Trust is more important now than ever before. This spring 2019, WITNESS is changing the story. We will highlight the people and communities that fuel our movement, and show that without trust, in our partnerships and for human rights content, there can be no justice.

Cheryl Morris, Community Team @ VIMEO and WITNESS volunteer, reflected on “who can we trust?” As noted in Cheryl’s blog post:

“I am a young, black, first generation American woman from New York City. Following the indictment of George Zimmerman and the murders of Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Akai Gurley by the police, I began to feel extremely weary of authority figures and fearful of any potential interactions between my family and friends with the police. When walking through the city, I found myself anxiously crossing the street whenever I saw an officer, my heart racing and palms sweating. It seemed as if anything people of color did could be construed by the police as dangerous…

My growing anxiety over the documented cases of police violence however, led me to become more involved with the community of grassroots activists here in New York. I found local rallies and demonstrations through the Black Lives Matter movement to take part in, in hopes of effecting some change within our country. I began to speak candidly with friends and acquaintances about the fears that myself and many people who look like me feel on a regular basis. I wanted to make sure that future generations of black and brown people would not have to worry about their safety in the way that my generation and generations before me had. Through these activities, I learned that I had people around me that I could lean on when I felt overwhelmed. Through my community I learned that I didn’t have to live in fear every day. Over the past few years, I’ve grown to learn that I could trust the community that I had built around myself — friends, progressive-thinking people of color, and allies.”

For Mother’s Day 2019, we also created a fundraising campaign to encourage individuals to donate $25 in their mother’s name. With a small donation of $25, WITNESS can help many more activists, human rights defenders, and vulnerable people to defend their human rights online and on the ground. 

WITNESS is building a movement based on trust, truth, and transparency – will you join us? Learn more about and donate to the campaign here.

Technology, video and social media have become everyday tools for activists around the world- but they have also become tools for repressive governments and other bad actors. Although the National Security Agency documents leaked by Edward Snowden led to a national conversation about mass surveillance, the threats posed by such spying are mostly hypothetical. Unfortunately, the threats posed by targeted surveillance are anything but hypothetical. Communities, especially those that remember the abuses of the FBI in the 60s and 70s, do a lot to protect themselves- but there is always more to know.

The discussion will be moderated by our own Dia Kayyali, who coordinates WITNESS’ tech + advocacy work, engaging with technology companies and working on tools and policies that help human rights advocates safely, securely and ethically document human rights abuses and expose them to the world.

When: Thursday, March 15, 2018, 7-9pm

Where: Matter, New York, NY (more details in RSVP link)

Our panelists include:

Virginia Eubanks – Author of Automating Inequality: How High Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor

Sarah Aoun – Co-Founder of Tandem

Bina Ahmad – Public Defender of The Legal Aid Society

Luba Cortes – Rapid Response Coordinator at Make the Road New York

Kei Williams – Movement NetLab // Organizer-In-Residency at Civic Hall

Refreshments will be served! Sound interesting? RSVP here.

For activists: Grassroots Digital Security Training

When: March 16, 2018, 9am-5pm

Details and to RSVP click here.

Why did you decide to run for Team WITNESS for this year’s marathon?

I decided on Team Witness because I feel that the work being done by the organization in support of human rights and combatting human rights abuse is very specific and tangible. So much of what we learn these days about human rights abuse is coming from video footage, thus the importance of supporting the powerful vehicle of film as a tool against abuse.

What are your goals for this marathon?

I’d like to run it under 3 hours and qualify for the Boston Marathon

How have you been preparing for the big race?

I am training 6 days a week, using the Run-Smart program. Additionally, I try my best to practice as much yoga as I can.

What causes are you most passionate about?

I am very passionate about the Trans community as I have people close to me who are a part thereof. I feel that it’s the next/current forefront of the ongoing civil and human rights movement. I feel it needs a great deal of education and communication to help those not as close to it understand it.

Is there a video/film that is particularly important to you and why?

Yes, I studied film in college as a minor and in particular films most recently that have been very important to me are:  Beasts of No Nation, Embrace of the Serpent and Wings of Desire.  These films in particular open up new worlds of experience for me and very unique visions of how life is for each filmmaker.