Save Darfur! A call to poets and readers for action

There is a genocide happening in Darfur. I mean, there is slaughter going on at a scale too awesome to contemplate by means of the little monitor you probably stare at to read these words. War, massacres, rapes, things seldom spoken of in truth at our schools or workplaces in the West.

This is a site for poetry, people; forgive me for stating the obvious. But poets have in the past spoke out against injustice. I think of Emile Zola, who vigourously defended human rights. You may have learnded about the Dreyfuss trial. There were Tennyson, Lord Byron, Wordsworth, in the U.K., and here in America, great poets such as Walt Whitman, who even went to tend the sick and wounded in a hospital of the Civil War. There has been Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti, and many more.

It's time for our generation to step up to the plate:
Ladies, gentlemen, what are we to do about the war and genocide in Darfur? Hear me out, if you are of a mind to listen:

Tonight, I have been, again, "catching up" on what I for lack of better words call "the causes which keep life worth living:" Human Rights, Justice, Peace, Seeking Wisdom (Education has lost its gleam, and sadly has become just a euphemism for state and church indoctrination).

What I have here on my desk, to the left of my hands and keyboard, is the Fall issue of Amnesty International. You all have heard, unless you are toiling away at some minimum wage job so much, and when not, listen to the usual trite canned drivel that passes for entertainment in the "free" world, the Western world, of a place called Darfur, located in the south of Sudan, which itself is a country south of Egypt and east of Chad. Sudan's borders comprise the lands where the Sahara and the Sahel, the Nile, and the Red Sea, meet and overlap as it were.

Folks, there is a genocide happening in Darfur. By that I mean, there is slaughter going on at a scale too awesome to contemplate by means of the little monitor you probably stare at to read these words. War, massacres, rapes, things seldom spoken of in truth at our schools or workplaces in the West.

At the risk of being pedantic, I'll share with the rest of us some statistics on what is happening in this region, Darfur:

How many people have been killed or died as a result of the "conflict?" 300,000 Yes three hundred thousand.

How many people currently living in camps or makeshift structures-- tin roofed shacks, cardboard houses, tents, sections of concrete pipe in Darfur?

1.8 million That's one million, eight hundred thousand. That's as if the entire population of the city of Houston, Texas were living in tents and boxes. That's more than half the population of the city of Chicago.

How many people have been prevented from getting any humanitarian assistance because of "political infighting" (some one wants to take the credit, or some one doesn't want to allow some one else to get recognized for helping, and so forth). How many blocked from help?

250,000,/b>

How many have fled to Chad as of press time for the Fall 2006 issue? 215,000

I'll share one more statistic, as I pray silently that you aren't getting bored with these numbers. How many Sudanese are living thanks mostly to aid of food, water, shelter, and medicine? million Yes, three million, five hundred thousand and growing every day, every night, since last autumn, and even now as I write these words. As you read them. As you either think about them, or forget them, as one may or as some have done so.


So, what are we to do about this, people? What can we do? Nothing? Wrong answer. We can write to our Senators, our House of Representatives, our Senators. We can write to the Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice.

Some of us have already cried out, "But our Congress does nothing! Look how they rubberstamped the President's wars on Iraq, Afghanistan, on terror (substitute evil for terror, and you have a never-ending struggle).

My answer to you, for us, people, is we write to them, call them visit them. But it is time to write to the leaders of other countries who are involved or who could help stop this suffering.

It is a fact that of the member states of the U.N. Security Council, three are known to be major arms suppliers in Darfur: Russia, China, and France. And I submit to you, people, I would not be surprised if many US and British arms are getting there by indirect means. So none of us are angels, I say.

Bearing in mind the tale of the mice and the cat, in which the one mouse thought of the idea of hanging the bell on the cat, I'll step up and let you know I have taken action, hoping that you will join me. I've written an open letter to the Secretary of state Condoleeza Rice, and another to the Parliament and President of France.

I had written a while ago, as well as telephoned, to the President of the United States, George W. Bush, as well as my Senators of the great State of Georgia. I've written and made calls to my Representative from the 12th district, Congressman John Barrow. And I'm not done writing. I'm not done calling. I may, God willing, get my middle-aged legs up those marble steps to Congress and take this message further. Maybe to the United Nations.

But one person can't do it alone, folks. We know that. But one person can hold up a lantern to light the way for others. I'm not saying I'm that person, but hey, I'm not going to ask you to do something I'm not willing to do myself. I've even submitted applications to the International Refugee Committee to work in the Darfur or in the adjoining region of Uganda where there is also civil unrest (code word for little war the news agencies won't trouble with).

As I conclude this for now, I will leave a couple of addresses for you all, if any of you wish to use your minds, fingers, and internet connections to do something more than get on the chat rooms and while away the precious minutes of our lives:

You may ACT by writing to the Chadian ambassador to ask that his government fully protect civilians in the eastern part of his country, to ensure a safe environment for aid organizations so they can go in and do what they're supposed to do:

His Excellency, Mahamoud Adan Bechir
Ambassador to the Embassy of Chad
2002 R Street NW
Washington, DC 20009

Demand Justice for War Criminals, International Justice!

Ask the U. S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and our representatives in the House and Senate, to stongly encourage U.S. cooperation with the International Criminal Court that the latter press the Sudanese government to cooperate withthe investigation. Send your appeals to:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
U S Department of state
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

It is simple to leave your thoughts for the government of France. I only ask you write it in Word or some text processor, get it spell checked and ask some one you trust knows grammar and punctuation. Make it impressive, for you're trying to get some one to take you seriously.

http://www.ambafrance-us.org/contactus.asp

You may write

Ambassador Yuri V Ushakov, Ambassador
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Washington DC 20007

The telephone is (202) 298-5700. The fax is (202)298-5735. Be polite, simple, and concise. Don't be too wordy; that will only brand you a nut case, or whoever is reading it will shake their head, maybe smile, and reject your message.

Let them know that rather than start a new Cold War, our nations could work together to establish peace, justice, and a humane living standard in Africa and Southwest Asia. Let them know that you respect their intelligence and capabilities, but that you request, by everything they hold sacred, that they honor their conscience in acting to do what is right for the people of Darfur and the surrounding region.

Then there is the People's Republic of China. As there are a slew of offices which handle business at the Chinese Embassy, I will provide the link to the contact page, and suggest you start by writing to


Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong
Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of Americ
2300 Connecticut Ave., NW,
Washington, D.C. 20008

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/sgxx/dfzygy/t44338.htm


As before, I request you use your best manners, be respectful, clear but with some gentle language. Remember, you catch more bees with honey. You might wish to ask for your teacher's or parent's help in drafting this letter. Who knows, this may be the start of your diplomatic or international career! But also, remember, this is not about you; this is for those people who are unable to speak up in their own defence. Those people who don't have internet connections, who don't have even paper and pen, or stamps, need you to be their advocate.


P.S. "Help me live," who is one of our fellow AP poets and readers, has volunteered some testimony and information which may help all of us to help those of Darfur and Chad:

"I am a worker towards genocide recognition in the 20th and 21st centuries. I know of a few sites that people can go to, if you'll add them to your column.
www.STANDnow.org is a student anti-genocide coalition. As the Darfur genocide is happening right now, it's theme at this moment is aiding the people in Darfur and getting governments to help and send aid, also. It is student run, and is based toward the average high-school or college student with various ways of letting our government (and those of other countries) know that we the people think its wrong to standby and just watch this.
www.marchforhumanity.org is an organisation that's main focus is the Armenian genocide of 1915-1926 because not many people know or believe that it was, in fact, genocide and not an act of war. There are ways to contact President Bush, asking that he recognise Armenia's genocidal history to help genocides of the present and the future to be averted and resolved, for lack of a better word.
www.ushmm.org is dedicated to those who fought and fell during the Jewish Holocaust of WW2. It also is geared for genocide in general.

"I believe that these three websites are ebeficial to those who'll read your column because they give information and facts, not just opinion, and are helpful in giving us that information. I happen to be part of each of the organisation's e-newsletters and find that STAND extremely benefits me, as a protestor of genocide and as a person, because it was there (and Amnesty International) that I first began working against genocide, about a year ago."


Ladies, gentlemen, young women and men, leaders of tomorrow, mothers and fathers of tomorrow, neighbours, friends, and fellow citizens of the world: the clock has been ticking. Let us not waste a nanosecond more. Let's roll!