"The Declaration of Empathy" Signing Event
Wednesday, January 15th
3:00pm - 6:00pm
Free
All are welcome to attend!
From the invite: "On Wednesday, January 15, 2014, in commemoration of the 85th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an historic event will occur in Washington, D.C., on Capitol Hill. Beginning at 3pm, descendants of some of America’s most prominent African American Legacy Families will join U.S. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congressional members and staff, and Dalit Freedom Network in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center’s Congressional Auditorium to sign “The Declaration of Empathy,” which addresses the modern-day oppression and enslavement of the Dalit people of India."
More from the invite: The Dalits, India’s so-called “Untouchables,” are history’s longest standing oppressed people. Today, there are an estimated 250 million Dalits in India still being subjected to harsh and inhumane treatment that rivals the worst aspects of historical slavery. In 2007, the U.S. Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 139, which expressed the sense of the Congress that the United States should be committed to addressing “the ongoing problem of untouchability in India.” Now, several prominent African-American Legacy Families, descendants of those who directly experienced unspeakable degradation and brutality during the dark days of American slavery, wish to voice their own concern and empathy for those families suffering the misery of being trapped in modern-day slavery. The Quander Family (descendants of the slaves of George Washington) is joining together with descendants of Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Banneker, and Mary McLeod Bethune, among others, in a spirit of unity and solidarity to assert that African Americans and fellow Americans should oppose the modern-day enslavement of the Dalits and declare empathy with their plight. Also attending will be descendants of Solomon Northrup, whose autobiographical memoir was the subject of director Steve McQueen’s widely-acclaimed 2013 film “12 Years A Slave.”
U.S. Capitol Visitor Center - see map
Metro: Union Station or Capitol South