Rocky Anderson - Human Rights Advocacy

Human Rights Advocacy

Understanding that grassroots organizing and mobilizing can be a tremendous force for positive social and economic change, after almost eight years as mayor of Salt Lake City, Anderson decided that he would not run for re-election, and that he would instead devote himself to educating, motivating, and mobilizing people to push elected officials and others to take action to prevent or stop major human rights abuses. Anderson has stressed the importance of people at the grassroots level advocating for progressive change, stating, “We keep expecting elected officials will do the right thing, and the fact is they never do unless they’re pushed.”

In January 2008 he founded High Road for Human Rights, a non-profit organization set up to achieve major reforms of US human rights policies and practices through unique, coordinated and sustained grassroots activism that complements the work of other human rights organizations. The principle which underpins the organization is that politicians will do nothing unless they are pushed. High Road is a bottom-up, grassroots-based organization founded “to make it clear there will be short-term political costs for those who continue to ignore these kinds of problems… Every time a congressperson or senator comes home and they hold a meeting, there a group there pushing on the same issues”, according to Anderson. High Road has a growing membership base and active local teams of people who meet and work together to bring about change.

The organization has a broad-based membership, with an Advisory Committee composed of prominent human-rights, environmental and political activists, as well as artists, actors, and writers, including Ed Asner, Harry Belafonte, Lester Brown, Hillary Brown, Ben Cohen, Daniel Ellsberg, Ross Gelbspan, Susan Joy Hassol, Mark Hersgaard, Mimi Kennedy, Paul Rogat Loeb, Edward Mazria, Bill McKibben, Yoko Ono, Gus Speth, Winnie Singh, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Elie Wiesel, and Terry Tempest Williams. High Road for Human Rights primarily addresses five issues: torture and the undermining of the rule of law, genocide, slavery, the death penalty, and the human rights implications of the climate crisis.

Anderson testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee during a hearing on September 25, 2008 concerning executive-branch abuses of power, and spoke at rallies organized by High Road for Human Rights in which he called for accountability for torture. He has also researched, written, produced, and narrated two multimedia pieces focusing on torture and the undermining of the rule of law.

For his work on human rights matters during his tenure as Executive Director of High Road for Human Rights, Anderson received the Morehouse University Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award and the Bill of Rights Defense Committee's Patriot Award.