THE NEW TACTICS NEWSLETTER – February 14, 2006

THE POWER OF PLACE: AN INTERVIEW WITH LIZ SEVCENKO

From 1863 to 1935, more than 7,000 immigrants from at least 20 different nations lived in the nondescript tenement building at 97 Orchard Street, New York City. In recent years, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum has restored several of the building’s apartments to illustrate the daily challenges and triumphs of immigrant life, which often included human rights issues such as labor exploitation, racial and ethnic discrimination, poverty and immigration restrictions. How can the power of place be harnessed into critical public dialogue? How can old floorboards and difficult memories be transformed into an archive of collective remembrance and a springboard for constructive change? Liz Å evčenko, Director of the International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience, discusses these questions and her efforts to build trans-global connections among sites of conscience in this month’s interview. [read the interview]

[read the tactical notebook]

USING NEW TACTICS IN KAZAKHSTAN
How can a museum about immigration in New York benefit activists in Kazakhstan? Yuliya Vasilyeva, a human rights trainer from Kazakhstan, recently emailed us about a workshop she conducted highlighting several innovative tactics, including sites of conscience. "People usually have little understanding of the shadows of the past," she says, "and governments do their best to encourage their citizens not to think of the awfulness of the totalitarian regime." [more]

TRAINING TOOLS FOR TACTICAL THINKING
Are you looking for hands-on tools and exercises to help you think about human rights more strategically? Our Training Tools page contains information to help to hold your own tactically-focused workshop or meeting. Featured resources include:

• Tactical Thinking tools facilitate practical and innovative approaches to human rights work

• Strategy & Creativity exercises encourage long-term vision and creative conceptions of the human rights struggle

• Group Activities build affinity among the participants in your meeting or workshop

IN THE NEWSROOM:  MORE FELLOWSHIPS AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Visit the Bulletin Board for information on fellowships with Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa, the International Women’s Media Foundation and the Native Leadership Scholarship program. Applications are also open for the 16th Annual Human Rights and Peoples’ Diplomacy Training Program Timor Leste this June. [more]