Andy Worthington Takes Part in UCLU Amnesty Event, “Why Did I Become An Activist?” on Tuesday October 28, 2014

Recently, I was delighted to be asked to take part in an event organised by UCLU Amnesty International Society, entitled, “Why Did I Become An Activist?” which takes place next Tuesday. Details are below.

As the group states on the Facebook page for the event, “Unsure about how human rights relates to you? Want to take action but uncertain where to start? Come along to our ‘Why Should I Be An Activist?’ event. With speakers from a range of backgrounds, this will be an evening of talks and discussions aimed at guiding us, as students, through the first steps of becoming activists in our own right.”

I was pleased to have my work on Guantánamo and related issues as an independent investigative journalist and commentator recognised, and I hope I will be able to provide some young people with examples of the many ways to undertake journalism in the internet age, and also why we need campaigning journalists, and not just those working for the mainstream media, in which, far too often, the many injustices of the world are not adequately addressed, because of an obsession with “objectivity” (not shared by right-wing media outlets) and a refusal to accept that — sometimes, at least — campaigning ought to be part of the mainstream media’s job.

I still recall how, after the illegal invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the Daily Mirror featured on its front cover, every day, a WMD-o-meter showing how many days it was that weapons of mass destruction (the original spurious rationale for the invasion) had not been found. I saluted that initiative then, and wish we could see something similar again.

Here are the details of the event. Perhaps I will see some of you there.

Tuesday October 28, 2014, 6.30 to 8.30pm: Panel discussion – Why Did I Become An Activist? Personal perspectives on activism from educational rights in Palestine, LGBT+, and Guantánamo Bay campaigners
Drayton B20 Jevons LT, Drayton House, 30 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AX.
With Mai Abu Moghli, Andy Worthington and Wesley Gryk. See the building location here.

Mai Abu Moghli has years of experience striving for human rights, often in the MENA region, and currently works in advocacy for greater education in Palestine.

Andy Worthington is a historian, investigative journalist, photographer and author of The Guantánamo Files, and has a wealth of experience in working for social justice throughout the world.

Wesley Gryk is senior partner and founder of Wesley Gryk Solicitors, a law firm specialising in immigration cases, and has been Legal Advisor to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Deputy Head of the International Secretariat of Amnesty International’s research department. Alongside his involvement in international human rights cases, he is also exceptionally experienced in gay rights cases.

For further information about the event, please contact Nerthika Paramsothy.

Andy Worthington is a freelance investigative journalist, activist, author, photographer and film-maker. He is the co-founder of the “Close Guantánamo” campaign, and the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (published by Pluto Press, distributed by Macmillan in the US, and available from Amazon — click on the following for the US and the UK) and of two other books: Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield. He is also the co-director (with Polly Nash) of the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (available on DVD here — or here for the US).

To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to Andy’s RSS feed — and he can also be found on Facebook (and here), Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Also see the six-part definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, and “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” an ongoing, 70-part, million-word series drawing on files released by WikiLeaks in April 2011. Also see the definitive Guantánamo habeas list, the full military commissions list, and the chronological list of all Andy’s articles.

Please also consider joining the “Close Guantánamo” campaign, and, if you appreciate Andy’s work, feel free to make a donation.