Filed under: Obsessions
Do you know where Darfur is? Do you know what is going on there? Do you know that it is possible to stop the crimes against humanity that have been left unchecked for over four years? If your answer to any of the above is “no,” where have you been? If you are already involved in some kind of campaign or political activist group to raise awareness about Darfur – I would love to hear about it. If you still have no idea what I’m talking about: pay attention. Darfur is an impoverished region of western Sudan (i.e. the middle of the Sahara Desert in north-eastern Africa). The Darfuri people are ethnically distinct from their Sudanese countrymen. Over the last four years as Sudan has erupted in Civil War, the militant Sudanese have been systematically murdering the Darfuri’s in what can only be described as mass genocide. Has this happened before? Yes. Hitler did the same thing to Jews in Nazi Germany. During the Rwandan Civil War in 1994 hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and even Hutu sympathizers were exterminated in government-led massacres. In the late 1990’s Slobodan Milošević ordered the same kind of “ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia and the former Yugoslav countries, do you remember hearing about the Kosovo Conflict and the War Crimes tribunal at The Hague?
Well, it’s happening again. What will you do? Will you sit back on your comfortable couch, in your climate controlled apartment with a can of Diet Coke and change the channel? Or will you get off your ass and get involved? You don’t have to stand on a street corner with a protest sign. You don’t have to make a presentation to the U.N. You don’t have to fight an army of militant Africans. But, will you send an email? Will you add your voice to the thousands of people around the planet that are calling for the United States and the U.N. to step in and stop the massacre? Will you? It takes 15 seconds of your time, I’ll even given you the link. Click Here to send an email showing your support of the Save Darfur campaign. 
Interested? Look around on the Save Darfur website and see if there is an event in your area; a lecture or a rally, or something. Get involved. There are dozens of websites and blogs about Darfur; start reading, learn about what is going on. Send some emails to your political leaders. Send some emails to your friends and family. Let them know that you have joined the campaign to Save Darfur! It is not “un-cool” to be politically active or even politically vocal; George Clooney is on board with Darfur, and he is one classy guy.
Do you remember those trendy, yellow “Live Strong” wristbands? Hey, if it worked for Lance Armstrong, why not for peace in Africa? Raise awareness about hundreds of thousands of people being slaughtered, torn from their families, living in refugee camps with little food or water and rampant disease. Order a “Save Darfur” wristband; wear it, give them to your friends, tell people what is going on. Order one or two, or order a 10-pack.4 Comments so far
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George Clooney is a classy guy. I’m in.
Savedarfur.org also has neat T-shirts that say “Save Darfur.” It is a big way to get people to see the issue. It is easy to forget that others are in pain when our lives aren’t in danger.
This is really important. I remember thinking that the Holocaust could never happen again, that we would never allow it to happen again. And I remember wondering how everyone in that time could let it go and do nothing. But it is happening again. Opression is everywhere, even in places that we have not began to pay attention to — like Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Let’s try to keep Darfur from becoming a historical tourist site like all the concentration camps in Europe.
Comment by Megan Rasmussen 2007 April 24 @ 9:35 amGreat post – yes this is an incredibly important topic. I feel sad that our political leadership is doing a whole lotta nothing (or almost nothing) to help over there.
I actually met the guy behind the green bracelets about 2 years ago, not realizing at the time how big Save Darfur would get (which I guess it a sad statement in itself).
Comment by janet 2007 April 24 @ 4:46 pmThank you for posting about such an important cause. This is incredibly eye-opening.
Comment by Angela 2007 April 24 @ 6:49 pm
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Comment by Alice 2007 April 30 @ 6:36 amSometimes it can be so overwhelming, sometimes I feel so useless and insignificant faced with such monumental crisis. I keep wishing I had some skills that would warrant me working in humanitarian aid agency. I don’t know nursing! You know something useful!