"An Opportunity to be Arrested"

Before I gush about Day 2 of my new life, I thought of three more funny/interesting things that happened to me yesterday that I want to share. Ready? Go.
1. I saw the White House. I know like half the nation has also had this experience, but I felt very special for some reason. It was like...the closest thing I've come to seeing a historic building. I know it's only like 200 years old, but I've never been to Europe, so there. I pictured Georgey sitting in the living room, watchin some cartoons, eating some chicken, drinking some oil. What a picture that would be! Anyway... it was littler than I thought it was, but it was still huge. It's about 3 blocks away from my office.
2. I learned I can take a break from work to rally by the White House. I took this little voyage to the White House with the other interns when Christine, an administrator in our office, took us to it during our "neighborhood tour," which consisted of a homeless man confessing his love for us, seeing 12 Starbucks, and passing important buildings like the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of the State and the Chamber of Commerce. Christine is hilarious and said that when she hears of a rally she's interested in, she goes to it for like 30 minutes and then goes back to work. I look forward to this.
3. I get to be arrested...if I'm lucky. Christine said that all the interns may have the chance to be hard-core activists and get a civil disobedience arrest during a protest or rally this summer. This could help us in the long run. Never thought I'd hear that. Though three of the other interns can't do it because they aren't U.S. citizens... and they would be deported. But I'm American. Lucky me.


OK. Now about Day 2.

Today we went through the orientation process at work again, but we focused more on specific things we'll be working on. Some of the tasks I'm really excited about are those focused on "new media." Our job (the other two interns and mine) is to prepare to launch a weekly podcast, produce a new radio show, and start a blog for the organization. I'm not quite sure what this will entail, but it will involve researching and recording a show for the podcast, as well as for the radio station. The blog will be updated frequently and hopefully bring more hits to the website (africaaction.org). I'm thinking about incorporating Facebook and YouTube, too.

Today we watched Have You Heard From Johannesburg? It is a documentary about the American movement to terminate the apartheid rule in South Africa. Just for background — There was a white, minority rule in South Africa between 1948 and 1990 that segregated whites and blacks. It was corrupt, racist, and violent. Towards the end of the apartheid movement, there was basically a civil war between the two ethnic groups. Innocent black protesters were shot and killed every day. Celebrities, congressmen, and most importantly, STUDENTS, in America protested and took time to formulate in numbers, which led to change. President Ronald Reagan refused, and never gave in, to helping the problem. He wouldn't start sanctions against South Africa (many now believe he did this for racist reasons). Reagan's reasoning for not putting sanctions on the country was that it would economically hurt the people they were trying to save.... he said that sanctions wouldn't work. But they work on the Soviet Union, Poland, and Cuba? It's OK and effective on those countries how? Sanctions WOULD work, and they eventually did. But because he refused, students began to protest their universities, asking them to pull their tuition dollars out of investments in companies that had ties to South Africa. Months and protests on college campuses all over the nation (including the UI) went by before Columbia University in NY finally took action. They pulled all of their stocks out of those companies, which, to make a long story short, triggered a domino affect. Colleges across the nation followed the lead. The House then passed a bill that would enforce sanctions, and the Senate passed it. When President Reagan vetoed the bill, he was overruled.

Basically, why I told that whole story, is because it was really inspiring that young people could actually pull that off. If you ever get a chance, you should watch that video. It showed me that we can care about a place so far away, and that we can make a difference. There were beatings and killings in South Africa, but there is a genocide happening as I write this in Darfur. The Sudanese government is doing nothing to stop the rebels, and the fighting is not getting better. The UN is taking care of more than 60,000 refugees from Sudan's Dar fur and thousands have been killed and raped. I just wonder if our generation is capable of standing up and addressing our consciouses. I guess that will be what I'm working on this summer.

Sorry that was so LONG, but it's really interesting to think about. 60,000 refugees living in Chad alone... that is probably just a number to you, which doesn't mean much. It's just a number to me too. It's almost impossible to imagine. Let's try.... that is the entire town of Iowa City, including all of the students. Allowing the genocide to continue is like saying it would be okay for all of Iowa City's residents to be forced from their homes, leave their families dead in the streets, and attempt to survive off of bread and water occasionally. That would never be OK. But it's normal to happen in Africa. They're black. That just happens there. Right?


OK. I promise my posts won't be this depressing in the future. Promise!

I'm attaching the documentary's trailor though.. check it out if you have time.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jnrsu5WvHJ8