Sunday, April 13 marked the five year anniversary of the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. Five years of systematic and widespread murder, rape, abduction, and forced displacement. That's longer than my almost 4-year-old daughter's lifetime. It's impossible for me to imagine what it must be like trying to raise your children in the midst of such conditions, yet for the people of Darfur, life must go on.

How many women's lives can we save with donations from the BlogHer community, between now and Mother's Day, May 11, 2008? If you will download this widget today and encourage your readers to donate, we can find out. Won't you join us?

[img_assist|fid=4170|thumb=1|alt=Not On Our Watch|caption=Book Cover from Hyperion's site]

In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then the came for me, and by that time, no one was left to speak up.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller.

You may have read yesterday that BlogHer has launched a new, year-long initiative, BlogHers Act, to use the power of its 11,000+ members for positive change, and asked its members to answer the questions 1.What is the global issue BlogHer's members should focus on this year?, and 2. If you could tell the presidential candidates what is most important to you, what are the top four hot button issues you would ask them to address?

There are so many issues that are important to me, and to our world, but I guess because I am just finishing up reading Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond, that Editor Dana Tuszke reviewed in May, by Don Cheadle and John Pendergast, that the situation in Darfur is on my mind.