October 25, 2007

Day of Action for Darfur


One of the most powerful statements that I've seen by any blogger on the genocide in Darfur is posted by Purple Zoe over on the Ultraviolet Underground. Here is a taste of her message:

"My Pledge to Boycott the US sponsors of the Olympic Games Hosted by China

After having written to the sponsors of the Olympic Games and receiving empty letters of some (not all) of the sponsors that basically refused to apply pressure (Adidas was even sarcastic in nature and advised they are a sneaker company and not a grassroots political organization...), I am boycotting the corporate sponsors of the Olympic games who will not use their strength to persuade China to take serious action in regards to the genocide in Darfur, a region they have a great deal of economic influence over.

These companies will not receive a dime of my money as long they support China without challenging more resolute action for aiding Darfur. I may not spend a dime with them for the duration of the genocide in Darfur, and may never spend a dime with them again. Plain and simple.

Here are their names: Adidas; Anheuser-Busch; Atos Origin; BHPBilliton; Coca-Cola; General Electric; Johnson & Johnson; Kodak; Lenovo Group Limited; Manulife; McDonalds; Microsoft; Panasonic; Samsung; Staples; Swatch; UPS; Visa; and Volkswagen."

Villagers, I encourage to take a moment to read her full post on actions that we can take to end the genocide in Darfur. The question we must ask ourselves ... what are we going to do?

10 comments:

Danielle said...

Perfect!
If you read today's post I shared my own responses from the corporate sponsors.

I am updating right now with a link to this lovely lady's determined activism.

I sure can count on you.

Danielle

Unknown said...

There are so many great blogs and bloggers out in the world ... it is often difficult to keep up.

BTW, I really like the new look and feel for Modern Musings. The rough part is it appears that the 202 Technorati ranking that you had on the prior blog location doesn't transfer over automatically ... you have to rebuild it. (sigh)

Danielle said...

Man,

I had to consciously sacrifice my technorati ranking, mybloglog memberships, and my google page rank but I am encouraged to see that since the site has been up, Tuesday, I have had 600 visitors and gained two new subscribers.

I am really making an effort to provide more detailed articles with the plan to submit those articles to writing networks.

I really need to step my efforts up and work towards making my efforts my career.

What I love about our partnership is that we build upon each other's efforts.

Se7en came through with a great banner so I can show my solidarity with the Village.

The future looks bright since I am back.

Much Love

My brother!

!Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti!

PurpleZoe said...

I am extremely humbled, Villager. Thankyou for sharing the link and my sentiments on the lack of initiative of the corporate sponsors.
If large amounts of people spend their money with more wisdom as to what the companies receiving the funds actually support, we can influence change in the system. I'm not saying it is all we need to do, but it's become a necessary thing to do.
With internet access, researching these companies and networking with people who research these companies, is very easily done.
For this and other crisis that require our support, I hope many will switch to acquiring their goods, such as sugar and chocolate (see Femigog's Price Of Sugar post at Femigog.blogspot.com) to name a few items from Fairtrade companies instead of companies that support Modern Day Slavery, genocide, greedwars, and the list goes on...

All of these issues of crisis seem to find a common root in corporate pockets.
Knowing that is very empowering.

It's all grown too thick, and our true leaders in the past have presented an example of what conscious action can accomplish. For this reason alone we do not need to be paralyzed with fear. We really do have the power, if only we will claim back our minds first you know?

Thankyou again Villager for this post and for all of your efforts to enlighten and educate. I initially found out about the Jena 6, the Fund for Megan Williams and the March against hate crimes from you.
You're an important hub for the community of aware peoples.

PurpleZoe said...

I'm unsure to join the Afrospear.
I attempted to awhile back but it seems I joined the Afrosphereba forum. Is there a signup page for the Afrospear?

Unknown said...

Purple Zoe - Thanks for the reminder about the Sugar/Slavery connection raised by Femigog. Also for reminding us that we have the power of one and that we can make a difference individually and collectively. I would be interested to see a template of the letter you sent to the corporations sponsoring the Bejing Olympics. Perhaps by sharing your template you will make it easier for more of us to take similar action?

Unknown said...

Danielle - I had to look up Om Shanti! Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world, Peace for all beings.

I look forward to working with you over the coming weeks as we get your rankings back up!

btw, sister-from-another-mother, I will be in Las Vegas next week. I hope to take a digital photo with you!

Danielle said...

What!!!!The Villager in my part of the Village.

You are getting an email right now!

Danielle

PurpleZoe said...

Peace Villager

I utilized the template at dreamfordarfur.org
Not sure if the link will show up in the comments? There is a button on the front page leading to the template. It's always good to customize the templates, because it makes the letters less discardable that way.

Also, I found an Afrospear wordpress blog.
Is that the signup?
I'll figure it out ^_^

There is also the issue of what is happening in the Congo. I posted on it today and am looking for actions already in progress. If they don't exist it may be time to organize action on the behalf of the people in the democratic republic of Congo.

Peace be upon you.

Unknown said...

Purple Zoe - Thank you for sharing the link. I did send message to the 2008 Olympic sponsors as you suggested.

re: Afrospear. Click here to request membership.