Darfur: Activists Inspire Americans to Act Now

Dana J. Tuszke — Thu, 10 May 2007 13:13:07 -0500

Citizens of San Francisco attended an event Tuesday night, called Community Conversation: Not On Our Watch, hosted by actor Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Crash) and human rights activist John Predergrast.

The two have co-written a book Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond, which inspires it's readers to take action and speak out against the mass killings in Sudan's Darfur region.

The book includes a forward by Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, as well as an introduction by U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Sam Brownback. Cheadle and Prendergast have both spent time in Darfur, including a trip in 2005 that was featured on ABCâ€™s Nightline.

The Darfur conflict broke out a little over four years ago, when Justice & Equality Movement and Sudan Liberation Army rebels attacked and captured the capital in Darfur and demanded involvement in power-sharing arrangements between the North and South Sudan.

More than 400,000 Darfurians have lost their lives since 2003, and over 2.5 million have been displaced as a result. Sudanese President Bashir continues to ignore the calls for help to end the genocide.

The Not On Our Watch website offers six strategies readers can implement to stop the genocide in Darfur: Raise Awareness, Raise Funds, Write a Letter, Call for Divestment, Start an Organization and Lobby the Government.

Cheadle and Prendergast encourage all Americans to pick up the phone and call your state representatives to relay the dire message to President Bush to help save Darfur.

By calling 1-800-GENOCIDE (436-6243) and entering your zip code, you will be given the option to be connected to your state legislator's offices. Once connected you can leave comment saying "I urge President Bush to fully implement Plan B to end genocide in Darfur."

To find out your representatives record on Darfur, visit www.darfurscores.org. You can see each member of Congress' individual voting record.

Your phone call does make a diffence in urging the President and our government to act now. Together we can help save precious lives. So, take a few minutes to make that call, and please pass this information to your friends and family. Please don't wait, next week might be too late.

Let's make a difference in the lives of the people of Darfur.

Contributing Editor Dana J. Tuszke also blogs at The Dana Files.

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Darfur: Activists Inspire Americans to Act Now