Video Summary
People gather outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, DC to show their support for those from Darfur who continue to be denied safe return to their homes. A symbolic refugee camp tent was erected on the compound. Speeches were delivered throughout the day and at night, images from the refugee camps were projected onto the external walls of the embassy.
4 replies on “Field Report 1: I Stand With Darfur on MLK Day”
I really wish I could have been there. Thanks so much for doing something so important! Glad to see you’re back safe from Darfur/Chad, Gabriel.
UM-STAND is with you!
Hi! I was very excited to see the i-ACT banner changed! What a dramatic presence you created at the Sudanese Embassy last week! The profound images of the refugees cast on the building spoke volumes in expressing their desperate needs. The speakers at this event passionately echoed those needs, and the call for action was strong and determined. Thank you for sharing the continuing actions through this site.
Although we couldn’t be in D.C., our youngest represented the Stand for Sudan in a social justice youth group lock-in and MLK Day march. We’ll spread the word on i-ACT’s ongoing initiatives at our San Antonio Interfaith Darfur Coalition meeting this week. One of the members just returned from a trip to Chad, and he will have photos and info to share from his travels.
We pray the continued calls, petitions, and letters to our government leaders will result in the genocide receiving attention in the upcoming State of the Union address, and be followed up with concrete action so shamefully overdue.
Blessings from San Antonio,
Lisa Goldner
Hello Maggie, Lisa, and everyone!
You know, being at the Sudanese Embassy on MLK Day, just a little more than a week after having returned from visiting the refugee camps, was a more than interesting experience for me. It was pretty intense.
Our campaign is called I Stand With Darfur. It is a very simple statement. It is about us representing the victims and being their voice. It is about, as hard as it might be, to imagine ourselves in their situation and asking, what would we want others to do for us?
It is also about what MLK says:
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Projecting the pictures of the refugees that I just brought back on to the Embassy, this building that represents a genocidal government, was all about confronting these criminals and about telling our own government that we cannot continue business-as-usual with mass-murderers.
Thanks for this video of the Sudanese Embassy and for being part of their view of the US. I liked hearing the horns honking in support of your demonstration and am sure they heard the horns inside the embassy as well.
We all are so grateful for your unflagging campaign to protect the people of Darfur! What an example you set for all of us.
Ever onward,
Pam B