GET ON THE BUS
with Amnesty International in New York City!
In 2008, for the 13th consecutive year, Amnesty International Local Group 133 in
Somerville, Mass. organized Get on the Bus (GOTB), a trip to New
York City for one full day of human rights action and education, bringing together over 1,000 student and adult activists.
Get on the Bus is a great way to get involved with direct human rights action
by meeting other activists, taking our voices to the streets, and learning
about specific cases that Amnesty International is working on. Stay tuned for details about NYC in 2009!
Use this website to learn more about the GOTB actions, and find out how you can get more involved to continue to make GOTB the biggest and most energized Amnesty International event in the United States each year!
Video from Get on the Bus 2006 by Birgit Werner
Get on the Bus 2008 a HUGE SUCCESS!
Over 1,000 activists from 8 states gathered in NYC for a day of human rights action and education, focusing on journalists at risk in Sri Lanka, a call for justice in Darfur, support of the Burmese people in Myanmar, freedom for Fathi el-Jahmi in Libya, and a Bhopal action at the Indian Consulate. Once again, GOTB became the largest and most energized event put on by Amnesty International in the United States.
Congratulations to everyone for making this effort for human rights a success!
GOTB 2008 in the News!
Associated Press photos of GOTB appeared in newspapers and on websites around the world on April 11th. Major outlets such as The Washington Post, USA Today, The International Business Times, and The Miami Herald, ran the photo, in addition to many other states, including Kansas, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska!
Did your town, city or school publish an article about GOTB? The Belmont Citizen-Herald (Belmont, MA), South Portland High School (Maine), and The Collegian (Univ. of Mass.) featured a story about its students getting on the bus.
If you have something like that to share, send it to us and we will feature you here on this website!
Are you on MySpace or Facebook? If so, add GOTB as one of your friends and raise awareness about this unique event. Visit the MySpace GOTB Page or the
Facebook GOTB Group and start networking!
What are people saying about Amnesty's Get on the Bus?
"I joined Amnesty the beginning of my sophomore year and I did urgent
actions, and that was about it. I hadn't really learned that much about what
was going on. Then when I did 'Get On The Bus', I was blown away. I learned
so much and I wanted to go home and teach everyone what I had learned. This
was one of the best, or possibly the best experience of my life, and now
being in Amnesty has a larger purpose for me. I now want to go on more
trips, do more Amnesty events and teach and inform more people."
Angelica Thornhill GOTB past participant
"Last Friday I joined a group of 16
students from the Winsor School as a parent participant in Amnesty's "Get On The
Bus" Program. The one-day program was a terrific success, and I want you to know
from a participant's viewpoint how well organized the entire event was. Each of
the four buses from Boston had two extremely well-prepared AI volunteers who
briefed participants on the way to NY, and once we reached the city further
excellent briefing was conducted for over a thousand participants from eight
Northeast Regional states. The demonstrations were orderly, focused and clear in
their message, attracted much attention, and, from the reaction of passersby,
much credit to Amnesty and the high school and college students participating. I
was proud to be part of this extremely successful program..."
~ John Shattuck Former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights during the Clinton Administration
A reflection from a 10-year old NYC student after attending GOTB 2008:
For the trip on Friday, my homework was to research on the Democracy movement in Myanmar (what used to be called Burma). I listened to the speeches at the Amnesty International's Get On the Bus Day, although it was hard for me to understand the speaker's accent, I can hear the desperation in her voice to urge her home country to change.
After I came home, I went online and read some articles from the New York Times about Myanmar. I saw bald-headed monks standing in protest of the soldier with shields. I see orange robes and bloodied streets and one shoe by the gutter. The pictures are hard for kids like me to see.
I also read that Myanmar also has child soldiers, some as young as me who is 10 years old. They have guns and are told to shoot. I live in East New York, in Brooklyn, sometimes, things can get bad in East New York, but no one has ever tried to tell me to shoot someone innocent or tell me that I don't have human rights. I would never think that someone would give me a real gun to play with and tell me to play soldier.
Before this Amnesty International trip, I didn't know where Myanmar was on the map. Now I do. I have also learned the words "Metta Sutti" which means loving kindness. The Myanmar government should chant "Metta Sutti" a little more and have more kindness in their hearts.
Site last updated on May 3, 2008
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Get on the Bus 2008 a HUGE SUCCESS!
GOTB 2008 in the News!
"I joined Amnesty the beginning of my sophomore year and I did urgent
actions, and that was about it. I hadn't really learned that much about what
was going on. Then when I did 'Get On The Bus', I was blown away. I learned
so much and I wanted to go home and teach everyone what I had learned. This
was one of the best, or possibly the best experience of my life, and now
being in Amnesty has a larger purpose for me. I now want to go on more
trips, do more Amnesty events and teach and inform more people."