About Me

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Alpha Diallo is a graduate from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and a human rights lawyer based in Chicago. He travels around the world to advocate human rights values because he believes that respect for human rights can make the World a better place. He pictures the World as a village and countries as neighbors, and they should coexist in peace, since there is only one race, the human race, and one religion, love. When he does not travel, he sits Under the Human Rights Tree (UTHRT) to write and share human rights stories with the World so he can open a new gate of legal knowledge to a new audience.

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Happy New Year 2016!

My Dear Friends,

Happy New Year 2016!

A year is gone, another year is here. The year 2015 has been a great year in which I learned a great deal, traveled and grew.

I learned that when you live in Chicago from December to December, and chose to love instead of fear, Mother Nature would appear to you in many different ways and teach you lessons about life.

In Chicago, winter comes into our life with winds, snows and blitz storms. It lays a white carpet on our ways, and releases white crystal balloons from the sky. During this time of the year, I personally enjoy indoor activities such as reading, watching movies, and listening to music in a warm place.

The winter of 2015 taught me to be patient and to be grateful, because outside my world there were human beings sleeping in the street, despite the cold, and I couldn’t go on pretending that I didn’t see them. Patience is the word; as Robert H Schuller said, “Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.”

When spring comes to Chicago, Mother Nature replaces Christmas decorations with natural decorations of flowers and green leaves. I learned to accept its moody weather and behaviors, which were the characteristic of any great artist. Acceptance is the word, and as Brian Tracy said “The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.”

Summer is always welcomed; it comes with a smiling sun. Lady Michigan wears its blue and white mantra, and allows you to bike along the lake and neighborhood festivals, because as we know, globe warning is a reality. I always tell my friends: in summertime, Chicago is the most beautiful city in the world.

Fall will eventually come with its rains, and it will tear trees of their natural makeup. The beauty of the city will slowly fade, and tourists will withdraw, but as Chicagoans we stay, because we love the city and we are loyal. Being loyal is the key.

Life is a gift, and I adopt it with its winters, springs, summers and falls. In Chicago through the years, I learned to listen to the seasons. Winters teach me to be patient and grateful, springs encourage me to contemplate Mother Nature, while it does its art work and to accept its moody behaviors; summers bring joy and teach me to be in touch with nature and enjoy the moment, and falls are here to remind me to be loyal .

My travels in 2015 led me to visit a few Illinois State Parks. I learned to walk in silence among trees, sit still near lakes and rivers, and breathe the fresh air around me. Every time I was getting ready to leave for the city, I took time to say “thanks” to all people who fought to preserve these parks, despite the overwhelming temptations of profit.

Another journey I took this year lead me to Memphis. I arrived in the late afternoon and stayed at the Pilgrim Hostel, which was an old church convent transformed into a hostel. I stayed for three days. On Friday, November 20, 2015, I visited The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther king was killed. On Saturday, November 21, 2015, I went to Graceland to be with Elvis, stopped at the Sun Studio where Rock n’ Roll was born, and late that night, I enjoyed listening to live rhythm n’ blues music after having a delicious southern meal on Beale Street, the birth place of blues. Sunday, November 22, 2015 was my last day; I went to see the church where Martin Luther delivered his “I’ve been to the Mountain Top” speech.
During my stay in Memphis, I carried the question of “Why did they kill the King?”, but sitting at the last row of Monumental Baptist Church on a Sunday morning, I heard the pastor preaching about forgiveness. It made sense to me, because to be in peace with ourselves, we must learn to forgive, but not to forget.

On my way to Chicago, I told myself, they killed the dreamer, but they couldn’t kill the dream; so, we all have a role to play to better race relations and prevent police brutalities in this country. As Martin Luther King Jr. said “We may have all come on different ships, but we are in the same boat now.” Therefore, we should learn to live together and stand with Justice. As our guide told us during my visit to the Lorraine Motel, the slogan of the Memphis Sanitation Workers in 1968, “I am a Man”, resonates with today’s slogan of “Black lives Matter.”  

The concept “Under The Human Rights Tree” allows me to grow in many ways. It has been an amazing experience, which allowed me to write and speak on Human Rights issues in schools and with friends. It has been a way of lighting the candle of knowledge and letting it shine.

2016 is the start of a new journey. Our paths may cross or not; whatever the case, I would like to wish you and your loved ones a Happy New Year 2016!

Sincerely,


Alpha  
                                  

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Freedom from Torture: June 26, International Day for Survivors of Torture!

Freedom from Torture: June 26, International day for Survivors of Torture.


When June comes to Chicago, the city usually trades its uniformly black and white coat to a more colorful yellow, green and blue shirt, but June 26, 2015 was a rainy day in the windy city. I went to Loyola University to celebrate the International Day for Survivors of Torture, hosted by Kovler Center. It was as if Mother Nature was sharing her tears for all the people who were not able to survive the horror of torture.

June 26 is a day not like the other days; it is a day that the United Nations chose in December 1997 to proclaim as International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. It is a day in which around the world people get together to celebrate and commemorate the victims of torture.

Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 5 states, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
Despite the prohibition of torture under international law, Amnesty International attests that torture continues to be practiced in more than 100 countries. According to the Center for the Victims of Torture, there are 500,000 survivors of politically-motivated torture living in the United States.

In spite of the rain, the 2015 event at Loyola University was well-attended. It was an evening of entertainment, dinner, and conversation with survivors and communities of activists. Joey Mogul, from The Peoples Law Office in Chicago and director of Depaul University’s Civil Rights Clinic, spoke eloquently about her experience working in the campaign for justice and reparations for Chicago Police Torture Survivors. She explained that many African Americans were tortured by the police because of their race, and they could not receive treatment, because they were not politically-motivated torture survivors. She emphasized the need for an organization for survivors of torture on the South Side of Chicago. The food was great and reflected the diversity among the group; its smells and taste allowed you to travel around the world. The music brought a wind of celebration to the evening, which permitted good to triumph over the evil of torture.

The sad reality is that people are still using torture as a tool to silence people, as a way to deny them their rights, to strip a truth that is no where to be found, and to create fear. Therefore, we should get together to break the silence on torture, and to make sure there is not a safe haven in our families, neighborhoods, communities, cities and countries for a person who committed torture. We often have a tendency to ignore issues that don’t affect us directly, but as we celebrate this day, we must have a new view of the world- a view in which the world is a village, countries are neighbors, and whatever affects them, directly or indirectly, affects us in some way.  We are all part of the human family called humanity. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

As the sun went to bed, and the event neared the end, we lit candles and each named a person who died or survived under torture. I named Diallo Telly, a diplomat and politician, who was a founder of the Africa United Organization and First Secretariat General.  He was accused of trying to overthrow the Guinean government, and was jailed at the infamous Camp Boiro, where he died in 1977 under a torture method they called “black diet”, meaning starving the person to death.  We also lit candles to expel the fear from our hearts and pray for a world without torture. If you couldn’t make it on June 26, 2015, we look forward to seeing you at the next June 26th event, because you care.


Sincerely,

Alpha

You could learn more:

Amnesty International Campaign Against Torture Around the World:


Last Week Tonight with John Oliver- Torture



Stop Torture! Stop Torture! Stop Torture!






Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Right to Humanitarian Intervention.

Under The Human Rights Tree:

Right to Humanitarian Intervention: Stop Ebola by Supporting Doctors Without Borders.

                                                                                                                    
On May 30, 2015, we decided to get together at the Heartland Café, to bring awareness on Ebola and raise money to support Doctors Without Borders on their fight against the disease of Ebola in West Africa.

Ebola has been around since 1970. It appeared in the heart of Africa, Congo in 1976, in two simultaneous outbreaks, one in Nzara, and the other in Yambuku, a village near the Ebola River from which the disease takes its name. Ebola learned to crawl; the world talked about it, not much was done to eradicate the disease.

In 2014, another outbreak started in Forest Guinea which is located at the southeastern part of Guinea and is characterized by its natural beauties of rain forest, mahogany, leak and ebony trees. In this region, the mount Nimbi lays as a green boa snake with rare species that exist nowhere in the world. A view, at the top of the Nimbi, offers a green carpet covering the land, a blue ribbon of fresh waters serpentine the landscape, a smiling sun and a bright, blue sky at the horizon. You will be mesmerized by the fresh air all around you, and the result of this beautiful picture is the gentle touch on nature by humans and the work of the greatest of all artists, God.

It was in this paradise on earth that a child named Emile Ouamouna, in the village of Meliandou, was attacked by a free tailed bat while his mother, sister and his grandmother were busy with their domestic duties, and his father was working the land and hoping the gods would reward his hard work. In December 2, 2013, Emile started having a fever, vomiting and diarrhea. In December 6, 2013, he died. A few days later the mother, grandmother and his sister were killed. As far as we could remember, the population of Meliandou has always lived in harmony with their surroundings, but this time, the gods were going mad. Vieux Pierre called it “The Evil Spirit”, and Doctors Without Borders called it “Ebola”.

From Guinea, Ebola learned to crawl, walk and cross artificial borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia. Doctors Without Borders sounded the alarm, but the Guinean, Sierra Leone and Liberian authorities, and World Health Organization, decided to ignore their calls and refused to take necessary measures to deal with the disease; consequently, Ebola learned to fly, and we witnessed cases in United States and Europe. Finally, the World Health Organization decided it was time to call for action, but on May 24, 2015, the outbreak has 27,049 reported cases resulting in 11,149 deaths.

As a result, we decided to respond to the despair of Ebola’s victims by having a fundraising event to Stop Ebola by Supporting Doctors Without Borders. People came from all around the Chicago area, and they responded by sharing their artistic skills, time and money. They supported our effort to make the world a better place, because they understood that Ebola is a threat to humanity, and we must come together to fight it. They also understood, there is one race which is the human race, and the key to our survival as race is compassion. Thank you for your compassion, we really appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Alpha Diallo                           


You could learn more:

  • Ebola virus: What is it? We explain in 60 seconds- BBC News.

  • Now is the time to share humanity-World Humanitarian Day 2015.

  • Watch Frontline: “ Outbreak”

  • Africa Stop Ebola