We have sent the Gray Panthers networks our proposed human rights amendment to the state constitution, which we are asking them to support. We are also asking for support from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Our committee is inspired by the words of Nelson Mandela on the occasion of his acceptance of Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience of 2006:

….Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of fundamental human rights. Everyone everywhere has the right to live with dignity, free from fear and oppression, free from hunger, and free to express himself or herself and associate at will….

….If all human rights activists around the world believe this and act on this and get others to believe, we will have our turning point….

—From “While poverty persists, there is no freedom,” The Guardian, Nov. 4, 2006.

(back to December 2006 Newsletter front page)