Human rights fair rocks out for cause

Amnesty International, Oles for Justice in Palestine, Team Tibet, the Northfield Human Rights Commission, HECUA, GLOW! and individual students tabling for Burma participated in the Human Rights Fair on April 30 in Buntrock Commons. The fair also featured Melong, the only Tibetan rock band in the country, as well as performances from various students on issues they felt strongly about.

The event was organized by Nura Younes ‘12, Tenzin Kunsal ‘13, Norzin Waleag ‘12, Jordan Montgomery ‘13 and April Curtis ‘12, who got involved through their respective organizations.

"Oles for Justice in Palestine, Team Tibet and Amnesty International all came together and thought that doing some sort of collaboration would be a great thing seeing as that the Palestine/Israel issue as well as the Tibet/China issue have a lot to do with human rights controversy and Amnesty is a global organization that works with these kind of issues," Younes said.

While student interest in the event faltered a little because of the rainy weather and the subsequent location change, the organizers felt there was a lot of student interest, and a few students even spontaneously decided to table for their cause.

One of the highlights of the fair was Melong's performance. Melong is a Tibetan rock band located out of the Twin Cities. Their music predominately focused on the struggles and hardships of being Tibetan. The group sang in Tibetan and utilized several Tibetan instruments, which they combined with an electric guitar and bass guitar.

Maria Ward ‘12, Chair of the St. Olaf branch of Amnesty Inernational, believes that while many members of the St. Olaf student body do care about human rights, there is "a core of really active people who come to lots of evens and speakers, but we need to reach out to the entire St. Olaf population."

Younes noted that St. Olaf, while the student body seems to care about human rights issues around the world, it could do more with participation.

"It would be so nice to see more people who care about human rights issues, whether it be about Palestinian rights or Tibetan rights or anything else, to come and support their cause," Younes said. "The way to fix a problem or at least make a difference is to get involved, and I'd like to see that more here at St. Olaf."          

While the 2010-2011 school year is winding down, students who want to be more involved in the quest for human rights can get in touch with their local chapter of the Human Rights Commission or visit the co-curricular fair next fall, where student organizations will be recruiting members.

skaggs@stolaf.edu