A DAY FOR DARFUR
Emily Nguyen / Villa Walsh Academy
Dailyrecord.com, NJ
Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
09/22/06
Attending Sunday’s ‘Save Darfur’ rally in New York’s Central Park
are, from left, Julie Tiedrich, Caleb Zimmerman, Emily Nguyen, Janet
Namkung and Stephanie Gomez.
Young activists join rally against genocide
Remember Cambodia. Remember Bosnia. Remember Armenia.
Remember Rwanda. Remember Sudan.
The term genocide is traditionally defined as "the deliberate and
systematic extermination of a national, racial, political or cultural
group."
In Darfur, a western region of Sudan, the past three years have
been chiefly characterized by unspeakable atrocities that have left
more than 400,000 dead, 2.5 million displaced, and 3.5 million on
the brink of starvation, according to the Save Darfur Coalition at
These travesties have almost exclusively befallen innocent civilians
— men, women, and children of Sudanese descent — whose apparent
disloyalty to the Arab-dominated government, after continuing military
conflict with Sudanese rebel groups that began in 2003, prompted the
government to support an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed.
The Janjaweed have made it their mission to "clear" civilians from
certain areas of the country. Their methods of "clearance" include
indiscriminate murders, mass rape and innumerable other violations
of international law.
Doesn’t this sound like genocide?
Remember Cambodia. Remember Bosnia. Remember Armenia.
Remember Rwanda. Remember Sudan.
Unfortunately members of the international community have hesitated
to label it as such. The United Nations refers to the situation in
Darfur as a "humanitarian and human rights tragedy of the first order,"
but has not deployed an international peacekeeping contingent to stop
it. Resolution after resolution has passed without any appreciable
action on their part, and within two weeks, the resolution that
allows non-governmental organizations to provide relief will expire
and expel what limited aid has existed.
Recognizing this genocide and the ensuing inaction as deplorable,
concerned humanitarians in our country and around the world organized
rallies on Sunday. More than 30,000 people, many clad in "Save
Darfur" T-shirts and blue berets (in imitation of the hats worn by
UN peacekeeping forces), gathered in New York’s Central Park to send
a very powerful message to world leaders.
The masses of people, who encompassed a refreshing diversity in age,
religion, political convictions and ethnicity, filled the vast East
Meadows lawn. That diversity was a living testimony to one of the most
prevalent themes on that sunny afternoon — that reaction to human
suffering is universal and dissolves all superficial barriers. The
impressive list of speakers and musicians who filled the three hour
time span expanded upon this idea.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who opened the series
of speakers, stressed this idea, passionately proclaiming, "This is
not about politics.
This is about people."
Albright’s brief but commanding message was followed by some
equally riveting speeches by activists, including Olympic speed
skating medalist Joey Cheek, Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino,
New Jersey Rep.
Chris Smith, New York Rep. Charles Rangel, member of Canadian
Parliament Irwin Cotter, BET’s Jeff Johnson, and a myriad of speakers
from various humanitarian organizations such as Amnesty International
and the Darfur Alert Coalition.
The orators were unified not by political party, religion or personal
gain, but by a true sense of humanity and a genuine will to effect
change. Their passion and energy captivated the audience and stressed
the notion that we are all the same because we are all human.
For instance, the opening prayer, which read, "There is one God who
does discriminate with respect to caste, creed, color, or beliefs," was
read by Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood,
while subsequent speakers included Tony Kireopoulos from National
Council of Churches and Steve Gutow from the Jewish Council for Public
Affairs. Vastly different backgrounds, one coherent message.
In addition to the formidable cast of speech-makers, a number of
musicians came out to show their support and to communicate their
message. Starting off with the Nsengiyumva & the Vang’Inanga drum
troupe, performances and pleas for international action came from
the Berklee College of Music, Suzanne Vega, and Brooklyn’s own
Citizen Cope.
Big & Rich, a Nashville-based group that, in the words of MC Jeff
Johnson, "has done more to spread awareness than almost anyone," gave
an especially compelling performance. Emerging onto the stage wielding
a guitar that read "Love Everyone," they played country-influenced
tunes with lyrics that clamored for peace.
As the grand finale, O.A.R., a wildly popular group among young
people, played a series of three of their own songs and one cover of
Bob Dylan’s "The Times They Are A-Changin’." Met with a collective
cheer as they sang the words "Come senators, congressmen, please head
the call," their final song choice was classic and eerily applicable
to the issue at hand.
With the last chord of O.A.R.’s grand musical performance, those
gathered at the rally began to disperse and swamp the city’s public
transportation system. They returned to life as usual — to home,
school, and work; to Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island; to New
Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.
However, it is unquestionable that each person was touched by the
three-hour spectacle that they had just witnessed.
One of the most poignant speakers, Ethan Rafal, a student journalist
who was imprisoned in Sudan for taking pictures of government-supported
bombings of civilian villages, aptly verbalized the call to which
many of the rally attendees will now respond:
"You need to take up arms against the Sudanese government, but when
choosing your weapons, I ask that you choose carefully. I ask you
to choose love. I ask you to choose brotherhood. I ask you to choose
humanity."
Whether by handing out fliers, sending a text message to the White
House, or simply informing someone on the subway about the plight
in Darfur, each person at the rally has garnered such weapons and
employed them.
In the words of a prisoner Rafal met during his time in Sudan,
"As long as we are human, as long as there are violations of human
rights, we will do something.
As long as there is human suffering, we cannot stand by and wait. We
must act."
Remember Cambodia. Remember Bosnia. Remember Armenia.
Remember Rwanda. Remember Sudan.