INTRODUCTION
The Humyn Rights Board (HRB), which changed its name from Human Rights Board this year, serves as a forum for facilitating and amplifying the interaction between student groups – both within UCSB and in our greater community. The board encourages, advocates, and promotes respectful, and honest communication with regard to basic human rights principles. This includes, but is not limited to questions of age, class, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, nationality, religion, race, size, sex, and sexuality. The board promotes open education and awareness through events, forums and educational campaigns. The board is driven by the fact that ignorance is the primary root of human rights abuses and the realization that when working together we can have a much stronger impact.
INITIATIVES AND EVENTS
HUMAN RIGHTS WEEK
During fall quarter, HRB hosted its annual Human Rights Week. During the week board members did outreach to a variety of related organizations and encouraged them to host events focusing on human rights. The underlying theme was “under-underrepresented,” with particular attention paid to members of specific marginalized communities that are even further marginalized within larger groups. For example, the Muslim Student Association and Kapatirang Pilipino collaborated on an event which addressed the parallels in US foreign policy in the Arab and Filipino worlds, particularly with regard to Muslim Pacific Islanders.
HEALTH CARE FOR ALL-CALIFORNIA EVENT
Campus Democrats hosted an event with Healthcare for All-California, an organization dedicated to implementation of a single-payer healthcare system to serve even those who are not covered by the national Affordable Care Act. HRW provided rooms and publicity for these kinds of events.
UC PRESIDENT JANET NAPOLITANO
HRB also organized against the appointment of former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano as UC President.
FUNDED INITIATIVES
During Winter, HRB funded many member organizations’ outreach and community events, including United Students Against Sweatshops’ Rana Plaza memorial and the Vietnamese Student Association’s high school events.
ZINE
HRB also worked on putting together a ‘zine, which was a compilation of articles, poems, pictures, and infographics about the corporatization and privatization of the UC. It was distributed in early Spring Quarter.
DIVESTMENT FROM COMPANIES SUPPORTING THE MILITARY IN ISRAEL
During Spring, HRB distributed the ‘zine and organized in support of the Divestment bill that was proposed in AS Senate.
PRISONER PAGES
HRB also developed two new projects, Prisoner Pages and Activist Campus Tours. Prisoner Pages is HRB’s attempt to send books, articles, and/or resources to victims of the prison-industrial complex. HRB wants to reach out to incarcerated people who could use some outside help. HRB is working on collaborating with the UCSB Bookstore to have them act as a vendor for HRB to send books to prisoners directly.
ACTIVIST TOUR GUIDES
Activist Tour Guides is a project HRB developed to address a need it saw for educating current, future, and past UCSB students, faculty, and staff about the activist history of our campus, especially to shed light on some of the places and events at UCSB that people might not know about by just participating in the Gaucho Tour Guides association tours.
THANKS TO CO-CHAIR ANISHA AHUJA
Much of this work was due to former co-chair Anisha Ahuja’s dedication to the group. Her co-chair had to leave the group halfway through the year, and HRB got a few new officers along the way as well. HRB also had a dedicated core of officers who remained through their terms. It was a bumpy year but the Human Rights Board certainly accomplished a lot and want to build on all that is has done for next year!!