During our regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, April 9, in addition to our usual urgent action letter writing, Jim Zimmerman, longtime Amnesty International member and activist, will conduct a short discussion on the history of Amnesty International, and its charter, campaigns, and organizational structure.

Amnesty International Group 137 will have a booth at the Earth Fair in Balboa Park, Sunday, April 22, from 10 am – 5 pm.  We’ll have petitions to sign and information on our organization and local group.  More details to come!

For our April book discussion, the Human Rights Book Discussion Meetup group will discuss Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Gann. The book covers a little-remembered tragedy in American history and shines a light on both the shameful treatment of Native Americans and the often unchecked greed of American capitalism.  The discussion will be held on Sunday, April 29th, 3:30 pm, Panera Bread, 1270 Cleveland St in Hillcrest.

For our June book discussion (we skipped May), the Human Rights Book Discussion meetup group will discuss Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah.  This is Trevor Noah’s eloquent and touching account of growing up as the mixed-race child of a single mother during the twilight of Apartheid in South Africa, where his very birth “violated any number of laws, statutes and regulations” and it was dangerous for him to be seen in public with either his white father or his black mother. His mother taught him to use humor to cope with the tragedies and absurdities of life, and he used this knowledge to bridge the race gap and beat the odds.  The discussion will take place Sunday, June 3rd, at 3:30 pm at Panera Bread in Hillcrest, 1270 Cleveland.

For our July discussion, the Human Rights Book Discussion meetup group will discuss The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway.  This novel is set in the Bosnian capital during the siege of Sarajevo and through the stories of its three main characters, shows how people coped with the despair and precariousness of life in their beloved city during a brutal war  that threatened to obliterate all semblance of humanity.  The discussion will take place on Sunday, July 8th, at 3:30 pm at the Hillcrest Panera Bread, 1270 Cleveland.