Getting Arrested for Darfur
I had never been arrested before. There are a few traffic tickets on my record, but nothing even close to an arrest. And so it was with some anxiety that I decided last Thursday to be arrested outside of the White House to protest the world’s collective failure to respond to the genocide in Darfur. It was the next step - something I was compelled to do by my frustration with the world’s inaction.
Encouraged by my colleagues at the Save Darfur Coalition, and given tacit approval by my sympathetic parents, I joined 28 fellow Darfur activists and two co-workers on Saturday in an act of civil disobedience organized by Africa Action as part of the Ten Days of Action for Darfur.
The action itself was simple by design. We walked to the fence of the White House lawn and laid down on the sidewalk, while continuing to chant and hold signs with various pleas and statements: “Bush: Please Protect the People of Darfur” and “Send in the UN, Now.” After three warnings from the police, we were hand-cuffed one-by-one and led to a waiting police van for transport to the jail.
We were arrested to emphasize the urgency of the situation in Darfur: without the immediate intervention of the international community, Darfur may very well “collapse,” as UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland warned on Tuesday. By getting arrested, we hoped to dramatize this urgency and spur the Bush administration to do everything possible to end the suffering.
Our mild inconvenience does not compare to the suffering of the people in Darfur. But until that suffering comes to an end, it is critical that people all over the world continue to demand that their leaders push for security and justice for the people of Darfur.
--Reid Rector
0 Comments
Reid, it was a deep honor to stand with you Sunday. When we “clone” you (your passion, vision, courage, compassion) 1000 times the Genocide in Darfur will end. Let’s begin -
THE ONLY HOPE FOR DARFUR: WE THE PEOPLE. Duh.
It is said that the mark of truly being “crazy” is expecting different results from doing the same thing over and over and…
Ok, we needed to try some new approaches, hoping we could find a new formula for mass social change (stopping Genocide has NEVER been done. N E V E R); looking for one that would be comfortable, convenient, safe, executed from our computer terminal / phone and TV in some combination. The variations we’ve tried are:
* Blame - UN, EU, AU, Bush, Congress.
* Emails / Blogs / Letters / Phone calls / Post cards / 1-day-fasts (yawn; oh, excuse me) / an occasional 3 hour demonstration (with entertainment).
* Letting the Nonprofits do it - SaveDarfur.org, AfricaAction.org, GenocideIntervention.net.
* Divestment.
And the results are in. WE ARE NOT, N O T STOPPING THE GENOCIDE!!!!!!!!!
You mean that the answer for Darfur is the same answer we found for…
* Ending the Vietnam War
* Gaining Civil Rights in the US
* Gaining Women the right to Vote in the US
* Ending apartheid in South Africa
* Throwing off the British oppression at our start....????
Yup.
OK. We looked for another way. NOW, let the blame for the Genocide rest with us. WE-THE-PEOPLE. Let the END OF GENOCIDE BE BROUGHT BY US.
No one else, nothing else can stop it, can save 4,000,000 in Concentration Camps in Sudan and Chad. The buck stops with WE-THE-PEOPLE.
Let’s do it. Let’s get out of the blame game - Bush, Congress, UN, EU, AU, Bashir....
Let’s stop talking and start - marching, demonstrating, sitting-in, hunger striking… UNTIL DARFUR GENOCIDE STOPS.
The next step is September 17th (SaveDarfur.org; DayForDarfur.org). The worldwide events must be an earsplitting mandate to the “governing bodies” that we demand, we mandate, we support nothing less than immediate end to the Genocide. “Do what it takes, but, FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION. Do what we hired you to do, or make room for those who will.”
BUT, then we need to be ready on SEPTEMBER 18th, 19th… AS LONG AS IT TAKES, WHATEVER IT TAKES from us to end this, NOW.
Jay McGinley
Day 105 24/7 DC Vigil
Day 35 Hunger Strike (54 days so far this summer, with breaks)
Arrested Sept 9th at White House with 29 others from Save Darfur.
wwww.standwithdarfurwhitehouseii.blogspot.com
Jay McGinley in White House and points DC | Wednesday, September 13 at 03:37 PM
I’m writing a report for my school’s paper on Darfur to raise awareness about the genocide. Your site has helped me a lot, thank you!
Michelle in Pennsylvania | Wednesday, September 13 at 09:54 PM
marie in ny ny | Thursday, September 14 at 09:50 AM
Thanks for making this stand. I hope and pray it does get press.
Stephanie Flaa in Pacifica, CA | Thursday, September 14 at 06:38 PM
Congratulations, Reid. Getting arrested for a just cause is justice.
And, please don’t think the whole world is sitting by. I know that even some Christians are sending in food, water and shelter. check out worldvision.com.
What the people of Darfur also need is some security. I’m praying that our country, and the world, acts now.
Thanks for your action, Mr. Rector
Paul in North Arlington, New Jersey | Thursday, September 14 at 11:09 PM
Reid,
Thanks for taking a stand and bringing up attention to the genocide in Darfur. I remember former president Bill Clinton said he regretted not having taking action on Rwanda’s genocide--hindsight is always 20/20-- and he added we should not let it happen again. Yet here we are once more allowing it to happen again in Africa. Shame on us all. From regular individuals to the presidents of all nations, and everyone in between, we all share responsibility for what’s happenning. Again, gracias for taking a stand. God bless you.
Cesar Arredondo in Los Angeles, CA | Friday, September 15 at 03:42 AM
After reading “Castastrophe looms” article in the sept.9th issue of The Economist it seems we need to urge China and Russia to put pressure on mr. al-bashir to let the UN peacekeepers in. China is developing their oil industry along with Malaysia and India. Russia has a growing arms trade with Sudan. So far Mr. al-bashir has been able to fend off outside presure to let this peacekeeping group in with the assistance of China and Russia on the security council. China and Russia both refrained from voting for last weeks UN resolution for fear of offending Mr. al-bashir. China could even offer peacekeepers of its own because it has a large army. We have a lot of economic clout with China lets us it to end this genocide.
ana in Washington DC | Friday, September 15 at 10:20 AM