Sunday, April 29, 2007

Silence

Tomorrow I won't post, comment or read blogs. I'm participating in the Day of Silence partly because I think there is nothing more to add about the shootings at Virginia Tech. I see this effort as a candlelight vigil in cyberspace.

I am also sad that so little attention is paid to the US soldiers who die daily in a questionable war. Little attention is paid to the civilians, including university students, also killed in that conflict. And then Darfur. I'll never forget talking to a relative last year about my dad's activism around Darfur (he wears one of those Not on My Watch green wrist bands) and she looked at me blankly.

"Darfur?" I repeated. Still no response.

"It's in Africa? [Please know Africa I'm thinking] There's a genocide going on."

"Oh." Is all she said.

The organizers of the Day of Silence acknowledge that there is little recognition of those "other" deaths. I am in no way diminishing the horror and tragedy of April 9, 2007 but simply trying to put it in context.

There is too much killing going on.

One Day Blog Silence

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a beautiful sentiment. I want to be quiet tomorrow with the rest of the blogging community. I can't get the badge up on my site. How did you post yours in the sidebar?

Gunfighter said...

I'm with you, SMID.

My silence, tomorrow will be for all of the victims of senseless violence. Wheteher they were killed here in Virginia at Va. Tech, or Darfur, or Baghdad, or China, or any of the myriad places that people are regularly slaughtered, that the world, apparently, doesn't give a shit about.

GF

soccer mom in denial said...

Leah,

You're the second person to ask. You can get the codes from http://www.onedayblogsilence.com/OneDayBlogSilence.com.html and stick it directly into html.

GF - I couldn't agree more.

jodifur said...

I linked to you, b/c I thought your explanation for why is so much better than anything I could say.

Jenn in Holland said...

Absolutely agree. And deeply appreciate your words.