Thousands Rally to Protest Darfur Genocide
Written by DCist contributor Andrew Wiseman
A good-sized but not overly energetic crowd gathered on the National Mall this Sunday for the Save Darfur rally. Enjoying the beautiful Sunday weather, a few thousand ethnically and geographically diverse folks heard politicians, religious leaders, former basketball player Manute Bol, George Clooney and father Nick, and others talk about the need for action in the Darfur region of the Sudan. Darfur, the western-most province of the Sudan, has been the scene of brutal fighting in recent years, where the mostly Arab government and Janjaweed militia are accused of committing genocide against the African population in response to alleged rebel activity.
While speakers didn’t focus much on the causes of the conflict, which some attendees said they were unclear about, they did list the atrocities happening, including mass killings, rapes and kidnapping. Speakers put the human toll at 400,000 dead and one million refugees since the conflict began in 2004. They also urged attendees, many wearing free "Save Darfur" t-shirts, to talk to their friends and write their congressmen. They similarly called for action by the U.S. government and the U.N. Only some speakers mentioned possible solutions to the crisis, the most common being sanctions, a peacekeeping force and arresting those responsible for crimes. The generally sedate crowd was most excited when George Clooney and his father Nick spoke towards the end of the rally, with people surging forward and clicking away with their cameraphones. Reverend Al Sharpton and Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) also received loud responses, though Obama’s speech didn’t stand out too much from the others.
One of the best speeches, we thought, was Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.), who said of her visit to Darfur, "Toddlers still had hope in their eyes...those a little older had already seen too much." Nick Clooney, a former reporter, also made an eloquent speech about his visit to the area, calling for immediate action -- "Nothing we can do will help if they’re dead." Washington Archbishop McCarrick elicited a healthy reaction from the crowd, saying "I have a nightmare" about the various atrocities.
A number of Sudanese also spoke, including 7-foot-7 former NBA player Manute Bol (who once played for the Washington Bullets) and refugee Simon Deng, who walked from New York to Washington to raise awareness for the cause. Muslim, Jewish, Southern Baptist and other religious leaders also spoke about the need for action. Other speakers included Paul Rusesabagina, the inspiration for the movie "Hotel Rwanda," Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, Def Jam head Russell Simmons, Holocaust survivor Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Ca) -- who was arrested last week at another Darfur protest in front of the Sudanese Embassy -- and a State Department official. Of the politicians, Democrats were in the majority, though there were some Republicans, including northern Virginia’s Frank Wolf. Most congressmen praised President Bush’s handling of the situation, but mostly criticizing it and calling for more action, including Wolf. Georgetown University students also added some local flavor, with Erin Mazursky of STAND speaking to the crowd.
Besides the speakers, there were also giveaways of “Save Darfur” t-shirts and even an online Darfur video game made by MTVU, MTV’s college network. In the relatively interesting game, you control villagers searching for water and rebuilding their homes while trying to avoid Janjaweed attacks. Jason Rzepka, MTVU’s manager for communications, said the game also included ways to contact officials and hoped it would become "viral." There were also booths for donations, which stayed pretty busy during the rally, a good sign for the organizers, the Save Darfur Coalition.
Somewhat unusual for large rallies like this, the speakers all stayed on topic and there weren’t many people with signs about things besides Darfur. Anti-Bush comments also didn’t seem to cause a large audience reaction, perhaps meaning people were more interested in the issue than in partisan politics. There didn’t seem to be many tourists who stumbled onto the event; most people seemed to come just for the rally.
A lot of people we spoke to were from outside the District, including a number of college and Jewish groups. One group from a the Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Tipp City, Ohio, said they decided not to buy Christmas presents, instead donating the money they would have spent to charity, raising about $500,000. Others we spoke to came from the Jewish Academy of Metro Detroit, a Genocide Intervention Network group from Swarthmore College outside Philly, and SUNY-Albany students. Loro Befo, a SUNY-Albany student from southern Sudan, was carrying the flag of the Sudan Liberation Movement, one of the rebel groups involved in the country's conflict. He said his family was still in southern Sudan, another area where conflict and famine has been occurring, and he hoped the UN would send in more peacekeepers. There is currently a small African Union peacekeeping force in the country. The closest group to D.C. we saw was from Temple Isaiah in Fulton, Maryland.
It remains to be seen what comes of this rally (and others held in San Francisco and elsewhere), but the Save Darfur Coalition handed out a number of postcards to be mailed to the president. The free t-shirt booth was mobbed for the entire rally, and picking up on the rubber bracelet craze, the group handed out green bracelets with their free water bottles – always a plus at rallies.
Image of boy with sign snapped by clendena. Image of George and Nick Clooney snapped by squidpants. Image of Save Darfur t-shirt snapped by sara overby. More pictures of the rally are available at Flickr.