Rights Aloud Speakers Bureau

Charlie Clements is a well-known human rights activist and public health physician. Throughout the years, Clements has faced several moral dilemmas that shaped his life. As a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Academy who had flown more than 50 missions in the Vietnam War, he decided the war was immoral and refused to fly missions in support of the invasion of Cambodia. Later, as a newly trained physician, he chose to work in the midst of El Salvador's civil war, where the villages he served were bombed, rocketed, or strafed by some of the same aircraft in which he had previously trained.

For two years in the late 1980s, Clements served as director of human rights education at UUSC, leading a number of congressional fact-finding delegations to Central America. In 1997, as president of Physicians for Human Rights, he participated both in the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and the treaty signing for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Clements is author of Witness to War (Bantam) and subject of an Academy Award-winning documentary of the same title.

Atema Eclai has worked around the world on issues of conflict resolution, negotiation, microcredit, health, genital mutilation, and participatory quality education. She has chaired sessions at the U.N. women's conferences in Nairobi and Beijing and has facilitated many international meetings. Atema was also a chief facilitating team member for Women Waging Peace, an initiative of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School of Government.

"I am only an apprentice in the field of human rights, learning each day to question and challenge unjust power structures," says Atema. "Human rights work moves me from a place of easy excuses to a space of seeking real, just solutions. It gives me hope and the courage to believe that the world we live in can change."

A devoted water rights activist, Patricia Jones firmly believes that we need to change the way we think about and use our water. "Our challenge is to provide safe, accessible water to each person, and for future generations, by changing the way we think about water and our environment, and what we do with our water," she says.

As manager of the Environmental Justice Program, Patricia's work focuses specifically on the human right to water and the problems associated with managing water services.

Prior to joining UUSC, she worked with the International Water Law Research Institute, University of Dundee, in developing a legal assessment model for resolving conflicts over transboundary water. Previously, she worked for 18 years at El Centro de la Raza, Seattle, Wash., a community-based nongovernmental organization focusing on social justice nationally and U.S. foreign policy in Latin America.

Johanna Chao Kreilick's lifelong passion for justice is rooted in her mixed-heritage, mixed-class, mixed-faith background. Out of this experience, she developed a strong interest in bringing together different people around common interests. This led to community organizing and policy work on immigrants' and women's rights, work as a public mediator, and a focus on conflict resolution as an essential tool for strengthening the rights of working people around the world.

As manager of UUSC's Economic Justice Program, Johanna focuses on supporting living wage campaigns for low-income families and on the right of workers to organize.

Kim McDonald is responsible for the development and implementation of UUSC's JustWorks camps and other experiential learning opportunities that focus on educating participants on human rights and social justice issues. Before joining UUSC in 1993, she worked in both the social services and legal fields.

"I believe that two of my most obvious characteristics — being both black and female — have affected the way that I see the world," says Kim. "I understand that how we perceive other people or events is often affected by subjective criteria. I enjoy finding out why people think and act the way they do. Developing experiential learning opportunities allows me to pursue my passion for a living."

Nancy Moore was working in New York City on September 11, 2001, and the catastrophic events of that day caused her to make a career change. "I wanted to be in an organization where I could live my UU values and make a difference on a daily basis in advancing human rights and social justice in the world," she says.

After serving in management positions in a variety of corporations, Nancy joined UUSC in October 2002 as interim executive director. She now serves as executive liaison for the denomination and congregational relations, and is charged with building effective and productive relationships between UUSC, the Unitarian Universalist Association, UU affiliates, and major congregations.

Shelley Moskowitz coordinates UUSC's policy advocacy work and provides information to educate UUSC members and supporters on how best to influence the course of U.S. policy. She says, "It's great to represent such a strong voice for justice and human rights. Not too many people in D.C. get to wake up in the morning and feel as good about their work."

Shelley has represented grassroots voices for justice on Capitol Hill since 1987. She began her career as a public interest advocate working with Neighbor to Neighbor, a California-based national grassroots organization. During the Campaign to Stop Contra Aid in the 1980s, she lobbied congressional swing votes. Later, she helped build a bloc in Congress to support a negotiated peace in El Salvador.

Shelley's focus shifted to domestic health care justice issues during the 1990s. She played an important role in the grassroots movement for national health insurance and against health care privatization.

The eldest of 11 children, Wayne Smith, knows firsthand what it is to struggle with and overcome poverty, despair, and racial prejudice.

During the Vietnam War, Wayne spent 18 months as a combat medic in Vietnam, where he also worked with the Vietnamese people. After his tour of duty, he became a leading voice in addressing the legacy of the war. In 1998, Wayne returned to Vietnam and was one of 20 U.S. veterans who met with 20 Vietnamese former enemy soldiers on a mission of peace and reconciliation. Together, they bicycled the 1,200 miles from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).

Wayne has worked with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and served as president of the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Foundation. As executive director and president of the Justice Project, he helped change U.S. attitudes about the death penalty.

Martha Thompson has worked in Latin America for 18 years, principally with populations involved in armed conflict and persons living in refugee camps. Her background also includes work on issues of repatriation, gender, public health, disaster response and community participation.

"The people I have been privileged to work with have taught me the importance of placing those whose rights are being affected at the center of the response to the crisis," she says. "Our human rights work has to support their participation, their voice, and their ability to act."

Martha has worked as a consultant and taught on the subjects of aid and gender in conflict situations at both Tufts and Brandeis universities in Massachusetts. She has published reports on gender in conflicts, aid in disasters, and conflict preparedness and response.

Nguyen Weeks creates and facilitates advocacy opportunities for UU youth. Prior to joining UUSC in 1994, she worked in the communications and political fields.

"As the focus of our work, human rights creates many bridge-building opportunities to harness gifts, talents, and insight that youth bring to the table to move the world towards justice," says Nguyen. "No movement is as effective as one with youth presence and participation."