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Volume LXXIII No. 1 Guilford College September 17, 1986
Phyllis Taylor Speaks on Issue of Empowerment
By Moira Taylor
Cyrus Jackson introduced
her as someone who has a
strong vision of a better world
for all people. As Phyllis
Taylor addressed Guilford's
freshmen class last Wednes
day, in one speech during her
two day visit, she seemed to
convince the audience of this
view.
Taylor, a Quaker visitor,
works as a nurse counselor at
an urban medical center in
Philadelphia. She is a founder
of "Witness for Peace" in
Nicaragua and serves on both
the national executive commit
tee and the national steering
committee for the organiza
tion. She also serves on the
"National Council of the
Fellowship of Reconciliation"
and has been an active
member of "Amnesty Interna
tional" for over 10 years, in
cluding formerly serving as a
board member.
In addition to two talks on
Wednesday, Taylor held a
discussion session with
students organizing the cam
pus chapter of "Amnesty
International" on the morning
of Thursday September 11.
The Women's Center also
sponsored a Thursday after
noon lecture entitled "Women
as Social Activists," in which
Taylor discussed much of her
background and the various
factors which influenced and
played into her life as an ac
tivist.
Focusing on the issue of
silence at the IDS lecture,
Taylor examined positive and
negative ways of using silence
in dealing with our lives and
the world around us. She ex
plained the trouble she, a
jewish youth living in New
York during the 50's had
understanding the silence she
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Phyllis Taylor
saw both in Europe, and in the
United States. Europeans,
although threatened, seemed
to accept what they saw
through fear, she said. Con
versely, Americans though vir
tually unthreatened, and who
needn't fear being taken from
their home, were also silent,
she explained. In all of this,
she vowed that she would not
be a silent person.
In her commitment to non
violence, Taylor also em
phasized the importance of
what she called "walking the
talk." The necessity she ex
pressed, was for people to
"put their feet behind what
they say." Actions, she said,
could range from writing a let
ter to free a prisoner of cons
cience to marching for a cause.
The theme of Taylor's
Wednesday' night speech en
titled "Human Rights: One
Group's Response," "Amnes
ty International Celebrates 25
Years," ran along the same
Euthanasia
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lines. Addressing many
members of Greensboro's
Amnesty International
chapter and members of the
Religious Coalition to
Reverse the Arms Race,"
Taylor focused on Al's man
dates, functions and structure,
in addition to raising thoughts
on the horror of human rights
abuses.
Taylor outlines "Amnesty
International's" four man
dates. The first mandate is and
continues to be, to work on
behalf of prisoners of cons
cience, for example through
local adoption groups.
Secondly, they work to pro
vide a fair and speedy trial for
individuals. Taylor explained
that people can be detained
without charge in some 50
countries, and elaborated on
several cases and stories of
"unjustly held individuals."
Their third mandate is to work
towards the abolition of both
torture and the death penalty.
15 Years Ago. .
Page 4
photo bv Rachel Rumsey
Altough Al's criteria relies on
an individual's commitment to
non-violence, exception is
often taken in cases of torture.
Using "urgent action"
methods, the group pleads to
put a stop to the torture, but
won't fight for a prisoner's
freedom if they have been in
volved in violence. Their last
focus is on disappearances.
Working in the health care
field, Taylor explained the
essential need for a love one
"to know that someone is
dead to be able to go on. She
went on to say that disap
pearances are hard because of
this; people are stuck not
knowing the status of a hus
band, child, boyfriend, or sibl
ing.
Obviously affected by the
subject of torture, Taylor
relayed several chilling images
in lieu of explaining Al's cam
paign to stop it. The abuse of
children, which Taylor
described as "unimaginable,"
is one focus where AI
publishes materials "which
will touch people and move
people to action. . .Torture is
such an abomination," she
continued, "that torturers
should not have any safe
haven, anywhere."
Since AI has focused solely
on the four mandates, Taylor
believes its credibility has been
maintained. She feels the
organization's accomplish
ments through the influence of
the AI members "has created
an awareness of human rights
abuses that no other organiza
tion has done."
Again stressing her point of
the dangers of remaining
silent, Taylor emphasized the
"need to be concerned and
speak out for people all over
the world without getting
discouraged, because "it's
easy to want to turn off and
away." She added that
"human rights transcend all
national boundaries."
Taylor concluded Wednes
day night by illustrating the
need for us to work together to
bring about change. Taylor
made up a type of Aesop
fable, where a squirrel asks a
bird how much a snowflake
weighs. The evidence o*f "their
weight comes when the three
million some odd snowflake
falls and breaks the branch.
Taylor also described one
woman's letter writing efforts,
and how the prisoner's (who
she sought to release) file was
two inches thick with her let
ters. Therefore he was more of
a burden than anything, so the
government released him.
Pulling together strong images
representative of that thought,
she said hopes were that we
"may all become snowflakes
and typists and add light to the
prisons around the world."