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[Gabriel]

This is our main discussion thread for general conversations on pretty much everything related to our work (and ourselves!), and from here we can move to more specific issues by creating more focused discussions. Feel free to share thoughts about the movement, about the state of affairs around the world, about how you're feeling.

[Gabriel]

Hi everyone! It's so great to see so many people joining this community. I know that most of you have been involved in Darfur activism for a long time, and you are probably feeling as frustrated as I am. We're hoping that this forum is a place where we can come together and offer each other support. But, our main hope is that we find a way to better support the people of Darfur. I look forward to the conversations! Peace, Gabriel.

[Rob Hadley]

hello all. I wanted to throw this question out to you all...Darfur activism is being attacked by Alex De Waal as counterproductive to the peace process in Darfur. His recent work was just published and I wanted to get feedback from you on this issue. This is not the article but its a recent one from him...the other is in a policy review journal so not online. This will at least give you a feel for his ideas. I am interested in your thoughts:
http://www.harvardir.org/articles/1482/
Rob

[Gabriel]

Hey Rob, thanks for this question. De Waal is surely an expert on what he's talking about, and it's hard for me, with my BA in behavioral science, to get in to a serious debate with him. So I have to go with what I hear from the refugees in the camps (over and over again) and my informed gut instinct. My first response to the question is another question: what peace? Our friends in the camp say that they have been living in a place close to hell for the last more than five years. They are willing to take the risk and try something new. From my own perspective, just because history has produced some failures and misguided efforts, it does not mean that us, as world citizens, should not demand from our leaders what is right. Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is right! It has to be more than just another paper.

On our recent trip to the camps, refugees were jumping at the opportunity to talk about justice. De Waal and others have stated that justice and the ICC also put the peace process in danger. The survivors and victims at the camps told us again, what peace is it putting in danger!?

This is a tough subject, though. You started us off with a far from simple one! :)

Rob Hadley said:

hello all. I wanted to throw this question out to you all...Darfur activism is being attacked by Alex De Waal as counterproductive to the peace process in Darfur. His recent work was just published and I wanted to get feedback from you on this issue. This is not the article but its a recent one from him...the other is in a policy review journal so not online. This will at least give you a feel for his ideas. I am interested in your thoughts:
http://www.harvardir.org/articles/1482/
Rob

[Gabriel]

Tonight, KTJ and I went out to an open-mic event for Street Poets with my brother Javier. It was so powerful to see young people who have found their voice and have used this to move forward and become strong.

As I was listening to some of the young women poets, I was thinking of the many Darfuri mothers I have met. When I hear them speak, before the translator gives his version, I hear poetry. I hear life. Their voices are strong and melodic, as they let their tongues go, usually in their own tribal language. One woman we met during our last trip, her face became animated, with her eyes opening wide and her voice becoming loud. At times she would almost smile and make sounds like, "tac tac tac tac tac," but louder!

Then the translation would come. She was telling of when her village was being destroyed, first from bombs from the sky and then by bullets and fire from the ground. She said that there were one hundred families in her village, and that not one man was left alive. "Do you have children?" We asked her. She said, "They were boys, so they are all gone."

At one point her voice's pitch got very high, and she raised her thumb and brought it down on the palm of the other hand with power and twisted the thumb there--hard--as if squashing an insect that would not die.

Then the translation came. She was explaining what she would want to do to Bashir.

I many times feel guilty at not being able to do more for the people we visit. I hope that by having other hear their voice, power and peace comes to them.

[KTJ]

I have been feeling really down the last few weeks about Darfur activism, and thus myself. For so many years we have been working on this and at times it is hard to see that we are making a difference. I get angry when I receive emails saying that the Darfur movement is making breakthroughs and if I just give $25 I can be part of that... I get angry when I have an idea to spread awareness and some comes back and tells me to just create an e-petition. I get angry when people ask me why I can care about Darfur and Africa. I am angry and having a hard time letting the anger go. I spend time trying to transform it into concrete action to help Darfur, but sometimes I wake up and wonder what can I do that will really make a difference? Perhaps everyone goes through this, and I know I will be able to stand up and it will pass, but right now it feels so hard to change the situation for Darfur.

[Gabriel]

Does anyone know if there are statistics showing numbers on major news coverage on Darfur for 2008? Be a Witness did that great comparison some years ago, showing how little coverage there is.

We need to keep media as a major target of our activism. Between our leaders and the media, they decide what's important, even if it's not really what's important!

[KTJ]

This lifted me when I needed it. Hopefully they will act instead of just signing the papers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xevGz8_MBKk

[Diane Gandee Sorbi]

I have been concerned lately that the economic situation will take attention away from the already limited focus on the crisis in Darfur. It's been a long time since I've seen any media coverage of it. I know the economy is bad, and many people are hurting, but most of us in this country have the basics, and everything we need to survive. That's not the case in Darfur. I am still hopeful that when Obama becomes president he will work to change the situation.

[Gabriel]

Yeah, Diane, I'm sure the economic crisis is going to have a negative effect on so many areas concerning Darfur advocacy and humanitarian help. I think that we can be pretty sure that Obama will be better on Darfur, but I know that we have to put pressure on him and the huge, slow moving machine that he's inheriting. We can see our pressure as moral backing, so that he feels that he can make Darfur a day 1 priority and it not cost him politically. There are going to be so many competing issues, with the economy being number 1, the minute he steps in.

Diane Gandee Sorbi said:

I have been concerned lately that the economic situation will take attention away from the already limited focus on the crisis in Darfur. It's been a long time since I've seen any media coverage of it. I know the economy is bad, and many people are hurting, but most of us in this country have the basics, and everything we need to survive. That's not the case in Darfur. I am still hopeful that when Obama becomes president he will work to change the situation.

[Gabriel]

GI Net has an action that is focuses on senators, since they will be holding hearings and questioning the new presidential nominees. It gives them a lot of power in shaping what is a priority. So, GI Net is asking us to call our senators. I think we should do more. We should not take things for granted and just hope the new administration will do the right thing. Let's push and demand the right thing.


Diane Gandee Sorbi said:

I have been concerned lately that the economic situation will take attention away from the already limited focus on the crisis in Darfur. It's been a long time since I've seen any media coverage of it. I know the economy is bad, and many people are hurting, but most of us in this country have the basics, and everything we need to survive. That's not the case in Darfur. I am still hopeful that when Obama becomes president he will work to change the situation.

[Gabriel]

It's looking like we'll be going out to refugee camps in Eastern Chad in January. We were there last January, when the rebels decided to try and topple the government in N'Djamena. Let's hope this is a quieter January. It should not be that people out there actually kind of expect the chaos.

[Nell Okie]

At the moment, I am feeling great hope for changes to come.

At a rally for Darfur across from the UN, I was asked by a man unknown to me, a Darfuri, to help gain the release of a US citizen who was born in Darfur. He was arrested for false charges and imprisoned by the state security in Dubai, who refused the US Embassy and Consulate in the UAE access, breaking international law. The fear was that he would be sent to Khartoum and executed. After 18 days of screaming across continents, this man was released and is now safe in the US. Two of his brothers were imprisoned in Khartoum; one escaped and is now living abroad. I know; it is unbearable to think of what some people in the world are going through. Hoping this story gives you some hope, too...