Doing Human Rights Work for More than a Decade
Reilly got her start as an activist at Saint Louis University, where she joined SLU's Amnesty International chapter in 2006. During her time at SLU, she served as the chapter's Tabling Coordinator as well as Co-Coordinator for two years. SLU's chapter would host an annual jamnesty/slamnesty event, featuring musicians and slam poets to bring awareness to different human rights issues.
Afterward, Reilly joined the local St. Louis chapter of Amnesty International, Group #105. The group is active in the St. Louis area hosting events and tabling at concerts and festivals to encourage people to take action. Most recently, chapter members wrote a resolution asking Amnesty International to take an official position on boycotts, divestments and pressuring third-party actors as an effective tactic toward stopping human rights violations. She became the Local Group Coordinator of the chapter in 2016.
Reilly started a blog for the Amnesty International Group #105 in September 2012. The goal was to create a dynamic online presence for the group that make it easier for potential members to find the group. Another goal was to position the chapter and Amnesty as a human rights thought leader and activism resource for St. Louis and the rest of the country.
While at the Peace Economy Project, Reilly became involved with local efforts to track and tackle police surveillance in St. Louis. The involvement started with Drone Free STL, a coalition founded with PEP (prior to Reilly's tenure) to stop police drones. With police drones on the backburner for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the effort has shifted toward privacy issues and body cameras.
The trivia game about human rights and U.S. military aid is part of Reilly's presentation at Amnesty International's Midwest Regional Conference in October 2016. The photo above links to Round 1, which you can play. Round 2 is also online to play. Round 2 includes Final Jeopardy as well as slides from our co-presenter, Dave Stamps.
Every year, the Peace Economy Project collects signatures for it's Statement of Peace, a letter delivered to Congress to ask its members to reduce military spending and fund human needs instead. While at PEP, Reilly set a goal to collect 250 signatures from around the country. She surpassed that goal, collecting more than 265 signatures. The signatures represented more than 20 states and 20 separate districts in the House of Representatives. Reps. Lacy Clay (D-MO) and Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) all sent responses to their constituents.