Greetings, good people of the internet. It is time, once again, to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Amanda Nguyen.
Who are you?
Amanda Nguyen, the Founder and CEO of Rise.
What are you?
Advocate
2019 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee
Daughter of Viet Refugees
Civil Rights Astronaut
Survivor
Where are you?
Washington, D.C., is home base between travel from the United Nations Headquarters to red-carpet events in L.A.; The Hague to Paris Fashion week; the Kennedy Space Center to the halls of Congress.
Where are you from?
California and Cambridge, Massachusetts, via Harvard University
What do you do?
Pen my own civil rights into existence for myself and the 1.3 billion sexual assault survivors worldwide. I spend my days advocating for the rights of survivors and running my organization, Rise. We work within the halls of Congress, in state houses across the country, and with members of UN to implement the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights. In 2016, our bill was signed into law by President Obama after being passed unanimously through both chambers of Congress, and since 2016, Rise has passed 20 laws in 15 states and Japan. Our goal is to enact Rise’s Survivors’ Bill of Rights in all 50 states and pass an UN resolution.
What are you all about?
Building the Rise movement and passing legislation through our organizational model --
Hope-a-nomics. Rise’s theory of change is built on the idea that hope is contagious. The Hope-a-nomics guide empowers every citizen to pen their own civil rights into existence. By gamifying the process of law-making, Rise has innovated hope to democratized power.
I work every day with my team to recruit and train new Risers, our volunteer army working to pass our full bill or rights in all 50 states. Currently, the Rise Movement is in 47 states and four countries: the United States, Japan, Canada and Jordan.
Rise began in 2014 as an effort to bring equality to sexual assault survivors across the country and around the world. Along the way, we became something even bigger: a model for how anyone can drive democracy, scale hope, and create change.
What makes you angry?
Injustice. Growing up, I believed in those familiar American promises: that our rights were sacred, that everyone was equal in the eyes of the law, and that the legal system existed to right wrongs and restore justice. Through my own experience seeking justice, I learned that the system is broken for survivors. We are not met with equality under the law in the most basic form. The amount of time a rape kit is preserved varies greatly from state-to-state. Not all survivors have access to counselors, a free rape kit, or even a copy of their police report.
Justice should not depend on geography. Basic protections against sexual assault and access to justice should be available to everyone, no matter their gender, age, nationality, or citizenship.
