Zealan Hoover, clad in a black suit and tie, stood in front of a crowded cafeteria on Monday, Jan. 22, to thank all those participating in the first Human Rights Day at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla.
But instead of taking all the credit, the 16-year-old high school junior who worked for more than a year with five other humanitarian club members to plan the student-organized event, expressed his appreciation to peers, administrators and many of the 40 guest speakers for supporting the daylong affair, which offered forums on civil liberties, African genocide and Nepal’s civil war.
“All of you devoted an entire day to connect with students and discuss these human rights issues,” Hoover said, smiling out at the crowd that included John Prendergast, former director of African affairs for the National Security Council from 1996 to 1999 and current senior adviser for the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit organization that works to prevent and resolve deadly conflicts.
Hoover dreamed up the event after spending the summer before his sophomore year interning at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego. The program inspired him to get involved in human rights issues, and he wanted to do something that would grab the entire school’s attention regarding the topic, he said.
“The great thing for me was that not only during and after the event, but also in the days leading up to it, I had students come up to me that I would never have thought would be interested in human rights,” Hoover said. “I saw that all day today, people were really interested in what was going on.”
After his speech, Hoover joined Prendergast for a one-on-one interview to gather more information from the human rights expert.
At an early morning forum, Prendergast sat on a panel with Daniel Akech James, one of the 4,000 Lost Boys of Sudan, who was forced out of his village in the 1980s due to African warfare and spent many years as a refugee. Bobby Bailey, filmmaker for “The Invisible Children,” a 2003 documentary recording the effects of the Northern Ugandan war on the country’s children, was also present.
The forum, titled “The Status of Security in Northeast Africa,” was Hoover’s brainchild, and the youth energetically told Prendergast that he could not pass up the opportunity to secure a debate between such influential activists.
An established author, Prendergast has worked in Africa for the last two decades to stop crimes of genocide and is now working on a book with actor Don Cheadle titled “Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond.” One of the most important steps in diminishing such atrocities is educating the public, especially young adults, Prendergast said. Cheadle starred in the 2004 movie “Hotel Rwanda,” based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, who saved many people from Rwanda’s Tutsi-Hutu violence in 1994.
“They are much more intelligent than an average audience of adults,” Prendergast said of Bishop’s students after the forums. “Going to a high school, you get both present and future recruits ” some are willing to start right now, and with others you are just planting the seed that it is possible to make a difference.”
A panel discussion earlier that day engaged Carol Lam, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, and Kevin Keenan, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in a debate concerning the U.S. government’s balancing act between protecting its citizens from terrorists and not infringing on their freedoms.
The forum packed an audience of about 50 students, teachers and parent volunteers into the school’s library. Both panelists encouraged youth to always question issues surrounding the government and their rights.
Keenan cited the Patriot Act and new provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as two pieces of post-Sept. 11 legislation that have resulted in civil liberty violations, such as unwarranted phone and Internet wiretapping.
“The current period we are living in, thanks to the Bush administration, is dark,” he said. “It is deeply disturbing that they are trying to change the fundamentals that underpin our system. These are changes that if successful will [as a] consequence [result] in us losing our individual rights.”
Lam said she believed the debate was one that each person must have within his or herself as well as with each other, and that individuals should try to draw the line in their own minds between liberty and security.
“I do think civil liberties are very important, but I do feel some responsibility that the next attack does not happen here in Southern California,” Lam said. “When a threat is very near and close, our view of personal freedom and liberty starts to narrow, and that is a very human reaction.”
Lam, whose 15-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter attend Bishop’s, said after the forum that learning about global issues is a key aspect for young adults who are growing and formulating opinions.
“Students learn a great deal in abstract, and I think it’s refreshing for them to have something to position that against,” she said. “It’s a privilege to address students who are so educated. They know so much more than I did at that age.”
Increasing the student body’s awareness of pressing issues such as human rights was Hoover’s ultimate goal in organizing the event, he said.
But he isn’t willing to stop there. Already, plans are in the works with to market Human Rights Day to schools in other communities.
“We’ve never seen a high school do something like this, and honestly we don’t want to be the only one,” Hoover said after the day’s festivities had come to a close. “The fact that people came to this and that students ran it ” that will send a message that students can put together anything, and to me that is a message in and of itself.”