Sunday, March 29, 2009

Need Help with Cuban Human Rights project!

I am sending this to everyone I know, and to many I don’t know, as I am in need of your help! I am participating in the Name Your Dream Assignment. Name Your Dream Assignment is a contest for photographers of all backgrounds. They are looking for the most creative, inspiring photo shoot idea out there. The photographer with the winning idea will win $50,000 to bring his or her dream assignment to life.

This is my Dream Assignment:
Cuban Political Prisoners: The Untold Stories of Human Rights Violations

My Dream Assignment is to photograph and tell the stories of the countless Cuban Political Prisoners, who served time in Cuban prisons under the most extreme conditions.

These are people who were falsely imprisoned for fighting for the most basic of human rights. These are the faces of people who know what it is like to struggle for the right to liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.

For my assignment I would like to travel throughout the State of Florida, with most of my time spent in South Florida, where there is a high concentration of former Cuban Political Prisoners. I would like the opportunity to photograph as many former Cuban Political Prisoners in an attempt to share their stories, and honor their bravery in opposition to oppression.

The goal of this assignment is to shed light on the horrific human rights violations which have occurred, and continue to occur in Cuba to this day. I would love to work with organizations such as Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch in their efforts to stop human rights violations in Cuba and build pressure for change.

DEADLINE TO VOTE IS APRIL 3rd, 2009!
Vote for me by going to this link below and registering. Make sure you “PIC” my assignment. Feel free to leave comments, I need all the encouragement I can get!

http://www.nameyourdreamassignment.com/the-ideas/Democracy4Cuba/cuban-political-prisoners-the-untold-stories-of-human-rights-violations/

I thank you sincerely for your time, and I ask you to please forward this e-mail to anyone you know who values human rights, and ask them to vote for me ASAP (Remember the Deadline is April 3rd)!

Belsis Smalley
belsis@cfl.rr.com

About Me (and why this project is so important to me) : I was born in Havana, Cuba 1976. My Father was a political prisoner who served 7 years in Cuban prison, his only crime: peaceful opposition to the Communist government. My parents and I fled Cuba for the US during the Mariel Boat lift in 1980.

No comments: