Amnesty Demonstration

It is that time of the semester when you have totally given up on everything…you are physically and mentally tired and you feel everyone in whole world has disbanded you…Unfortunately, even your loved ones. If I were to literally define myself at this moment, I would say I am about to explode. Both my head and neck hurts awfully.Too much inside me and my body feels very heavy. The work load is just driving me crazy. Today is my last day of class….. the last presentation, my law presentation and then I am officially done with my second year of MBA. I have two finals next week. The brutal Finance and the operational management!

Now the Amnesty International demonstrations recap:

I left the house at 5:00 in the morning, and the group left for NY at 6.00. We were already in St. Bart’s Place at 55 Lexington Avenue by 10:15. It was going to be a long day. Luckily, the weather was just perfect. Neither Scorching sun nor a chill wind.. Just perfect.

This year’s agenda was

-Human Right abuses in Darfur, Sudan, Guatemala, Bhopal, India and Ethiopia.

There were more than 15000 Amnesty International Activists, primarily students, from more than 10 states. Escorted by the NYPD, we marched in the heart of NY city chanting the Human Right slogan.

At the Chinese mission to the UN, we protested for China to pressure Sudan to protect civilians in Darfur. Sudan represents China's largest overseas investment, worth at least $3 billion, and is the third- largest supplier of oil to China. The demonstration highlighted the failure of the Chinese government to use its influence to pressure the Sudanese government to admit a viable peacekeeping operation into Darfur.

At the Guatemalan mission, we strongly urged authorities to bring General Efrain Rios Montt to justice for his actions during his tenure as dictator, considered genocide by a U.N. Truth Commission.

The best part was the demonstration at J.P Morgan. The rally at J.P. Morgan was to
pressure the investment company, one of Dow Chemical's largest institutional investors, to
demonstrate its commitment to social responsibility by supporting a shareholder resolution
filed by Amnesty International seeking disclosure about Dow's efforts to address the health,
environmental, and social concerns of survivors of a Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal, India,
 22 years ago.All the savvy looking JP Morgan workers came down to look at the
demonstration.

Workers from the nearby offices looked outside the window out of curiosity.  Some asked to  explain us why we were demonstrations the company, some simply stood there with their
sour faces and some simply smiled and applauded our effort.Cab Riders honked at us, Tourist bus
waved at us and applauded us even more. To me, this is a satisfaction. 

To JP Morgan, this demonstration probably means nothing. But to me, this was a chance was get out and be part of something that makes a difference, with other 1,000 people who feel the same way.

I am also suppose to write the journal for my Germany trip. A pre-travel journal I suppose. I have written once... with so much going in your life, it really is very hard to keep up.