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Thursday, April 28, 2005

Take action against genocide.

It looks like most everyone is in agreement: there is a genocide occurring in Sudan. Right now, as you read this, people are being killed. Thankfully, there is much we can do to stop it and save lives. I'll have more on this in the coming weeks, but for now, read an excerpt from this week's Coalition for Darfur post. It focuses on Eric Reeves, a literature professor who has been largely responsible for publicizing the crisis in Sudan. He's done an incredible amount of work, particularly considering that he is also battling leukemia.:
On February 24, 2004, an op-ed entitled "The Unnoticed Genocide" appeared in the pages of the Washington Post warning that without humanitarian intervention in Darfur "tens of thousands of civilians [would] die in the weeks and months ahead in what will be continuing genocidal destruction."

Written by Eric Reeves, a literature professor from Smith College, this op-ed was the catalyst that compelled many of us to start learning more about crisis in Darfur which, in turn, led directly to the creation of the Coalition for Darfur.

For over two years, Eric Reeves has been the driving force behind efforts to call attention to the genocide in Darfur by writing weekly updates and providing on-going analysis of the situation on the ground. As early as 2003, Reeves was calling the situation in Darfur a genocide, nine months before former Secretary of State Colin Powell made a similar declaration. In January of 2005, Reeves lashed out against "shamefully irresponsible" journalists who "contented themselves with a shockingly distorting mortality figure for Darfur's ongoing genocide." Reeves' analysis led to a series of news articles highlighting the limitations of the widely cited figure of 70,000 deaths and culminated in a recent Coalition for International Justice survey that concluded that death toll was nearly 400,000; an figure nearly identical to the one Reeves had calculated on his own.


Click here to read the entire post. Then take action: spread the word, divest, write a letter to your elected officials, support relief efforts, and do all you can to stop the killing.

1 comment:

Karama said...

Here are more ways you can help:

* Write a letter of concern to the media or your elected officials.
* Support relief organizations that are working to ease the suffering in Sudan.
* Assist Sudanese refugees in the US
* Learn more about what's happening in Sudan.
* Divest from the Khartoum government.
* Send a letter to the television networks asking them to improve their coverage of Sudan.

Other suggestions? Bring 'em on!