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Daily ritual of protest
Local ministers lead fight to stop atrocities
(Published September 7, 2004)

By STEPHANIE BRINSON
Staff Writer

It was a few minutes before noon and a group of about 20 people had already gathered in front of the Embassy of Sudan. Banners were positioned for motorists on Massachusetts Avenue to see, and people had already chosen the signs they wanted to carry.

The noon hour arrived and, as if on cue, participants raised their signs and started a slow, circular march on the sidewalk.

For some, these steps have become a daily routine.

Since June 29, a crowd has formed every day before the embassy at 2210 Massachusetts Ave. NW to protest what activists say is the Sudan government’s failure to curb atrocities in the western part of the north-central African nation that have resulted in the death of 50,000 people and the creation of more than one million refugees.

"There’s no time to sit back and relax because as long as this type of thing exists, we need to be out here," said D.C. resident Helen Mitchell, 76.

D.C. activist and WOL radio personality Joe Madison, along with the Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy and Father Keith Roderick, have been leading the daily protests, which last for an hour and attract 100 to 150 participants, Roderick said.

Many of the protesters – residents, activists, government officials and celebrities – express a feeling that this is the least they can do.

Mildred Harden said it was her fourth time participating in the protests. The 73-year-old Northwest Washington resident said her "heart aches to think that people could be so cruel to people."

Former mayor Marion Barry showed his support for the cause in mid-August, urging the crowd to continue the fight.

"Don’t get tired. Justice is coming. Keep walking! Keep praying! Keep moving! Keep going! Keep going! Keep marching!" he shouted to the crowd.

As part of the demonstrations, participants engage in non-violent civil disobedience, a common form of protest that results in an arrest. They typically stand before the embassy’s main entrance, despite warnings from the U.S. Secret Service guards that they are trespassing.

A misdemeanor arrest for civil disobedience carries a $50 fine and requires a period of six months before it clears entirely from an individuals’ record.

About 50 people have been arrested so far, Madison said, including U.S. Reps. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., Joseph Hoeffel, D-P.A., Bobby Rush, D-Ill. and Albert Wynn, D-M.D., activist-comedian Dick Gregory, actor Danny Glover, Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Fauntroy, Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO President Joslyn Williams. Madison also has been arrested.

Van X is a 70-year-old Northwest Washington resident who volunteered to wait at the police station for protest detainees to make sure they were OK, had the money to post bail and were released. Van said he has been at the station every day since the protests started, including the time he was arrested at the beginning of July. He said he now knows all of the officers at the station.

Individuals are held in jail for the length of time it takes police to complete the necessary paperwork, which can average two hours, Van said. Protest leaders notify the Secret Service and the police department in advance that certain persons plan to be arrested, so that some of the paperwork can be prepared ahead of time, he said.

"We have a very good arrangement with the Secret Service," Van said. "They treat us very good and we treat them good, because we’re not there to fight them. We’re not there to harass the police and they’re not there to harass us."

Father Phil Reed, a member of the Catholic Task Force on Africa, said he was extremely nervous when he decided to get arrested but found it to be, in retrospect, a powerful experience. Reed knelt down in front of the embassy’s entrance and prayed until guards detained him.

Williams and three other local labor leaders, who were arrested Aug. 26, linked arms in front of the entrance to the chanting and singing of the crowd.

The protests garner a lot of visibility and honks of support from midday traffic passing on Massachusetts Avenue. Roderick said he thinks they are an embarrassment to the embassy, which closed its doors on Aug 23. Africa Action, an advocacy group participating in the protests, claims the closure resulted from the demonstrations.

"I think what they thought is if they announced it was going to be closed...the demonstrations won’t show up, which is wrong," Madison said.

"Our mission was not to close the Sudanese embassy," he said. "Our mission was to shut down genocide. Our mission was to shut down the raping of women and girls."

Madison said the demonstrations won’t stop until there’s a declaration of genocide by the United Nations or the Bush administration and change happens to stop the killings.

"If it were happening in western Germany, the world would be outraged," he said.

Madison said he has been following issues in Sudan for the past five to six years and traveled to the southern region of the country in response to the area’s ongoing civil war. While peace negotiations continued, conflicts in the western part of the country flared, he said.

The Sudanese government is "playing games," Madison said, trying to portray itself as working to alleviate the crisis.

"It’s just a game with them," Madison said.

Efforts of the Sudan Campaign, an organization focused on ending continuing crises in the country, helped Congress pass a resolution declaring the crisis in Darfur an act of genocide. Activists for Sudan hope to persuade the United Nations and the Bush administration to follow the lead of Congress. Their efforts have included demonstrations at the White House and discussions with the State Department.