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On December 10, nearly 70 community members gathered in commemoration of International Human Rights Day, the day on which the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
The forum was organized by community groups and human rights advocates in Chicago, including the Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE), Circa Pintig, Committee on Pilipino Issues (CPI), and Asian American Trafficking Outreach Project (AATOP Chicago).
The theme of the gathering “I Stand Up for Someone's Rights” centered around building empathy, compassion, and solidarity. Speakers from a broad cross section of social movements shared stories from their work in advocating for domestic worker rights, women’s rights, disability rights,Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer (LGBTQ) rights, airport worker rights, justice for political prisoners, and an end to human trafficking, the war on drugs, and extra-judicial killings.
Maggi Espinilla, a caregiver and member of AFIRE, shared her testimony on behalf of domestic workers.
“It is a given reality that domestic workers are not treated well in this country. While we work hard everyday, we are still excluded and denied our basic rights and protections such as minimum wage, health care, overtime, paid sick days, or paid time off. We have the right to be treated with respect, dignity, and protection. We will continue to fight for domestic workers rights,” says Maggi.
Given all the harmful political rhetoric deepening divisions between people experiencing oppression, the time is now to create and strengthen connections and to honor human dignity. AFIRE encourages community members to get involved so that together, we can defend the rights of all people. For more information, questions or concerns, please email us at contact@afirechicago.org or give us a call at 773-580-1025.
Press Release Contact:
contact@afirechicago.org
Michael Aguhar