Human Rights Day: Students Learn About the American Dream of Freedom

10,11 December 2008

Students from Queen Park Community School (QPCS) in Northwest London and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Language College (EGAS) in Islington, London, got to meet President-elect Barack Obama on December 10-11. Actually, it wasn't the President-elect himself, rather a cardboard cutout. The students got to take their pictures with the cutout and received a colorful pamphlet about Obama's life and career. The visit with the two school groups was part of the Embassy's celebration of the 60th anniversary of the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights, known today as “Human Rights Day” (December 10).

Human rights ideals are embodied in U.S. history - from the Declaration of Independence through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the historic American election of 2008. Highlighting some of these American human rights achievements, Public Affairs Officer Sandra Kaiser spoke with the two student groups at different locations. At the Embassy, she addressed the QPCS students, who are all in year 12 (ages 16-17). She spoke with EGAS students, who are in years 9 and 10 (ages 13-15), at their school library. Additionally, she presented teachers from both schools with textbooks and posters on civil rights. The students have been studying civil liberties and human rights in their government and politics courses. They had questions about how Americans vote overseas, the war in Iraq and the future of the U.S.-UK relationship under the Obama administration.

For more information about the history and state of world human rights today, please visit this America.gov website: http://democracy.america.gov/democracy/rights/index.html.

If you are interested in having a class from your school to possibly visit the Embassy, please contact the Cultural Affairs section either by email or phone: Email: CultureLondon@state.gov ; Phone: [44] (0)20 7499-9000 (ask for Cultural Affairs).