Dear Amnesty Activists,
Due to increased concern for use of the death penalty in Arizona, Daniel Georges-Abeyie and I are calling a meeting for Saturday, January 22nd in Phoenix. Judy Gifford will be finding a location for us.
We will start at 9 AM and run until about 1 PM. I will contact the student groups in the state to meet in the afternoon. Both the U of A and ASU have expressed interest in working on the women's convention and in coordinating activities surrounding the week on student action topic on child soldiers.
I am sorry that this is such short notice. However, I do want to begin a statewide dialogue on Amnesty's strategy concerning the death penalty. Both Cosette Thompson, the Director of the Western Region, and Sam Jordan, the Director of Amnesty's Program to Abolish the Death Penalty, have expressed the desire to give emphasis to this issue in Arizona and will have resources for us. Cosette's remarks, in part, reflect the priorities established by the Western Regional Planning Group.
We had a brief and helpful conversation at the Western Regional Conference with Cosette and with Amnesty members in Arizona on this issue. I hope several of you can attend. I also invite you to contact others who would like to be in attendance.
Daniel will coordinate the meeting. If there are issues you would like to bring before we convene on the 22nd, please use this e-mail to reply to all recipients to express your ideas.
Best regards,
Joe Watkins
Arizona Area Coordinator