Human Rights Club

We feature a timely "Take Action" item at each of our club meetings; these are always posted on the Agenda so that anyone can do them, even if they cannot make the meeting. You can find the Agenda on our Schoology page.

There are many ways you can take action and be an activist or upstander, both of which mean that you are an active member of this democracy. If you need some strategies for being an upstander on a daily basis, try the "Speak Up At School" guide (and the "Pocket Guide" linked there) from Learning for Justice.  To be an activist on local, national and international issues, we encourage you to use the links below under General Resources to stay informed about issues, legislation and the actions you can take.

And in case you are interested, here is a link to the ACLU's information on students' right to protest.

General Resources

Contact your representatives in government at the local, state and national levels

• Deerfield Village Government has their contact information

• State: Senator Julie Morrison & Representative Bob Morgan (links have their contact info & their bills/committee work)
• National representatives in Congress: Representative Brad Schneider, Senator Tammy Duckworth, Senator Dick Durbin

Find out what is happening in local, state and national government

• Deerfield area: check Patch or Deerfield Review for news stories, and check the Deerfield Village page under "Government" and "Community" tabs for various ways of getting information
• Illinois: go to www.ilga.gov and search for legislation by key word
• National: Check what legislation is pending in Congress by going to www.congress.gov and search by key word

Human Rights Club promotes fair trade practices in a few ways. 

• We host a Fair Trade Marketplace in October, including a display and sale of fair trade chocolates in various sizes and flavors, and we invite our friends from Chicago Fair Trade and Artisans of Ghana to bring goods to showcase and sell.  
• Sometimes we are able to host a speaker or film screening to educate ourselves and the DHS community.  In 2021, we watched an episode of the Netflix series Rotten about how chocolate is made and supplied around the world, and in 2020, we hosted Chicago Fair Trade's Executive Director Katherine Bissell Cordova over Zoom.  For many years, we hosted Artisans of Ghana with their beautiful display of goods.
• We purchase only fair-trade certified chocolates whenever we sell chocolate.
• Starting in 2022-2023, we have had a Fair Trade Valentine-Gram Sale.

Learn more about fair trade by looking at the visuals, videos and links below, and consider coming to our meetings and events.

• Chicago Fair Trade

• Alter Eco fair trade chocolates

• Tony's Chocolonely fair trade chocolate

• Theo fair trade chocolate

• Divine fair trade chocolate

• Equal Exchange

Human Rights Club promotes awareness and activism on climate change at DHS.

• We work in cooperation with Earthworks on a variety of initiatives within DHS and District 113 as a whole.  Consult our Agenda for details. We will update this website periodically with information about those initiatives.
  • In past years, we have hosted film screenings and talks with the producer of An Inconvenient Sequel, screened a documentary by local climate activists, and hosted members of the Climate Reality Leaders at a meeting, where they inspired and taught us how to organize for action.
• We try to practice and model being good stewards of the earth by
  • sourcing fair trade chocolates whenever we do a sale - please see our Fair Trade page to find out how that relates to the environment
  • choosing fabrics for our t-shirts that are better for the earth
  • refusing plastic and buying compostable goods instead whenever we order items to sell. For example,
    • at the Jam for Justice, we use compostable plates, we replace compostable spoons for the red plastic Dairy Queen spoons for the blizzards, use paper bags for the popcorn, compostable cups and refilling incentives for our lemonade sales, etc.
    • when we order pizza for a sale, we request that they do not include plastic serving pieces or plates; instead, we provide compostable plates
  • contracting with a compost service for our refuse at the Jam for Justice, trying to make it as close to a Zero Waste event as possible

• Climate Reality Leaders visited us on February 25, 2019.  Here are some notes on ideas they shared.

Learn more about the global movement to combat climate change and how you can participate below, and consider coming to our meetings and events.

• Change your search engine to Ecosia by going to https://www.ecosia.org/. Each search plants trees.
• Calculate your carbon footprint and learn how you can reduce it at the Nature Conservancy website.
• The global student movement to go on strike against climate change began with Greta Thunberg.  Watch her 3 min speech before the United Nations from December 2018 or her 11 minute TED talk.
• Learn about the Sunrise Movement by watching the YouTube clip below.

There are many ways young people can participate in elections, no matter their age or citizenship status.

Who are my current government officials?

• To find out, enter your address at https://elections.il.gov/.

Voter Information

For all voter info in one place, go to the League of Women Voters' website on Voting Basics: https://www.lwvil.org/voting-basics 

If you are a 17-year-old citizen- but will be 18 years old by the time of the general election in November, Illinois law allows you to vote in the primary election as well as in the general election.

Make sure you register to vote!

• The League of Women Voters come to DHS in Feb. and again for the Jam for Justice in May, but if you miss these opportunities, the State of Illinois has information on how you can register at the polling place (early voting sites and Election Day sites), online and at the DMV.  Go to https://ova.elections.il.gov/ or https://www.lwvil.org/voting-basics.

• If you are not certain whether you are already registered to vote, you can confirm that by clicking this link: https://www.lakecountyil.gov/351/Voter-Power-for-Registered-Voters

Voting options in Lake County (and elsewhere):

• general info -
  • State of IL info on Early Voting & Grace Period Registration Sites
  • https://www.lakecountyil.gov/332/Voter-Services

• Information for registered voters - https://www.lakecountyil.gov/351/Voter-Power

• What/Who/When for the General Election - https://www.lakecountyil.gov//163/Elections

• Also, see the Deerfield Public Library's Ready, Set, Vote page

How can I become an informed voter?

• First, know who your current government officials are by entering your address at https://elections.il.gov/.
• Preview what/who is on your ballot (when it is available) at https://www.ballotready.org/ or at the Lake County Elections website.
• Read local newspapers for information on local and state races.

• Make sure you learn about the candidates for judges & their ratings - you can use

  • https://www.isba.org/judicialevaluations or Chicago Bar Association (drop down menu under Judicial Evaluation) or Chicago Tribune or Chicago Sun Times, which will also publish the ratings/endorsements based on ratings

• Why Vote? See the PSA linked below which uses sarcasm to explain why young people should exercise the right to vote.

Serve as Student Election Judge on Election Day

• You do not have to be an eligible voter to be a student election judge!  If you are 16 and a US citizen, you can apply.

• Check out the requirements and application here: https://www.lakecountyil.gov/328/Student-Election-Judges

• Student election judges earn money, and this activity can help you fulfill the civic engagement requirement for Civics class.

Work on a political campaign

No matter whether you know what your political leanings are, you can serve on a political campaign as a volunteer or a paid intern or staff member.  Look up individual candidates using the Lake County Elections page, or you can select an issue you feel strongly about and find an organization that works on that issue, contact that organization and ask how you can help promote your position on that issue.

Learn More About Voting Below

Voters of Tomorrow

Peace Day is on September 21 and is an annual day of global ceasefire promoting non-violence. This day has been set aside by the United Nations as a day of international peace.

On this day when we are at school, we usually sell peace buttons and food to raise awareness and funds for a peace-related cause.

Learn more about this day and get the links to each year's event broadcast at Peace One Day and at the United Nations' website.

An event honoring the universal declaration of human rights by using our rights to secure the rights of others.

Did you know...

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. Now, we commemorate International Human Rights Day on December 10, and at DHS, we join the international community in the Write for Rights campaign sometime near that anniversary in order to highlight and exercise these rights, while also shedding light on and fighting against abuses of these rights for others. That is why we choose some cases to bring to the DHS community, to find an easy way to educate others about human rights and the importance of using our freedoms to safeguard the freedoms of others.

Be Part of the Write for Rights Campaign!

When they are available, we will post the new Write for Rights cases (usually around the start of November). We will host a display in the Bookstore Lobby with printed petitions. Come by, get informed, and sign petitions you agree with.

Learn more about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and hear rights-related music and news stories on the YouTube playlist below.