sure every family has secure housing of good quality is a collective responsibility, one that is too great to leave entirely up to the whims of the speculative housing market.” To read the full blog entry >>> June 22, 2009, A new book, entitled Realizing the Right to Health, Volume III in the Swiss Human Rights Book series, and edited by Mary Robinson and Andrew Clapham, was launched at an international symposium in Geneva entitled "Realizing the Right to Health: Whose Role is it Anyway?" For more information on the launch program>>> All chapters of the book are available online >>> June 22, 2009, The Center for American Progress has just released a new study authored by Bill Schultz entitled "The Power of Justice: Applying International Human Rights Standards to American Domestic Practices." To view the report >>> June 21, 2009, A video report fromThe Real News Network entitled "Health care a human right?" spotlights Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) co-chair and single payer advocate Margarat Flowers’s recent testimony to Congress. In her testimony, Flowers suggests “Health care is not a commodity. It is a human right.” See the video report >>> June 17, 2009, After a national mobilization of housing and community activists, today the Biloxi (MS) council decided to give FEMA trailer residents six more months to stay in their trailers. Read the article >>> June 12, 2009, This week a Biloxi (MS) zoning ordinance was introduced to the Biloxi City Council to push people still living in FEMA trailers off their own land. NESRI stands united with Biloxi residents, Hope CDA, MS Center for Justice and dozens of other groups who oppose this latest indignity. Advocates from across the country are urging elected officials to “Stand Up for Human Rights, Vote Down Proposed FEMA Trailer Removal Ordinance.” Read a press release >>> June 12, 2009, The Department of Geography at the University of Washington has award its annual Undergraduate Research Symposium Team Award to Christian Williams, Jessica Nguyen, Cody Burkholz, and Chris Slotta, for their project "Measuring H.O.P.E. VI's Impact on Public Housing Communities in the United States", completed in collaboration with the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative. June 10, 2009, The Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing on “Examining the Single Payer Health Care Option”. Witnesses included Rep. John Conyers, Geri Jenkins RN, Dr. Walter Tsau, and Dr. Marcia Angell, and their written statements are available on the committee’s website. In his comments to the hearing, Dr. Walter Tsou, public health physician, former Health Commissioner of Philadelphia, National Board Advisor with Physicians for a National Health Program suggested “If you believe that every American has the right to quality, affordable health care, then the only affordable means to achieve that goal is through a properly financed, single-payer, national health insurance program.” To listen to or read proceeds of the hearing >>> An archived webcast of the hearing, including the questioning of witnesses by committee members is also available. June 8, 2009, The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights released a new report on the Implementation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights >>> June 8, 2009, In article appearing on the Huffington Post today, Bernie Sanders writes “Health Care Is A Right, Not A Privilege.” Sanders states that Most Americans do believe that all of us should have health care coverage, and that nobody should be left out of the system.” Read the article >>> June 8, 2009, In an article by Joe Surkiewicz entitled “Addressing Needs as Rights”, which appeared today in Maryland's The Daily Record, NESRI Executive Director Cathy Albisa comments that Maryland Legal Aid’s recent adoption of a human rights framework to guide its mission “could launch a process that brings legal services back to its historical role on the forefront of social change.” Albisa said a human rights framework offers several advantages, starting with putting lawyers in alignment with the people they serve. "Forty years ago, legal services were an essential source of law reform," Albisa said. "It was one of the most important allies of the poor. Now, with President Obama recommending the lifting of some restrictions on legal services organizations, there's a new opportunity to rebuild it - and legal services organizations such as Legal Aid can reclaim this historic stage." Read the article >>> June 5, 2009, Steve Hitov, of NHeLP/NESRI’s Human Right to Health Program spoke today at a conference in Los Angeles entitled “The Crisis of Health and Human Rights in South L.A: Leveraging Lessons and Getting Results in South LA and Beyond.” South Los Angeles-based residents, service providers, and advocates joined with colleagues from across the world to discuss how a health and human rights framework can lead to marked and measurable improvements in the health and well-being of children, adolescents and families. June 4, 2009, An article entitled “Progressive groups at odds on health care,” appearing in the Fort Collins Democrat Examiner, quotes NESRI Executive Director Cathy Albisa as stating “We have a fundamental choice to make as a country. We can either be guided by human rights that reflect our founding values or we can continue down the path of special corporate interests.” Read the article >>> June 3, 2009, While Senator Max Baucus finally met with single-payer advocates today, he told them he would not include any single-payer supporters in future hearings. Although Baucus has acknowledged his mistake in not including single-payer health coverage advocates in previous hearings, he maintains that at this point the process of drafting healthcare reform legislation is too far along now to rectify that omission. Advocates of single-payer emerged from the meeting declaring their determination to push ahead with what they see as a fundamental struggle for human rights. Amongst them, Senator Bernie Sanders stated "When you have the nurses and physicians saying the current system is not working," scores of people saying health care is a right and single payer the most cost effective approach, we're seeing this grassroots movement growing and gaining momentum.” Read coverage of the meeting from Healthcare-Now >>> and the National Nurses Movement >>> June 1, 2009, Today the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is scheduled to May 29, 2009, The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today, by Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter, has been released by University of California Press. The book quotes NESRI’s Executive Director Cathy Albisa. For more information on the book >>> May 22, 2009,
The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights May 20, 2009, The Participation and the Practice of Rights Project (PPR Project) in Belfast has released a new video entitled “North Belfast Takes On the World...” It tells of how four residents from across North Belfast will visit the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, to highlight the failure of government to realize the right to health, housing and play in some of the poorest communities in Northern Ireland. The video was inspired by a recent video produced by NESRI partners May Day New Orleans and Rada Film Group which highlights how public housing residents were shut out of HUD Secretary Donovan's March visit to New Orleans. PPR has been doing great work around pressuring the government to meet human rights standards in their housing policy and practices. In fact, they've created a toolkit to measure the government's progress using human rights indicators and benchmarks. To view the video >>> May 19, 2009, 6:30 pm, “Whose Land Is It?” A roundtable discussion on the right of the people to live on and own land, versus corporate America’s profiting from the land. Guest speakers include: Max Rameau of Take back the Land in Miami, Dr Peter Marcuse, Professor Emeritus, Urban Planning, Columbia University in NY, Frank Morales , longtime NYC Activist and squatter, Brenda Stokely, longtime NYC Activist and squatter, Neil Smith Professor in Anthropology, Ph.D. CUNY at CUNY Graduate Center’s Segal Theater, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York. For more information contact Picture the Homeless (646) 314-6423. May 18, 2009, 7:30 pm, Max Rameau and Take Back the Land present “Whose Land Is It”? Our government is bailing out banks and corporations, while many of those same corporations are profiting from the land. A discussion on land ownership, takeovers, showdowns, squatting and movement building at the Brecht Forum. 451 West Street (between Bank & Bethune Streets). For more information contact Picture the Homeless (646) 314-6423 May 15, 2009, In recent weeks doctors, nurses, and other concerned citizens have been arrested for calling into question Senator Max Baucus’ Senate Finance Committee’s Health Care Reform hearings. Together these single payer advocates have justified their civil disobedience by locating it in the long tradition of rights struggles in this country. Read Donna Smith of the California Nurses Association’s May 5 article “Doctors, Single Payer Activists Arrested” >>> Read a May 7 interview with Margaret Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Program >>> Read Margaret Flowers’ May 8 article “Why we risked arrest for single-payer healthcare” >>> Read Keven Zeese’s May 13 article “A Populist Health Care Rebellion” >>> View MSNBC’s May 13 coverage of the arrests “Push for Single-Payer Grows”>>> View Democracy Now’s May 13 coverage of the protests >>> Read Amy Goodman’s May 14 article “Baucus’ Raucous Caucus” >>> Read Air America Guest Blogger Mike Farrell's May 15 article “Isn’t Healthcare a Basic Human Right?” >>> May 13, 2009, NESRI’s Cathy Albisa, along with NESRI Partners Maisie Chin of CADRE and Sam Jackson of May Day New Orleans, are featured in a new video about the January 2009 U. S. Human Rights Fund’s New Orleans Convening. To view the video >>> May 13, 2009, NESRI and Teachers Unite’s recent report Teachers Talk was highlighted in a recent edutopia article entitled “How to Develop Positive Classroom Management.” The article quotes Sally Lee, coauthor of "Teachers Talk" and executive director of the New York City organization Teachers Unite, as stating "An approach to discipline that is respectful of human rights and maintains student dignity leads to a school that is inherently safe." Lee continues "A school in which students and teachers don't feel safe creates a fearful environment. And where there is a fearful environment, there are low expectations for discipline." To read the article >>> May 13, 2009, Laurie Larson of the Vermont Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign wrote an oped entitled “My Turn: Health care is a human right.” that appeared in the Burlington Free Press on May 13, 2009 Read the oped >>> May 13, 2009, Supporters of defending and expanding public housing, from New Orleans to Newark, and across the country, will be gathering a 5 PM at the Department of Housing and Urban Development office in Newark for a rally and press conference to deliver their message. See the press release >>> May 9, 2009, This fall the University of Pennsylvania Press will release Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights, edited by Bert B. Lockwood, Jr. To learn more about the book >>> May 1, 2009, The Vermont Workers' Center and an estimated thousand Vermonter rallied at the statehouse in Montpelier for a Health Care is a Human Right Rally. The rally aimed to shift the way people think about health care and build enough power to change what is “politically possible” in Vermont. The rally demanded that the legislature recognize health care as a human right. View Press coverage of the rally >>> Listen to a podcast of Senator Bernie Sanders speaking at the rally >>> Listen to a Labor Justice Radio podcast about the rally >>> View a photo gallery of the rally >>> April 22, 2009, Montana State Senator Christine Kaufmann, of NESRI partner the Montana Human Rights Network (MHRN), was featured on Democracy Now. The MHRN has been leading a statewide campaign to achieve health care reform from a human rights perspective. The campaign includes a legislative agenda and local initiatives. Kaufmann recently introduced a constitutional amendment in the State Senate to establish the right to health care in the state. Watch the interview >>> Learn more about NESRI's Human Right to Health Program's work with the Montana Human Rights Network >>> April 21, 2009, NESRI ally May Day New Orleans seeks signatures for an open letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., asking him to launch an investigation into possible corruption and malfeasance under HUD and the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) after Katrina. See the call for signatures >>> April 18, 2009, Baltimore’s low-wage workers have declared the Inner Harbor a Human Rights Zone and are demanding that the economic human rights of all workers be respected. Following the noon “B-More Fair: Celebrating Our Lives, Our City, Our Way," at Carroll Park, the United Workers Association led a Human Rights Zone March where they announced specific demands and the first employer they’ll be targeting as they work to reach their vision of the right to work with dignity, the right to health care and the right to education for all workers. >>> View a video from the March >>> April 17, 2009, NESRI and the Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC) have asked the U.S. Department of Education to encourage school districts to invest federal stimulus money in Positive Behavior Supports (PBS), restorative practices and other innovative approaches to improve student behavior and achievement. The organizations made the request in a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The letter outlined several steps to encourage the use of stimulus funds for effective programs that improve student discipline, achievement and school safety. Twenty-four advocacy groups and 41 individuals signed the letter. Read the letter and the complete list of participating organizations and individuals >>> Read the press release >>> Obtain more information about the DSC Alternatives to Zero-Tolerance Working Group >>> Listen to a recent DSC teleconference on "How Education Stimulus Dollars Can Be Used to Solve Part of the Pushout Problem">>> April 15, 2009,NESRI and the Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC) are seeking signatures for a sign-on letter to the US Department of Education. The letter urges the Ed. Dept. to encourage school districts and states to use stimulus funds to improve school climates and address disciplinary disparities related to race, poverty, language, and special educational status. There is very little time to submit this letter to the US Department of Education before it releases its "smart list" of uses for stimulus funds. If you wish to sign on to this letter, please send your signature to Matthew Cregor by the close of business on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15. Read the sign-on letter >>> Obtain more information about the DSC Alternatives to Zero-Tolerance Working Group >>> Listen to a recent DSC teleconference on "How Education Stimulus Dollars Can Be Used to Solve Part of the Pushout Problem" >>> April 14, 2009, Congrats to NESRI partners May Day New Orleans and Rada Film Group for the short video they put together highlighting how public housing residents were shut out of HUD Secretary Donovan's March visit to New Orleans. During that visit, which took place the week of March 2nd, Secretary Donovan met with developers, but when residents tried to schedule a meeting with him they were denied. Donovan’s actions violated one of the key components of the human rights to housing and to development – community participation. According to human rights standards development must regard the opinion of community members as of equal value to those of analysts, academics, planners, and the private sector. Read the "Why Weren't We Invited" press release from May Day New Orleans >>> April 6, 2009, Today NESRI launched two new web 2.0 tools. In podcast 3 (of 5) NESRI Executive Director Cathy Albisa and CADRE Executive Director Maisie Chin, a NESRI partner, address the opening plenary of the U.S. Human Rights Fund's January 2009 Convening in New Orleans. In the most recent photo collection NESRI visits with May Day New Orleans to collaborate on a Human Right to Housing Participatory Survey. Listen to presentations by NESRI staff, board, and partners on our podcast page >>> Look through our new photostream where we document through photographs key events and actions >>> March 30, 2009, Amnesty International has launched a petition calling on health reformers to recognize that health care is a human right, not a commodity. NESRI is collaborating with Amnesty International in a new Health Care is a Human Right Coalition, which also includes the Opportunity Agenda and the National Health Law Program (NHeLP). The petition urges elected officials to deliver a U.S. health care system that fulfills the human right to health care and meets the core principles of universality, equity, and accountability. It states that “publicly financed and administered health care should be expanded as the strongest vehicle for making health care accessible and accountable to the people.” Sign the short version of the petition >>> Download the full version of the petition >>> Download the principles >>> March 27, 2009, Ipas, in collaboration with NESRI, NHeLP, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, today published a new fact sheet on “The Human Right to Health and Women’s Reproductive Health Policy”. According to the fact sheet "Advocates for reproductive health care in the United States can find strong support for their work in the principles underlying the human right to health." To download the fact sheet >>> March 26, 2009, Today, following months of struggle and advocacy by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and the Alliance for Fair Food (co-founded by NESRI), Florida Governor Charlie Crist finally sent the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) a letter stating ""I have no tolerance for slavery in any form, and I am committed to eliminating this injustice anywhere in Florida..." Crist went on to recognize the indisputable link between slavery and the failure to protect the economic and social rights of farmworkers, and stated "I support the Coalition's Campaign for Fair Food." Read the Governor's letter to CIW >>> March 19, 2009, 12:00 pm, Picture the Homeless of New York City will hold a Human Right to Housing rally against property warehousing. The rally will begin at 116th and Lexington. For a rally flyer >>> March 17, 2009, NESRI’s Human Right to Health Program, run jointly with the National Health Law Program, has developed ten human rights principles for financing health care. The ten principles set down markers for health care reformers to help them meet human rights standards. Taken together they provide a framework for realizing the goal of a healthy society in a financially sustainable way. Read the press release here >>> Download the principles here >>> (longer version) or here >>> (shorter version). March 12, 2009, Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children (FFLIC) have released a trailer of their new documentary Stopping the School to Prison Pipeline. Watch the trailer and find out what's happening in New Orleans schools and FFLIC's work to end the school to prison pipeline. >>> March 9, 2009, NESRI partner the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) traveled to Tallahassee to stage a creative protest designed to bring the reality of brutal human rights violations in Florida's fields to the governor's doorstep. CIW members re-enacted a slavery operation recently prosecuted by federal authorities in a "popular theater" presentation at the Florida Capitol. The farmworker delegation -- including victims from various slavery cases over the past decade -- also delivered petition signatures to Governor Crist calling on him to take a stand against slavery and to meet with the CIW. Add your voice to this call and send an email or fax to the governor today! Tell Florida Governor Crist to Take a Stand Against Slavery! >>> March 9, 2009, In an article entitled “The Emerging Healthcare Sell-Out”, Shamus Cooke writes “Healthcare is a human right. Obama’s attempt to leave this socially precious industry in the hands of greedy individuals motivated only by profit is unacceptable.” >>> March 9, 2009, Joe Conason, in an article entitle “The Questions Our Healthcare Debate Ignores,” suggests that “if healthcare is a public good and a human right, the domination of private interests must be curtailed.”>>> March 9, 2009, The UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Ms Raquel Rolnik, made her first report to the UN Human Rights Council today. The report, entitled "Promotion and Protection of all Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the Right to Development" makes some excellent comments on the impact of the current financial crisis on housing and the importance of adopting a rights-based, rather than commodity-based approach to housing. For a summary of her remarks >>> For the report in English and Spanish >>> March 5, 2009 , NESRI partner May Day New Orleans held a press conference today after public housing residents and advocates were excluded from HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan's itinerary during his visit to the Gulf Coast on March 5 and 6. May Day New Orleans is calling on the HUD Secretary to meet with a a grassroots coalition of public housing residents and advocates while in New Orleans. Read the press release >>> March 3, 2009, NESRI recently joined with the Independent Commission on Public Education of NYC (ICOPE) and a number of other groups to put forward a pledge for a redesigned public education system in New York City based on every child's human right to education. To read and sign the pledge >>> February 21, 2009, NESRI allies Sam Jackson and Stephanie Mingo, New Orleans housing activists, published an article critiquing a draft proposal by five progressive non-profits providing policy recommendations to the U.S. Congress concerning the promotion of affordable housing in the storm devastated areas of the Gulf Coast. The main criticism of their article is that the proposal of the five non-profits represents a continuation of the failed private sector driven approach to rebuilding the Gulf Coast begun in 2005 under the direction of the Bush Administration. See the article >>> February 20, 2009, Following Capital Hill and White House visits last week by NESRI partner Sam Jackson of May Day New Orleans and other grassroots leaders with the National Campaign to Restore Housing Rights and the Housing Justice Movement, the Obama administration today announced that HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano would tour the Gulf Coast on March 5 and 6 to “see first hand the progress made … and report back on the needs they see in the region.” The administration also announced the six month extension of the Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery Office and the Disaster Housing Assistance Program. See the Times-Picayune coverage >>> February 20, 2009, In an article entitled “Health Horrors Heard at Forum,” appearing today in the Bennington Banner, James Haslam, Director of the Vermont Workers’ Cente, calls Vermont Governor James Douglas’ proposed cuts to the state’s health programs a “basic attack on the human right to health care.” >>> February 16, 2009, The Montana State Senate held a hearing on establishing the right to health care in the state. The constitutional amendment was introduced by Senator Christine Kaufmann. To see the bill >>> To listen to the hearing (the right to health care hearing starts at 0:20:55 seconds and ends at 1:09:40 seconds) >>> February 12, 2009, NESRI joins human rights and housing justice organizations across the country in decrying the eviction of residents from New Orleans' Lafitte Public Housing Development. Read the press statement >>> Respond to a call to action >>> February 10, 2009, Lucas Benitez of NESRI partner the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) presented at the United Nations’ launch of World Social Justice Day. For event program, photos and video >>> See his testimony (in Spanish) >>> (in English) >>> February 10, 2009, Over 200 domestic workers from the New York City area and their supporters will travel to Albany to meet with legislators and push for passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (A1470). At 12:30, (in 9 LCA Press Room: Legislative Office Building, Room 130, Albany, NY) domestic workers will testify about their experiences and supporters will address the need for the bill. View the Domestic Workers United Albany Day Flyer >>> February 4, 2009, The New York State Assembly Labor Committee approved legislation to provide comprehensive labor standards to domestic workers employed in private homes. The bill, known as the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (A1470), is the first state initiative of its kind and if passed by the full assembly could serve as a model for other states seeking to address the working conditions of domestic workers. Read the full press release >>> February 3, 2009, The Human Right to Health Program releases the working document "Embedding the Human Right to Health Care in U.S. State Constitutions: A Progress Review and Lessons for Advocates." The report, prepared by Kathrin Rüegg, is based on a review of recent constitutional amendment efforts in a number of states across the US. While acknowledging the significant challenges faced by these efforts, this report suggests steps that can be taken to address and overcome these challenges. >>> January 28, 2009, In the Seattle Post-Intelligencer op-ed "Treat Health Care as a Human RIght," two Seattle based physicians argue that "the only way to create a durable [health] system -- one that is equitable and affordable, allowing everyone to get the care they need -- is to design it around human rights principles that make protection of health paramount.">>> January 23, 2009, Northwest Health Law Advocates (NoHLA) released a report, "Washington State's Health Reform Proposals: A Human Rights Assessment." The report uses a human rights framework to evaluate the five proposals that the Washington Legislature is considering as models for state-based health reform. Read the report and download the toolkit here >>> January 8, 2008, President-Elect Barack Obama, Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi received letters urging the signing of an Executive Order authorizing the Gulf Coast Civic Works Program and the inclusion of $6.7 billion for Gulf Coast Civic Works projects to rebuild communities, restore the coastal environment and revitalize local economies in the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The letters were signed by NESRI and 130+ diverse community, environmental, faith, human rights, labor, and student organizations across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and their national allies as part of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign. See the letters sent here: Letter to President Elect Obama >>> Letter to Speaker Pelosi >>> Letter to Majority Leader Reid >>> See the campaign solidarity letter from the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights >>> January 7, 2009, At the end of last year Faithful Reform in Health Care sent a sign-on letter from national faith communities to President-elect Obama and to congressional leaders. The 17 signing organizations called on the President-elect and congressional leaders to lead their health care reform efforts with a set of basic values, including the human right to health care. “As people of faith, we envision a society where each person is afforded health, wholeness, and human dignity. That vision embraces a system of health care that is inclusive, accessible, affordable, and accountable.” The President-Elect and congressional leaders were asked to consider these values in every forthcoming health policy initiative. Read the letter to President-elect Obama >>>
2008 ARCHIVE 2 (JULY - DECEMBER) 2008 ARCHIVE 1 (jANUARY - JUNE) 2007 ARCHIVE 2 (JULY - DECEMBER) 2007 ARCHIVE 1 (JANUARY - JUNE) 2006 Archive 2 (July - December) |