A memorial and celebration of life for long-time Amnesty Group 137 member Tim Spann will be held on September 9th at the Casbah,  2501 Kettner Blvd, beginning at 2:00 pm.  Tim had been an active member of Group 137 since the 1980s, including several years as group coordinator.  He was a passionate and tireless advocate for death penalty abolition and worked for many years as a death penalty specialist for Amnesty International USA.  He was also a fantastically talented visual artist and sign maker, and his work can be seen in many restaurants and other establishments around town.  Tim was the heart and soul of Group 137 and his passion and dedication to human rights and to our group will be deeply missed.

The Human Rights Book Discussion meetup group will discuss Manufacturing Hysteria: A History of Scapegoating, Surveillance, and Secrecy in Modern America by Jay Feldman on Sunday, September 23rd, 3:30 pm at Panera Bread in the Mission Valley Mall, 1640 Camino del Rio N.  NOTE THAT THIS IS A RECENT CHANGE IN LOCATION DUE TO THE PREVIOUS MEETING VENUE (PANERA BREAD IN HILLCREST) CLOSING DOWN.  A riveting and unsettling history of the assault on civil rights and liberties in America, the book reveals a striking pattern of elected officials and private citizens alike using the American people’s fears and prejudices to isolate minorities , silence dissent, and stem the growth of civil rights and liberties.

The Human Rights Book Discussion Meetup group will discuss Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, by Richard Rothstein, on Sunday, November 4^th, 3:30 pm, Panera Bread, 1640 Camino del Rio North in the Mission Valley Mall.  This groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis explodes the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through individual prejudice, income differences, or the actions of banks; rather,  it was the laws and policy decisions passed by local, state, and federal governments that actually promoted the discriminatory patterns that continue to this day.

November and December are busy months, so the Human Rights Book Discussion Meetup group decided to take a step back and read a short background book on the history, development, and future of human rights. We’ll read and discuss Human Rights: A Very Short Introduction (2nd edition) by Andrew Clapham on Sunday, December 2^nd, 3:30 pm, Panera Bread, 1640 Caminio del Rio North in the Mission Valley Mall (map). Try to make sure to read the 2nd edition from 2016 if possible — unfortunately the San Diego library appears to carry only the 1st edition from 2007.   Discussing torture and arbitrary detention in the context of counter terrorism, Andrew Clapham brings the issue of human rights up to date and considers new challenges to human rights in the context of privacy, equality and the right to health. Clapham explains what our human rights actually are, what they might be, and where the human rights movement is heading.

As of June, 2018, we have changed our meeting location to Mazara Trattoria, 2302 30th St, just one block north of our old meeting location at The Station.  For more about this change and our meetings, click here.