Our nation needs leaders who are able to learn from the mistakes of the past and take bold, immediate steps to protect the most vulnerable from human rights violations today and in the future.

Time and again our world has seen the long-term impacts when children are caught in the cross-hairs of conflict, and we must ensure that innocents do not suffer. As the opinion of the U.S. stance on human rights declines worldwide, we must be ever vigilant to reverse this trend.

Over the last six months, Sherry Alu Campagna has demonstrated time and again that she possesses these traits to her very core. It is why, as an international human rights lawyer and advocate, I fully endorse Sherry in her campaign to represent the 2nd Congressional District of Hawaii in Congress.

Sherry Campagna portrait at Coffee Talk. 24 july 2018
Sherry Campagna is facing an uphill battle to unseat Tulsi Gabbard. Cory Lum/Civil Beat

As the news broke of the families being separated at the border and of children being detained, my colleagues and I rushed to Texas to provide assistance and promote public awareness to a humanitarian crisis occurring within our borders, as well as organizing nationwide marches and events to raise funds and call for an end to family separations.

Sherry was one of the first to stand up and speak out against the separation and detention of families — calling on her own experience as a mother, and as a direct descendant of those who suffered in the Japanese internment camps in America. In the middle of her campaign, Sherry and her staff took time to organize an event, within hours, in Hawaii to coincide with the marches and events occurring around the nation.

Since then, Sherry and her team have provided moral support, encouragement, and assistance to the teams of lawyers and advocates assisting the separated families. She recognized that injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere, and that we must stand up for the most vulnerable, before we become the targets of human rights abuses.

Tireless Energy

Whether it is children, women, workers, immigrants, veterans, the environment or simply an individual trying to survive each day, Sherry has tireless energy and an unshakeable commitment to making our world a better place.

It has oft been said that in the darkest times, we look for the helpers — we look to those who refuse to be silent. Those are the heroes, the ones upon whose shoulders a nation should be built and achieve its full potential.

Sherry has shown time and again that she is willing to put the burdens and needs of the people of Hawaii, and of the world, on her shoulders, and to find solutions. She not only deserves your vote in the primary — our nation needs you to vote for her.

Thoughts on this or any other story? Write a Letter to the Editor. Send to news@civilbeat.org and put Letter in the subject line. 200 words max. You need to use your name and city and include a contact phone for verification purposes. And you can still comment on stories on.

Community Voices aims to encourage broad discussion on many topics of community interest. It’s kind of a cross between Letters to the Editor and op-eds. This is your space to talk about important issues or interesting people who are making a difference in our world. Column lengths should be no more than 800 words and we need a current photo of the author and a bio. We welcome video commentary and other multimedia formats. Send to news@civilbeat.org. The opinions and information expressed in Community Voices are solely those of the authors and not Civil Beat.

Support Independent, Unbiased News

Civil Beat is a nonprofit, reader-supported newsroom based in ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾±. When you give, your donation is combined with gifts from thousands of your fellow readers, and together you help power the strongest team of investigative journalists in the state.

 

About the Author

  • Sara Elizabeth Dill
    Sara Elizabeth Dill is a partner at Anethum Global in Washington, D.C., a legal and consulting firm focusing on human rights, international law, and human affairs. Her work reuniting families at the border, advocating for refugee rights, promoting women’s equality, and defending human rights around the globe has been chronicled in major outlets, including CNN, Al-Jazeera, ABC, NPR, Vanity Fair and the Chicago Tribune.