We have great news! All eyes will be on Bloggers Unite For Human Rights this May 15th because Amnesty International, a worldwide movement that campaigns for internationally recognized human rights, will be joining, supporting, and drawing attention to participating bloggers — and that could mean you!

In addition to promoting the campaign to its hundreds of thousands of members, Amnesty International is providing BlogCatalog source material for bloggers. Topics range from the wrongful imprisonment of journalist Shi Tao in China to the continuing murder, rape, abduction, and displacement of people in Darfur, Sudan.

You can find some of these resources on our new Amnesty International resource section at http://unite.blogcatalog.com#amnesty. Of course, you can write about any human rights topic you want. Some BlogCatalog members may even write about topics that have yet to gain international attention.

You might also be interested to know that Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA has some great things to say about our campaign.

"Amnesty International is thrilled to be a part of Bloggers Unite for Human Rights," he said. "Bloggers Unite for Human Rights is a great way to harness the power of the Internet to fight injustice and make the world a better place."

There are any great human rights organizations all over the world, but if you would like to know something about our Amnesty International, please visit http://www.amnestyusa.org for more information. Currently, Amnesty International is working to stop the abuse of internationally recognized human rights in over 150 countries and territories. The organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961.

Thanks so much for your continued support! More and more people are taking notice of your efforts. On behalf of the entire BlogCatalog team, thank you and we look forward to reading your posts on May 15!

Thanks to you, May marks the first anniversary of Bloggers Unite and this time we’re launching an awareness campaign chosen by BlogCatalog members. On May 15, let’s unite for human rights and make a statement that all people are born with basic rights and freedoms - life, liberty, and justice! On May 15th 2008, let’s come together and all blog about Human Rights. There are dozens and dozens of human rights issues that you can write about. The one you choose is up to you.

Topics to Consider The wrongful imprisonment of journalists covering assemblies. Governments that ignore the plight of citizens left tot he mercy of gangs. The censorship of the Internet in order to prevent freedom of expression. Harsh punishments that include torture, forced labor, and starvation. Sexual assault against women by members of military or militia.

Learn More About Human Rights

There are many organizations that promote human rights and work to protect people. We’ve picked three to help you learn more and find breaking topics.

• Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.org/) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. They work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity.
• Human Right Watch (http://www.hrw.org/) is dedicated to protecting human rights of people around the world. They stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, uphold political freedom, protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice.
• Youth For Human Rights (http://www.youthforhumanrights.org) is an independent non-profit that educates people about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights so they become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace.

We have an entire group discussion dedicated to Bloggers Unite (http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/bloggers-unite) where you can add more organizations that you think are worth including.

How To Join Bloggers Unite!

To join, simply visit the Bloggers Unite page (http://unite.blogcatalog.com/) to get more information. Then, on Thursday, May 15th, write a blog post that shares awareness about human rights.

Your blog post could:

• Have the title “Bloggers Unite For Human Rights” (or some variation).
• include an example of human rights so people can learn about it.
• Explain the importance of human rights and how it applies to everyone.
• Link to one of the sites we’ve listed or the most suitable site for your country.
• And add a link to our BlogCatalog Community Human Rights Awareness Campaign page so we can give you and your blog credit for being part of it.

If you have any questions, please e-mail bloggersunite@blogcatalog.com. And please, don’t forget to tell your friends to blog about this too. Together, I know we can raise awareness and prove bloggers can do good!

May marks the first anniversary of Bloggers Unite and this time we’re fighting for Human Rights. Grab a badge below to show your support and help get the word out about Bloggers Unite.

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When we started Bloggers Unite in 2007, it was our belief that the best social networks are born our of a sense of community — people who share common interests and experiences. We knew that bloggers could do good, and do good together. Our most recent challenge proved that to us more than any other challenge before it. Why? Because the lives you touched through Bloggers Unite — Acts of Kindness asked BlogCatalog members and other bloggers to take action first and then blog about it.

The results were amazing. Thousands of bloggers, some who are community members and some who are not came together under the banner that bloggers, can do good and do good together. Did these bloggers change the world? We think so.

Through acts of love, kindness, and compassion, they changed the world at home, in their neighborhoods, in their communities, and around the world. The did not just write about it, but took action to prove that we can make a difference in the world and that even the smallest acts of kindness go a long way. There were thousands of posts; and dozens of bloggers added links so they could be considered in our challenge. We read every post, watched every video, and looked at every picture. And while there were no losers, we are please to announce the following top 20 posts for this challenge. Thank you all for making this such a success. Together, we changed the world. And if you don’t believe me, see for yourself …

First Place – BlogWorld Conference Attendance, Full Page Ad in Blogger & Podcaster, iPod Touch
	Listening..Learning..Living
Second Place — 1/2 Page Ad in Blogger & Podcaster Mental Stimulation
	Mental Stimulation
Third Place — 1/2 Page Ad in Blogger & Podcaster
	Keep It Simple Solutions
Fourth Through Seventh Place (No Order) — 1/4 Page Ad In Blogger & Podcaster
	Life Prints
	Original Me
	Sushi for Lunch!
	My Den
Eighth Through Seventeenth Place (No Order) — USA Today Advertisement
	Ruthie’s Reason
	Local Biz Bits
	Sinigang For The Soul
	Wahm Cafe
	Sharani – Girl On A Road
	Guiding Vision
	Katalusis
	Live From Waterloo
	Jessica In Rome
	JerichoMonster

Every one of these posts and many, many more is a beautiful window into someone’s heart. Everyone here at the BlogCatalog team invites you to read through these posts and discover something wonderful about people. Your life will never be the same again. In addition to the prizes above, Copywrite, Ink. will be profiling several of the winners. — Tony

Our good friend Rich at Copywrite, Ink. has put together an amazing video to help promote our next Bloggers Unite campaign, Acts of Kindness. We are asking bloggers around the world to take some time out from their normal day to day routine and perform an act of kindness and blog about it on December 17th. We believe that when bloggers unite for good they have the power to change the world.

The Bloggers Unite campaign is in full swing now, and the CreativeGuys contribution to getting the word out is video featuring some of your friends from Blog Catalog (and some of their friends). This should get you started with a couple of good ideas of what you can do as your act of kindness.