ONE - We are the people. TWO - A little bit louder. THREE - We want justice for all people.

Yesterday, I went to New York City for the first time to participate in an event organized by a local Amnesty International chapter called Get On the Bus. Basically, a few hundred human rights-lovers spent the day in the city protesting in front of various embassies on behalf of four prisoners of conscience. At first, I was a little apprehensive about the whole thing, especially the 4:30 wake-up call it required, but it turned out to be an amazing experience.
We started out in Cooper Union (a really cool building and school with a lot of historical significance) where we heard some experts speak about the human rights situations in Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), China/Tibet, and the DRC. While we were there, we also loaded up on posters, stickers, and even some peacock feathers (a Burmese symbol for peace). After that, I rode the New York subway for the first time and got off at Grand Central (definitely recognizable from movies and television) and we ate lunch there. After we were done eating, we headed to the Sri Lankan Mission and spent about forty-five minutes chanting and holding our signs, but the mood seemed a little off. We were often out of sync and I just wasn't too excited to be there. When we headed over to the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza for our Burma protest, however, everything really picked up. There were several Burmese monks and human rights advocates there with us, and their presence reminded me of the real people we were trying to get justice for, including the Burmese students I worked with last summer. Morale really seemed to pick up and my spirit was definitely lifted. By the end of the day, I even got to lead some chants, which was a pretty cool experience.
All in all, it was an interesting day and it encouraged me to both get more involved with Amnesty International here and also to take advantage of my proximity to New York. I would love to go back and explore Harlem!