Faith in Action

As many of you know, Young Clergy for Social Change has been actively involved in the movement to end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, East Africa since our beginnings in March 2005.  We’ve had articles published, collected petitions, been guests on local radio stations, attended rallies in DC, and hosted a Baltimore for Darfur Night at Payne Memorial AME Church (thank you Pastor Qismat Alim!) 

As part of the movement to end the genocide in Darfur, other states and institutions have started divesting from Sudan.  The Sudan Divestment Task Force explains divestment this way:

“Hearkening back to the days of Apartheid South Africa, fiduciaries have explored the option of divesting from companies that either do business in Sudan or with the government of Sudan. Indeed, numerous states, cities, and universities have already divested while dozens of others are currently considering this option.”

Maryland is now one of the states considering divestment.  Senator Verna Jones, Chairwoman of the Legislative Black Caucus of MD, is lead sponsor on Senate Bill 543.  This bill would require the State of MD to create a list of companies that have money tied up with the government of Sudan.  Once those companies are identified, they will be encouraged to discontinue their financial relationship with the government of Sudan.  The goal is to exert so much financial pressure on the government (without harming the people) that it must take decisive action toward ending the violence and allowing the more than 2 million displaced Darfurians to return to their homes.

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PHOTO CREDIT: George Hagegeorge     TO SEE MORE PHOTOS CLICK HERE

On Sunday, January 28, 2007, I was blessed to participate in the Interfaith Vigil of Commemoration and Commitment to Peace service held at the Cathedral of the Incarnation here in Baltimore. 

This was an effort spearheaded by the American Friends Service Committee and I was asked to serve with others to plan this event.  Under the umbrella name: Marylanders of Faith for Peace and Justice; this coalition was made up of the Cathedral of the Incarnation, Congregation Beit Tikvah, Homewood Friends Meeting, Maryland Christians for Peace and Justice, Murphy Initiative for Justice and Peace, Muslim Cultural Center of Baltimore, Pax Christi of Baltimore, The Presbytery of Baltimore, Tikkun/Network of Spiritual Progressives, Viva House Catholic Worker, and Young Clergy for Social Change.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ9sV3Nmwpg]

Watada is the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq based on his conclusion that the war in Iraq is illegal.  For more information click here.

Now if that was the headline to the articles that detail yesterday’s airstrike by the United States in eastern African nation of Somalia; it just might get your attention.  But because mainstream “journalists” [can we still call them that?] are influenced by the will of the Administration; they put the label “terrorists” in the headline and that has come to have a numbing effect on the American public. 

It’s almost as if the general public has been conditioned to give the Administration a pass on whatever activity is set in motion toward “terrorist”.  In fact, even if the persons attacked or violated are just “suspected terrorists” - meaning there is no clear evidence that they really are involved in criminal behavior - they can still get it. 

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They published my latest article entitled, “Hotel Darfur: An Unforgivable Sequel.”

Click here to read it.  I’d be interested in reading your thoughts on the piece. 

Activists marching for the people of Darfur

Originally uploaded by Heber3.

This was the scene on June 1, 2005 when Young Clergy for Social Change joined an Africa Action rally to press the American government to speak up and stand up for the people of Darfur.

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Hey Family - I’ve been doing some vacationing, but I’m back and anxious to get back to frequent blogging. I can’t spill my guts right now - the 9 to 5 calls me - but I did want to alert you to the latest video that I posted on the sidebar.

It’s a news interview with George Galloway on Sky TV (A London Broadcast I believe). While I’ve been away, of course, I’ve been watching the news and getting all worked up, angry, frustrated and I didn’t have any outlet to get my passion out, but best believe I’ve been screaming at the TV and at the imbecilic propaganda artists on mainstream unamerican TV who call themselves “reporters” and “newscasters”.

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July 25th Call-In Day for Haiti:Urge Your Representative to Cancel Haiti’s Debt!

Tomorrow July 25th we urge you to call your members of Congress to support the House resolution that would immediately cancel Haiti’s debt. July 25 is our national call-in day to have supporters contact their Members around the country urging them to co-sponsor H.Res. 888. The 25th is the date of an international donors conference in Haiti to support the newly elected government of Rene Preval.

The Haiti debt cancellation resolution (H.Res. 888) urges the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and other international financial institutions to completely cancel Haiti’s debt without delays!

Haiti is the most impoverished country in the Western hemisphere. Haiti’s massive debt burden of $1.4 billion is both unpayable and unjust. Much of Haiti’s debt was contracted under 30 years of Duvalier regimes, notorious for human rights abuses. Though the country was added in April to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank’s debt relief program, under the program’s harmful economic policy conditions, Haiti will not see irrevocable debt cancellation for three or more years. Haiti cannot wait years or suffer through more such policies to see its debt cancelled.

Contact Your Representative on July 25th!

Click here for more information and a phone script to use when calling your elected officials.

The violence between Israel and Hizbollah is unacceptable. Period. In my view, both Hizbollah and Israel share the blame. However, I cannot ignore the disproportionate amount of carnage that Israel is enforcing upon Lebanon.

With its vicious attaks on Palestine and now its daily bombings in Lebanon, Israel is looking more and more like the bully of the Middle East. One of the most disparaging elements of this violence is that the Lebanese Government’s calls for UN Intervention are falling on deaf ears. The Lebanese Government clearly wants an end to the violence, but Israel is totaling disregarding this. They continue to bomb Lebanon often times killing civilians and destabilizing societal infrastructure. One must question why Israel is bombing ports, gas stations, schools, and private homes, and tv stations in Lebanon.

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So let me get this straight - The Palestinians called for a truce amid the violence going on in the Gaza Strip and Israel said “no”? It’s time for the world community to raise their voices and agree with the European Union suggestion that Israel is employing a disproportionate level of violence against Palestine often times killing civilians…namely women and children. Talk about terrorism.

Palestine is the bastard of the world. The pain and suffering of their people is largely ignored. Their natural disasters receive fleeting coverage in American media. Their murdered children receive no mention here. The cry of their grieving mothers’ falls on deaf ears. Palestine, what the “super powers” of the Earth are saying is that they don’t give a damn about you.

Today I pray for Palestine.

CNN.com - Olmert: Gaza operations to continue - Jul 10, 2006