Students from the University of Massachusetts made the pilgrimage Friday to New York City for an annual human rights event called "Get On The Bus" (GOTB) to protest human rights issues.
Sarah Hossein, a freshman biology major at UMass and media coordinator for the campus' Amnesty International group, discussed the importance of students becoming involved in issues affecting the world beyond Amherst.
"It's important to show everyone that students care, too," she said. "So many people have preconceived notions of students being young and ignorant, and this gave us the opportunity to show that we care about pressing issues such as human rights."
The event consisted of speakers in several different areas of the city, beginning at St. Bartholomew's Church. Protestors listened to multiple activists discuss human rights abuses taking place in locations such as Myanmar, Darfur, India, Sri Lanka and Libya.
The protest - in its 13th year - was created to bring together human rights activists and educate others on many international issues. Activists gathered with posters in hand to protest through the streets of New York, hoping to gain media coverage and be recognized.
"We ran into the streets. Police had to barricade the streets off in order for us to protest and rally," she said.
GOTB is the largest volunteer-organized Amnesty International event in the country. The UMass chapter is just one of 1,500 Amnesty International groups in the country.
This event brings together students from all over to not only speak but be educated by people who have been impacted firsthand.
Hossein acknowledged the importance for the current generation to get involved with these issues.
"This generation can show by protests and events like these that we're not only into our computers and televisions. We actually do care," she said.
Rachel Morandi can be reached at rmorandi@student.umass.edu.
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