An Inspired Beginning: The First Two Days in Geneva

By Brian Gladstein

Monday and Tuesday was just the beginning of a long week of human rights advocacy in Geneva, Switzerland. Yet it may have been the most powerful and eye opening two days of the trip. They were days to depress and days to inspire. A delegation of over 100 activists made its case to the United Nations Committee to Eliminate all forms of Racial Discrimination that the United States is engaged in systemic racism. The perspectives and experiences that were shared demonstrated that the US has a long history of racial discrimination that has affected many.

One testimony detailed how Native American children were taken from their homes and put in boarding schools where many suffered abuse and sexual assault. Older youth from Chicago and elsewhere testified about the criminalization of their generation, from schools to the prison pipeline. Transgender women talked about their physical abuse and sexual assault, and the legal discrimination they face in housing and employment.

JCUA and the Chicago delegation join these activists in giving testimony on several local issues. Stan Willis, a civil rights lawyer and experienced community activist, encouraged members of the United Nations to encourage the US government to complete the announced US Attorney’s investigation into the over 100 victims of the Burge torture cases.

JCUA’s Brian Gladstein provided testimony as a representative of the Chicago coalition of organizations that came together last summer and fall to create a local Chicago-based shadow report. Brian expressed to the Rapporteur that Chicago is a hotbed for racial discrimination, especially around issues of police abuse, housing discrimination, and education and asked the Rapporteur to add Chicago as a city he will visit in an upcoming tour of the United States.

In response to our collective voices, the Rapporteur called on Jewish, Black and Latino people to work together and build a collective movement. Racism is a construct that can be de-constructed and destroyed. He challenged delegates to build the movement that does so.

This is the reason why JCUA is here – to work with our brothers and sisters from many diverse movements and move forward an agenda of change for Chicago.