How to get involved

Get involved!

Building a human rights city takes involvement from all residents. We invite and encourage you to consider how you can act in your neighborhood, in your schools, church, and other local organizations, and with other residents to find ways to make our city one where everyone enjoys human rights and dignity. Let us know about human rights activities happening in our region: pghrights at riseup.net

• Sign up for our email list to learn about upcoming events

The work we do depends upon volunteers, and we want to support other organizations' human rights work. Here are some of the initiatives volunteers have been taking as part of our work to build a human rights city. We welcome your organization to connect your work with this city- and regional alliance.

Human Rights City Alliance & Partner Groups- Follow-up meeting to the Summit vs. Racism 2017 February 1, 2017
MEETING OUTCOMES SUMMARY: How to Get Involved
The Human Rights City Alliance is working to bring Pittsburgh residents together to make human rights a reality in our city. As new threats to these rights unfold with the Trump presidency, our local work to defend, protect, and strengthen human rights is extremely urgent. Please get involved! Here's some ways to do that:

Immigrant Rights

• Write your member of City Council to ask him/her to support the legislation sponsored by Dan Gilman to protect immigrants.
• Support work to promote county level protections (we'll keep you posted, or get in touch if you can help)
• Join working group to plan May Day March for Immigrant Rights (contact Antonia Domingo Antonia Domingo (antoniadomingo[at]gmail [dot] com)
• Join working group to plan Teach-in on Immigrant Rights-Sunday April 30 (contact Antonia Domingo Antonia Domingo (antoniadomingo[at]gmail [dot] com)
• Join working group to support welcoming messaging projects around the city (contact pghrights [at] riseup [dot] net)

Housing Justice/Tenant Union Organizing

• Next Greater Pittsburgh Tenants Union General Meeting Tues. March 14 6.30 PM, 1 Smithfield Street, Downtown Pittsburgh. Meetings 2nd Tuesday of Every Month.
• Join a working group, contact Reggie Good reggie [at] northsidetenants [dot] org (Committees: Education, Policy, Advocacy-more below)

Women's Rights

• Spread the word about the new City Ordinance protecting women's rights. Invite groups you know to join the coalition.
• Attend **Pittsburgh for CEDAW**meetings, Tuesday, Feb 21 and every 3rd Tuesday at the Friends Meeting House, 4836 Ellsworth Ave.

Police Accountability/ Reform

• Support the Alliance for Police Accountability “monthly meetings 1st Wed. of each month.
• Sign open letter to new police chief urging him to continue promoting anti-racism reforms in the Police Department (details to come soon)
• Contact Mayor Peduto and tell him to sign theMayoral Pledge to end Police Violence

Human Rights Education

• Join working group to plan convening/s to allow residents to envision what kind of community do we want to live in? and to discuss ideas for how to make that vision real. Contact pghrights [at] riseup [dot] net
• Help promote decentralized activities to advance human rights learning. Contact pghrights [at] riseup [dot] net

Full meeting notes Feb 1, 2017 meeting


AND MORE**

• Share the word and help us carry out the Human Rights City Action Plan
• Community Outreach: Please invite groups you work with to be part of the Human Rights City Alliance's work! Help us invite groups around our city to link their work with the vision of building a human rights city. This letter is addressed to community leaders and invites them to reflect on actions they can take "because we're a human rights city." This letter invites congregations/church leaders to lift up human rights concerns in their churches-particularly around December 10/Human Rights Day. Please download and use or adapt these to invite organizations in our region to join this work.
• Help us organize residents to advance human rights. Please let us know if you can help with the following task forces: (send an email message to pghrights at riseup.net or contact our facebook page.)
  • Indigenous Peoples Day 2015
  • Cities for CEDAW-- the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
  • Strengthening city/legal mechanisms for enforcing human rights
  • Social committee & Meeting planning team
• Fight forced migration and displacement of Black and low-income residents
  • Black Homes Matter: Alternative Approaches to Neighborhood Revitalization in the City of Pittsburgh by People Speak Out for Equitable Development
• Support State-wide non-discrimination to protect LGBTQ residents: Join people around the state to flood our legislators' offices with calls for action on this important bill (HB/SB300 will be reintroduced as the Pennsylvania Fairness Act). See Model Letter supporting PA Fairness Act.
  • Please let us know which representatives you've contacted and if you'd like to be kept informed about the future work on this issue. Send a message to: pghrights [AT] riseup.net
  • NEW: UN Report finds that LGBT people suffer widespread violent abuse, discrimination this report helps stress the urgency of taking action to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identification. Please stand up for human rights and dignity for everyone!
• Demand local police accountability!
  • Contact Mayor Peduto and tell him to sign theMayoral Pledge to end Police Violence
  • We wrote this letter as part of Amnesty International's local write-a-thon during Human Rights Days of Action. You can join many other voices in calling for changes in our local police practices by writing to Chief McLay and urging him to follow the recommendations in our Human Rights City Action Plan.
    • Activist leaders issue report on how to rebuild police "from the ground up"
    • This country needs a truth commission on violence against African Americans (Yes! Magazine December 2014)

Other things you can do to make Pittsburgh a true Human Rights City

• Help your organization members and the public learn about their rights, share copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, organize a discussion of the document and its history, ask members to discuss the text and ideas for helping realize more rights for more people in our city;
• Issue a press statement describing why the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is important to your group's members/constituents. What article is particularly pertinent to your group and how might people in this city including elected officials help advance it?
• Organize an event to celebrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and provide a space for public discussion of the document in your community;
• Compile your group's ideas for a city Human Rights Agenda
• Join the Human Rights City Alliance to work with other groups in the community to draft and build a movement that will demand a Human Rights Agenda for our region.
• Join a Task Force to help advance the Human Rights Action Plan.

Tell us your human rights-related activities: We'll help spread word of your event and let our public officials know what their constituents are talking about! (email [pghrights at riseup.net] to share your ideas or learn how to get involved).