Amnesty International Awards New Ladis Kristof

Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 7:32 PM

Amnesty International Awards Special Student Organizing and Activism Fellowship to University of Michigan Student at Annual General Meeting

Fellowship Honors Legacy of Ladis Kristof, Co-founder of Portland, Ore., Amnesty International Chapter

San Francisco: Hamzah Latif, an undergraduate human rights activist at the University of Michigan’s Dearborn campus will receive a newly created student fellowship from Amnesty International USA when the organization holds its Annual General Meeting in San Francisco March 18-20.

The Ladis Kristof Memorial Fellowship for Organizing and Activism honors the lifelong commitment to human rights of Ladis Kristof, who with his wife, Jane Kristof, and others co-founded the Amnesty International chapter in Portland, Ore. The fellowship honors and inspires a new generation of human rights activists in the spirit of Kristof, a dedicated advocate and volunteer over many decades on behalf of human rights.

The organization, marking its 50^th anniversary this year, will pay tribute to Kristof at the Annual General Meeting, where a film about his life will be shown and his son, noted New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, is scheduled to give brief remarks to honor his father’s commitment to human rights. Nicholas Kristof  was interviewed for  the video about his father’s legacy.

Latif, 23, is majoring in psychology, sociology and women’s studies at the University of Michigan, Dearborn. He is current president of the Amnesty International chapter at the university and has been an active member of the organization for three years. Latif said his background as the son of diplomats from Pakistan has inspired his passion to work on behalf of children’s rights and the rights of those living in poverty through Amnesty International’s Demand Dignity campaign.

"I've visited many poor areas of Pakistan with my parents and having seen the desperate poverty, I'm inspired to work on poverty and children's rights," he said. "I am grateful to have an opportunity to learn as much as I can about human rights organizing from Amnesty International."

In addition to his work with AIUSA, Latif is involved with the Muslim Student Organization on campus and noted the group has developed a close relationship with the Jewish Student Organization on issues of mutual interest

In 2010, Latif received the Amnesty International student activist of the Midwest award.

 “Volunteers like Ladis Kristof -- who dedicated himself as a human rights advocate for decades -- are the lifeblood of Amnesty International’s work as a grassroots organization,” said Larry Cox, executive director, Amnesty International USA. “We are so grateful to his family for creating this important fellowship to give extraordinary and passionate young activists like Hamzah Latif an opportunity to focus intensely on developing their organizing skills.”

Ladis Kristof, who died last June at age 91, was an East European refugee who fled to the West after World War II. He was a professor of political science at Portland State University who believed that we each have the power to transform ourselves and our society. His faith in humankind's "ability to recover from lapses" and "climb to a higher level of achievement" -- maintained despite a personal history of loss, imprisonment and exile -- is the same faith that underlies Amnesty International's mission to harness the power of collective action to ensure justice and freedom for all people.

The Kristof Fellowship will be awarded each year to a student for his or her outstanding efforts on behalf of human rights. The fellow will spend an eight-week residency with an AIUSA field organizer working  on individual cases, human rights crises, and grassroots organizing and campaigning at the regional and national level.