This season, stand up for human dignity.
December, 2025
Dear Friends,
This year, I’m asking you directly and urgently:
Please make a special tax-deductible gift to the Human Rights Action Center today.
You can give securely online at www.humanrightsactioncenter.org/donate
or by sending a check made payable to Human Rights Action Center, 451 First Street, SE, Washington, D.C., 20003, USA.
Your support is vital because human rights, the very idea that every person has inherent dignity and protection, have nearly disappeared from our national conversation. They are rarely mentioned in campaigns, debates, or major media. The basic language of human rights that once helped define American leadership is fading from public life.
As President Jimmy Carter said, “America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, human rights invented America.”
At the Human Rights Action Center (HRAC), we are working every day to keep that truth alive and to ensure that human rights remain at the heart of our national identity.
With your help, here is what HRAC has been doing, and what your gift will sustain and expand:
Reaching millions through public television
HRAC’s documentary, Keeper of the Flame, has aired more than 700 times on PBS stations across the United States. The film traces how the idea of human rights helped shape American history and highlights the lifelong work of HRAC founder Jack Healey. Each broadcast keeps the language of human rights in front of new audiences who may not hear it anywhere else.Helping win freedom for Leonard Peltier
After almost 50 years behind bars, Native American activist Leonard Peltier was granted a compassionate pardon and released to spend his remaining years with his family. HRAC’s sustained advocacy, especially outreach to the Vatican and engagement with faith leaders, was one of the essential threads in the long, hard effort that helped lead to this outcome. It is a powerful example of how persistent human rights work can make a difference in one person’s life and in our collective conscience.Equipping citizens with a practical guide to action
HRAC’s forthcoming book, How to Help the Human Rights Movement, gathers short, accessible stories that show how ordinary people can take meaningful steps for human rights in their communities and beyond. The book is designed to be a field guide for engagement, and it is planned for publication in 2026. Your support helps bring this resource to the widest possible audience.Using the arts to make human rights impossible to ignore
Since its founding, HRAC has specialized in using music, film, and the arts to awaken people to human rights abuses and possibilities. Building on that legacy, HRAC is now developing new creative initiatives, including a global “Unity for Rights” virtual stadium concept, to bring artists, activists, and audiences together in sustained, high-visibility support for human rights causes. These efforts are designed to meet people where they are: online, on screens, and in the culture they absorb every day.
This work does not happen on its own. It depends on people like you who believe that human rights should not be a fringe topic, but a core measure of who we are as a nation.
At this time of giving thanks and reflection, please consider a generous, tax-deductible contribution to HRAC to continue Jack Healey’s life work of putting human rights at the center of our public conscience, through film, books, advocacy, and the arts.
You can donate online at www.humanrightsactioncenter.org/donate
or by sending a check made payable to Human Rights Action Center, 451 First Street, SE, Washington, D.C., 20003, USA.
Every gift, large or small, helps amplify the voice of human rights at a moment when that voice is urgently needed.
HRAC is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and you may take a tax deduction on your charitable donation!
Wishing you peace, courage, and hope in this holiday season, and all the best for 2026.
Sincerely,
John G. Healey
Executive Director
Human Rights Action Center