Imagine this scenario: you feel safer staying with your abusive husband than you do calling the cops to report him. For many immigrant women in Alabama and elsewhere, that scenario is reality. The escalating “war on women” has —- rightly —- sparked broad outrage and urgent action to protect human rights in the United States. [...]

March 22, 2012 by crissy spivey | Tags: Alabama, Breakthough, homepage, human rights, immigration, Mallika Dutt, war on women, women's rights | Comments Off

We’re tipping our hats —- or really, our mortarboards —- to Breakthrough president and CEO Mallika Dutt, who will receive an honorary doctorate at Mount Holyoke College’s 175th commencement this May. Mallika —- a Mount Holyoke alumna —- shares this honor with an extraordinary group of earlier MHC honorees of pioneering human rights defenders, including [...]

March 16, 2012 by crissy spivey | Tags: breakthrough, homepage, human rights, Mallika Dutt, Maya Angelou, Mount Holyoke, Rosa Parks, Women | Comments Off

From Breakthrough president and CEO Mallika Dutt: Like a lot of teenagers you may know, Mansimran is a basketball-loving, Starbucks-drinking, robotics-studying all-American guy. It shouldn’t surprise you that he’s funny, grounded and charming. It should surprise you that sometimes, when strangers see his turban and the color of his skin, they lean out their car [...]

January 24, 2012 by Mallika Dutt | Tags: All-American Muslim, breakthrough, Bullying, discrimination, human rights, Mallika Dutt, Mansimran, Racial Justice, racial profiling, Restore Fairness, Sikh, Starbucks | Comments Off

Meet Mansimran. He’s an all-American guy who likes Starbucks, hoops, and robotics. He’s a student, an older brother, and an active member of his Sikh religious community. Sometimes, when strangers see his turban, and the color of his skin, they lean out their car window and call him a “terrorist.” He’s not alone: especially since [...]

January 20, 2012 by crissy spivey | Tags: Bullying, discrimination, hate crimes, human rights, Mansimran, racial profiling, Religion, Restore Fairness, Sikh | Comments Off

When I traveled to Arizona with Ishita to create Checkpoint Nation, I wrote: It was the first time I had experienced the overwhelming size of the desert sky. The sunset was magnificent, and the endless stretch of cacti and desert rocks were lit up with the last pink moments of twilight. But the sunset’s beauty [...]

December 15, 2011 by Dana Variano | Tags: Arizona, border deaths, crisis, Derechos Humanos, desert, documentary, DRUM, homepage, human rights, human rights crisis, immigrants, immigration, International Migrants Day, Mexico, migrants, No More Deaths, U.S. Mexico Border, Vamos Unidos, video | Comments Off

What are your plans for the weekend? Join Breakthrough from November 3-6th, for the play Yo Miss! Teaching Inside the Cultural Divide! at the popular Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Actor and writer Judith Sloan uses theater and music to remix stories from her extensive experience with immigrant/refugee teenagers and incarcerated youth. She interweaves their stories with [...]

November 1, 2011 by crissy spivey | Tags: b-listed, breakthrough, breathrough beat, hip-hop, Holocaust, human rights, immigration, Judith Sloan, nyc, theater, Yo Miss! | Comments Off

Women and girls matter!  As part of the series of discussions “Women and Girls Matter: A series of discussions” for Media that Matters, please join our president, Mallika Dutt on panel: “Throwing Open the House: What’s Next for Women and Girls in Film and New Media?” They will evaluate the shifting landscape and explore solutions to [...]

October 26, 2011 by crissy spivey | Tags: breakthrough, filmmaking, girls, human rights, Mallika Dutt, media that matters, Women | Comments Off

Why are some Alabama parents pulling their children out of school? Why are some Alabama workers afraid to show up to their jobs? Why are some Alabama families fleeing the state altogether? Because last week Alabama began to enforce one of the harshest immigration laws in U.S. history. HB 56 requires local and state law [...]

October 7, 2011 by crissy spivey | Tags: Alabama, b-the change, breakthrough, HB 56, human rights, immigrant, immigration | Comments Off

Originally posted on Rights Working Group Rights Working Group and renown progressive scholar Melissa Harris-Perry will hold a Twitter Chat, TODAY from 3-4 pm ET, about racial profiling and ways to reclaim and expand rights lost after 9/11. Why? Ten years ago, in June 2001, the End Racial Profiling Act was first introduced in Congress [...]

September 7, 2011 by crissy spivey | Tags: 9/11, b-listed, b-the change, breakthrough, End Racial Profiling Act, human rights, Melissa Harris-Perry, racial profiling, Rights Working Group, September 11, Twitter | Comments Off

Breakthrough is ringing out the end of the summer with our oldies but goodies. If you’re not on the beach, barbecuing, or on a blanket at the park, we hope you’re spending it with us! Breakthrough held a video contest last December, I AM THIS LAND, calling for people to make a video on diversity [...]

September 2, 2011 by crissy spivey | Tags: A Hand for Change, acceptance, breakthrough, Diver City Rocks, diversity, End of summer playlist, human rights, Hungry for Diversity, I AM THIS LAND, Many Languages One America, video contest, We are unique and that's what makes us special | Comments Off