Stop the Genocide in Sudan!

It’s been two years since the Bush Administration declared the situation in Darfur, Sudan a genocide but people are still dying while countries like ours standby and watch it happen.

To mark this sad anniversary, groups from all over the Mid-Atlantic region headed down to Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. to hold a rally across from the White House.

Best-friend, Ellen, and I donned our “Stop Genocide in Sudan” shirts and took the Metro down to D.C. On the train a Sudanese woman, on her way to the airport, approached us, told us a little about herself, and then thanked us for our support of her country.

When we left for the event, we weren’t sure our presence would even make a difference out there. We won’t know if it did but on the train one woman was moved by our compassion for her country. Ellen and I too both felt moved to tears. Sudan may be across the Atlantic Ocean but today it became a face for us. We knew we belonged on that train today. It’s a simple reminder that we don’t have to have the means to make big changes in someone‘s life. Sometimes just walking beside someone is all it takes to make a difference.

In D.C. the rally began with a rapper named Com-Pleks. I’m not a fan of rap music but Com-Pleks’ poetry turned to rap was not like the rap music I’ve heard before. The lyrics of his first song filled our souls with the political truths of this country. I’ve never had truth hit me in quite that way before.

Protests such as “Two years, two many, break the deadlock now!” were shouted as the rally ended with some of the group participating in a civil disobedience act of lying in front of the White House, and holding up signs regarding the Darfur genocide before being arrested. Others who didn’t participate placed their hands in red paint and made their handprint on a large tarp that will be taken up to New York City later this month for another rally. The handprints are a way for us to be there and show our support.

A Darfurian woman, Fatima Haroun, said the most profound and truthful statement of the day when she announced we are all from Adam and Eve so race should not be an issue for us. Can it be said any simpler or more beautifully?
  
  
  
For more information on Darfur, Sudan go to: http://www.savedarfur.org/