The inspiration for this subject line didn’t come from Pollyanna. It came from the late Senator Paul Simon. After reflecting on the genocide in Rwanda, he said: “If every member of the House and Senate had received 100 letters from people back home saying we have to do something about Rwanda, when the crisis was first developing, then I think the response would have been different.”
That’s a powerful statement. It means that we had the power to stop the genocide in Rwanda, but that too many of us chose not to act. It also means that we have the power now to stop the genocide in Darfur if we do choose to act.
Sojourners is teaming up with our good friends at the Save Darfur Coalition and nearly 100 organizations to gather 1 million signatures on postcards. These postcards and their messages will be sent to President Bush, urging him to take action. After you’re done signing, you will have the opportunity to spread the word to your friends. Gathering 1 million signatures is as simple as you passing the alert to 10 people, who each send to 10 people, and so on.
Since the beginning of the conflict in Darfur, an estimated 400,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million people have been displaced. The world has watched silently. Paul Rusesabagina, whose life and experience with the 1994 genocide in Rwanda was portrayed in the movie Hotel Rwanda, put it this way: “A detachment of well-equipped peacekeepers, made up of less than one-twentieth of the American troops now stationed in Iraq, could have easily stopped the killings without risk” (emphasis added).
In short, we are asking President Bush to give real meaning to the words, “Never Again.”
In addition to joining the Million Voices for Darfur campaign, we invite you to come to Washington, D.C., for a rally on April 30 to demand that we use our resources to end the genocide in Darfur. In addition to the rally, the Save Darfur Coalition is sponsoring lobby days on April 28 and May 1, so we encourage you to come early or stay late!
Thank you for using your voice. We believe that with God’s grace working in and through us, we can end this genocide.
Peace,
The Sojourners Organizing Team
Adam, Matt, Christa, and Nadia
