Today, October 4th 2007, over 5000 bloggers from around the world stand together in solidarity with the brave people of Burma. This blog stands with them.
It will, of course, take so much more than just blogging and petition signing to get this done. But it has to start somewhere, and spreading the word, educating people about the issue, is the way to get the ball rolling.
Sitting here in the middle of America, it's hard to properly imagine what it must be like for the citizens of Burma/Myanmar, what they deal with on a daily basis in terms of poverty and government oppression. I can't begin to fathom the amount of courage and dedication it takes for the monks and the regular citizens to stand up against such a brutal junta. It's hard to believe that places and situations like this (and North Korea, Iraq, etc. etc.) still exist in the world. Some of us are moving forward so quickly that we're leaving some of our brothers and sisters behind.
We can't afford to do that.
Do whatever you can, no matter how small an action you think it might be, because the collective will and movement of millions (even billions!) of people is what changes the world.
"Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure. A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man's self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man." - Aung San Suu Kyi
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4 comments:
Nice Post
http://christopherhoopes.com/blog/free-burma/
Free Burma!
This episode was one of the saddest and bravest of the recent past. The news pics of the monks with bowls turned upside down was stunning and powerful.
Thank you for the post and for caring.
Is there anything going on in Madison with regard to Burma? I was surprised that there wasn't an event supporting Saturday's Global Day of Action. I can't find any info on local peace/vet/student webpages. Anyone know of folks working locally to support peace and the people of Burma?
Sadly, my blog is one of the first results that pops up when you type "Madison Wisconsin Free Burma" into a search bar.
We do have a few ongoing actions against the Burmese regime - listed here - like a selective purchasing law for the city and some sort of business resolution from the university. But that's all I've been able to find, other than a few individual voices of solidarity.
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