Rally to Stop Genocide in Darfur

So, this past Sunday I went to the rally in DC to stop genocide in Darfur (the banner in my horrible picture says Save Darfur), an area of Sudan that has seen 400,000 people killed by government sanctioned militias and a ridiculous amount of people hurt, starving, and displaced. Go here to learn about these atrocities and what you might do to help. I was supposed to go to an Orioles baseball game with my husband, but was planning to sit it out by sitting at home. I've been holed up at home lately with reading material and new found interests. But, my dad called and said he wanted to go to the rally, but would prefer to go with someone. So, I agreed to go with him. I essentially traded three hours sitting in the sun watching the Orioles suck for three hours of standing in the sun and listening to interesting speakers and stories. It was definitely worth the trade (though only half of me was in the sun so I'm hehe, half-baked). There were highlights (seeing/hearing the likes of Barack Obama, Manute Bol who I didn't know was from Sudan, George Clooney (woo!), and the real "Hotel Rwanda guy", as well as just being in the place where so many demonstrations have taken place in our country's history, two of which had impact on me and/or my family (MLK Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and The Million Man March). There were also lowlights (a band playing some ridiculous song about not wanting to freefall into the disco ball, being somewhat sunburned on one side of my body, walking the somewhat long walk between Union Station and the Mall (where the rally was) twice, and not getting any good pictures with my Treo (I recorded video of George Clooney and his father talking anyway)).

The only problem is that a rally won't stop genocide, people will. And it seems silly for me to complain about any of the things I mentioned. I don't have to walk anywhere if I don't want to and don't necessarily have to worry about being randomly killed because someone else hates me for no reason, I have access to all the food I need and all the medical care I need whether it be for sunburn or the flu or cancer. I have the ability to buy my Treo or a bike that I can barely ride. I can get the education that I've spent years getting (and complaining about) because I wanted to get what I wanted to get...it goes on and on.

All this, while tons of people, many children, in this world are being raped, maimed, starved, and slaughtered just for existing and trying to survive.