Save Darfur @ MindSay 
darfur
Hn, it seems inspiration comes from unusual places. I'm working on something that I need to hand in for a contest we were doing in Christian Life about genocide in Darfur. I'm late as usual, but this time with no inspiration and no clue what to do. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I'm a huge advocate for Darfur, and I don't take stuff like this very lightly. I couldn't just write a poem in homeroom and hand it in; this meant something more to me.
So here I am, Sunday night, and last minute panic starts to set in. I can't believe I haven't even started working on it over the break. After a nearly two-hour meltdown, I finally come out of hiding from my bedroom. I stare at the blank computer screen, willing myself to write.
I still didn't know what to write about. Another classmate's completely amazing poem was still in my head and I just couldn't get past that. I knew I couldn't, in a million years, write a poem like that. I tried to think about how I felt about Darfur, but that wasn't helping me at all. But then I realized that when I'm good and pissed off, I can go for a long, long, long time. Those of you who have read my blogs c.10th grade know what I'm talking about. So what got me good and pissed off about Darfur?
The fact that it was just being ignored.
It reminded me of something Duane Keogh of The Town Pants (TTP= Love) said at the Irish Festival this year, trying to get people to sing: "It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be loud."
So I decided that the poem didn't have to be perfect, it just had to get its point across. And its point? Simply to shut up, listen, and speak. It doesn't matter how good or bad you are at it. As long as it's heard.
Darfur has continued unabated to be a region decimated by genocide. The Janjawid militias with the government are still murdering, raping and pillaging Darfur. Under Sudanese government support the Janjawid are murdering boys so they will not grow up and be an enemy.
Sudanese government involvement is blatantly obvious for many government soldiers have accompanied the Janjawid. I am far from an expert on this subject; my understanding is that Arab racist Mohammedans are executing an ethnic cleansing of Black Mohammedans in Darfur.
The thing I do not understand is why military powers of the West and East do no unite to topple the government of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Al-Bashir is emerging to be a worse genocidal maniac than Saddam Hussein. Al-Bashir should be held accountable for war crimes against humanity. There is no thin line here; al-Bashir is sponsoring the death of a group of people under the control of his regime.
Before Darfur, Arab Mohammedans raided Southern Sudan to make slaves of the Black Christians and animists. There is a history of racism with this Arab controlled government.
"Hundreds of thousands of people around the world have responded to the suffering in Darfur by standing up and demanding that their governments take action to end the crisis. However, many individuals still have not heard about the genocide in Darfur.
To build the political will necessary to end the genocide it is imperative that more people learn about the security and humanitarian crisis in Darfur and find out how they can help end the genocide.
We have created materials to help you teach others about the ongoing genocide in Darfur. These resources include background information on the conflict in Darfur, a PowerPoint presentation, and recommendations for engaging your audience in advocacy activity on behalf of the people of Darfur." ~ Save DarfurLEARN MORE: http://darfur.bluestatedigital.com/page/-/DarfurPowerPoint.ppt (PowerPoint)
Last Sunday, rather than sitting on my bum all day and playing video games, I woke up at five in the morning to take a trip up to Washington D.C. for the Darfur rally. After a very long trip, (It was my unfortunate luck to be sitting across the aisle from a couple), we finally arrived. It took nearly an hour to get the bus parked. =/ We all divided our group into smaller groups to better keep track of each other, then headed towards the metro. I've been on the metro before, I've been on the London tube during rush hour but this was by far the most crowded subway I've ever been on.
After getting off, the masses on the metro (my group included) walked five blocks to the Washington Mall. There wasn't anyone screaming "Forrest!" and running across the Reflection Pool; instead there were thousands of people. I have to admit I was a little nervous with so many people around. But it was the sheer number of people that really got me. This rally wasn't about politics or religion--it was about stopping genocide and saving lives. The first hour went really fast, and I even caught myself tearing up a few times. The next hour all the politicians came out (and George Clooney)...and they were campainging. Ew.
I know it's nice to just sit back and watch the world. Just to say "Oh, that's awful...oh well." But you can't just stay apathetic when you know what's going on out there. You can't just back away and say "not my problem, sucks to be you." You have to stand up and fight. When you have a chance to remain silent or stand up and speak, always choose to speak. If you don't, nothing will ever change.
Oh yeah, there was a sign there that said "Fuck Genocide"
Just thought you might like to know.
Today av attended his first bona fide political rally: The Save Darfur Coalition's Rally to Stop Genocide.
It was held on the National Mall in Washington, DC. It was close enough and important enough to attend. We also knew that we'd possibly have the chance to meet up with other friends from the area (and some who had travelled hours for this) who felt the same priority of being there.
Most people are unaware of what's been going on in Darfur, a region in the west of Sudan. The Sudanese government has not been favorable to the non-Arab population in Darfur for quite a while. Since a rebellion in 2003, the Sudanese government helped to sponsor militia groups called "Janjaweed" to destroy "disloyal" communities in Darfur, using tactics such as destroying villages, looting, mass-killing and systematic rape of women and children within these villages. It is said that 400,000 have already been killed since 2003, and over a million others have been displaced to refugee camps in Darfur and nearby Chad. The Darfur refugee camps are surrounded by Janjaweed, making it extremely dangerous for anyone to find food or water to survive.
The main purpose of this rally: to raise awareness. To make sure people are aware that this is going on and that it needs to be stopped. I would estimate that between 15,000 and 20,000 people showed up. It was a call to President Bush to take further action. An underlying theme was an infamous note that he scribbled into the margin of a report on the genocide in Rwanda during his first year in office. The note said "Not on my watch." There were calls of "Not on our watch" which were used throughout the many speeches delivered to the crowd.
What made this rally interesting was the multi-partisanship of it all. It wasn't critical or supportive of the current administration in general. It wasn't left-wing or right-wing. The invocations were given by a minister, a rabbi and an imam -- after all, both the Janjaweed militia and the Darfur refugees are Muslims. The speakers represented the spectrum of Congressional politics and religious activism.
The crowd attending showed some diversity as well. People attended for different reasons. The family next to us had heard of it from Oprah talking about it on her show. Different religious and cultural groups brought their own delegations. Human rights groups as well. But there was a relatively high concentration of Jewish groups in attendance, the obligation coming from the residual lessons of the Holocaust during World War II. The message "Never Again" gets continually pounded into our minds, and the notion of social responsibility manifests itself.
So many speakers at this rally. Including folks like Elie Wiesel, Representative Tom Lantos. Paul Rusesabagina (the one whose life story was chronicled in Hotel Rwanda), Kweisi Mfume, Al Sharpton, former Marine Captain Brian Steidle, Olympic skater Joey Cheek (who donated his winnings from the Torino Winter Olympics to a Darfur charity), and journalist Nick Clooney. Nick's son, George, went on a trip to Sudan with him, and this has been a cause with which both of them have remained active.
I'll probably post more about this tomorrow. I'll post pictures tonight, though (although we were relatively far back so we could sit). If you're looking for more information, I'd like to recommend a quick look around http://www.savedarfur.org
(Click on the pictures to open them up slightly larger.)
A view of the stage with the "Save Darfur" banner. This was flanked with video screens on both sides. As you can see, we weren't up extremely close. At first we were on the right side, but we later migrated to the left to join a group of folks (USY) we knew.
Another view of pretty much the same. More of a close-up on the banner.
This was a "Darfur Tent" which people could symbolically sign. I didn't read the explanation, but I'm assuming that the tent symbolizes the type of dwelling displaced Darfur refugees live in in crowded conditions.
A shot on the other side of the stage. The stage was between 3rd and 4th Streets, west of the Capitol -- which means the Capitol is about four blocks away. This is usually the backdrop for most political rallies or marches in DC.
Nick and George Clooney on the big-screen. George and I were wearing the exact same t-shirt.
We also took some good pictures of our family in the crowd:
Av and socKs near some friends
This one came about when Av jumped on my back and started climbing...
A quick stop on our way back to the car.