Tomorrow, from 2 to 4:30 PM in front of the US Capitol on the National Mall, tens of thousands of people will rally to stop genocide in Darfur, Sudan. According to the Save Darfur website:
The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of over 100 faith-based, humanitarian and human rights organizations. Our mission is to raise public awareness and to mobilize an effective unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of two million people in the Darfur region.The Save Darfur Coalition's unity statement was signed by more than 100 organizations.
The Coalition began on July 14 when the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and American Jewish World Service organized a Darfur Emergency Summit at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan featuring Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Elie Wiesel. Mr. Wiesel inspired the group with his impassioned remarks about the suffering being inflicted on Darfurians: "How can I hope to move people from indifference if I remain indifferent to the plight of others? I cannot stand idly by or all my endeavors will be unworthy."
Speakers tomorrow include Elie Weisel, Barack Obama, George Clooney, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, and many others. This should be an amazing rally, and I plan to participate along with some friends. How about you?
This has been on my calendar for a while, and I'm really disappointed that I can't make it now.
Many people have been working tirelessly to keep this disaster on the front burner in an effort to stop the genocide. As Josh pointed out five members of Congress were arrested on Friday at the Sudanese Embassy while protesting the Sudanese government's role in those atrocities. This is just crazy, especially when you consider what shenanigans so many of the rest of them are up to.
It's great to see everyone coming together to do something about this. If you can't go, you can still go to the web site and send emails and make contributions!
I remember when Colin Powell finally, finally called the situation genocide. It started to raise public awareness again, but then not long after that he resigned. And you didn't hear about this much in the mainstream media for a long time.