"Lock the doors and close the blinds -- we're going for a ride..."

Another one of the reasons we like living where we do: the opportunity for political and social activism.

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.