Dear colleagues,
I am writing to notify signatories to the Xinjiang Initiative of a global event being held April 26, 2019.
[To sign the Xinjiang Pledge: https://xinjianginitiative.wixsite.com/xjinitiative]
The event is being called Mainstreaming Stories: A Day of Solidarity with Uyghurs. Participation is simple: each volunteer delivers a talk about the crisis in western China at her/his home institution (no money, travel, jet-lag, expensive meals, etc.). We’ve already established rapport with our colleagues and students, so this type of intimate talk may be more effective in encouraging action than organizing large symposiums and publishing more op-eds.
The event borrows from some of the organizational and advertising strategies used by the annual China Town Hall meetings. In other words, we give a “local” talk, but promote the event as an international, coordinated program. We already have several volunteer speakers representing three countries.
Officially, the event will begin at 12PM EST on April 26, but timing is of secondary importance. It might even be powerful to have a day in which there are several hours devoted around the world to the crisis.
Also, if you know of anyone else who may be interested in speaking this day, please, by all means, feel welcome to share this idea with them.
Sincerely,
Tim Grose
(grose@rose-hulman.edu)
Via Xinjiang Initiative