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And then this Bear, Pooh Bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, F.O.P. (Friend of Piglet's), R.C. (Rabbit's Companion), P.D. (Pole Discoverer), E.C. and T.F. (Eeyore's Comforter and Tail-finder)--in fact, Pooh himself--said something so clever that Christopher Robin could only look at him with mouth open and eyes staring, wondering if this was really the Bear of Very Little Brain whom he had know and loved so long.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

of late i am feeling some (friendly) pressure to attend the april 30th Darfur Raly in DC. So I thought this might be a good time to explore my discomfort with that.

1 - i don't go to rallies. the last time I went to anything like a rally was in fifth grade and when I got forced to carry a sign I was supremely embarassed, despite the relatively bening cause. (This is an exploration of my feelings, not a justification thereof...)

2- this is more interesting: i am wary of the whole darfur "movement," such as it is, for a few reasons:

a - i remember in high school we had a representative from the american anti-slavery group come talk to us who introduced his whole slave-freeing enterprise as a offensive to make "the Arabs" look bad. (The group started witha focus on Arabs selling Blacks in Africa. the trafficking in women and girls, etc, stuff is newer, I think, on their agenda) He admits that he has since also come to car deeply about the human rights issues, etc... I am not suggesting that the motives behind the Darfur rallies, etc, are so cynical, but just that I make the emotional connection in my own head,based on the structural similarities of Jews protesting Arabs molesting blacks, making me uncomfortable.

b - It seems like the only cause anyone could get a whole bunch of Jews to agree on - there's no clear political affiliation involved (unlike other "human rights" issues that are often also very political. witness: colombia ;) ), and its not about Israel.

now, (b) might be just as easily be read as "this is a clear-cut case of evil, independent of analytical perspective." so why do i prefer the cynical reading again?

perhaps its related to (c):

c - its not clear what people want to have doneabout it. I just can't get excited about "consciousness raising." So what are the "action steps." I think there are answers to this out there, I just haven't really spent the time to figure out what they are and whether they make sense.

so if its just about getting together and yelling, it makes more sense to read it as for external (potentially cynical) purposes.

Oh, and is this even something in the air for people who don't hang out with Ruth Messinger?

1 Comments:

At 7:31 PM, Abacaxi Mamao said...: Excellent questions. I think you should find answers to all of those questions and report back to us. In the meantime, I'll say that I think that the general idea is to put pressure on the Bush administration to launch a multi-national effort to stop the genocide going on there.

Here are some more specific answers from savedarfur.org:

--Today, March 16, 2006: The House of Representatives passed an amendment offered by Rep. Capuano to add $50 million for peacekeeping in Darfur by a vote of 213 - 208.

--Our mission is to raise public awareness and to mobilize an effective unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of two million people in the Darfur region.

--The rally is part of the "Million Voices for Darfur" campaign to generate one million postcards for delivery to President Bush, who recently pledged to push for additional UN and NATO help to protect the people of Darfur.

--An essential part of taking action is letting the United States government know that the American people care about the people of Darfur.

Here is information about legislation that's been passed to date and legislation that the AJWS and others are hoping will get passed in order to do something.

I don't get the impression that this is just about bunch of people getting together and yelling. It's a minor atrocity that this isn't even in the news--this rally will at least get it into the news and hopefully do a LOT more.

And, really, what are the viable alternatives?

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Name: miriam

"Bother!" said Pooh, as he opened it. "All that wet for nothing. What's that bit of paper doing?" He took it out and looked at it. "It's a Missage," he said to himself, "that's what it is. And that letter is a 'P,' and so is that, and so is that, and 'P' means 'Pooh,' so it's a very important Missage to me, and I can't read it. I must find Christopher Robin or Owl or Piglet, one of those Clever Readers who can read things, and they will tell me what this missage means. Only I can't swim. Bother!" Then he had an idea, and I think that for a Bear of Very Little Brain, it was a good idea. He said to himself: "If a bottle can float, then a jar can float, and if a jar floats, I can sit on the top of it, if it's a very big jar." ... "All boats have to have a name," he said, "so I shall call mine The Floating Bear." And with these words he dropped his boat into the water and jumped in after it. For a little while Pooh and The Floating Bear were uncertain as to which of them was meant to be on the top, but after trying one or two different positions, they settled down with The Floating Bear underneath and Pooh triumphantly astride it, paddling vigorously with his feet.

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Thursday, March 16, 2006

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