OurPledge

Gerri Miller, an Executive Committee Member of the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition, recently sent the letter below to President Obama.

We urge you to read it. It was impassioned advocacy like this that got President Obama to appoint a special envoy to Sudan last week. Let’s keep up the pressure!

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Dear Mr. President,

When I first heard you give the speech in 2004 at the National Democratic Convention, I immediately bounded out of my chair and yelled to my husband who was sitting right next to me…”Yes! He is going to be President one day!” I am thrilled that day has come, sooner than many of us might have anticipated. I have read and appreciated your books, “Dreams of My Father”, and “Audacity of Hope.”

I am the mother of two beautiful daughters and now the grandma of one adorable two year old. I recall vividly the chapter in your book when you describe your emotions when little Sasha was ill and you worried about the possibility of meningitis and its effects. You spoke then of how nothing else seemed to matter…your job, your responsibilities as a Senator, all took a back seat in the moment. As a parent I can totally empathize with those feelings.

It was that understanding of the bond between a mother and child that drew me to become involved in the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition when it first began in 2004. I know in my gut, that parents barely surviving, living under horrible conditions in refugee camps in Chad/Darfur, care as deeply about their children as you and I do about ours.

Now, more than ever, as 16 humanitarian aide organizations have been told to leave Sudan, the gravity of their situation has escalated to truly crisis proportions. I implore you to think back to your own feelings the week your child was ill. If it was Malia, Sasha, or Michelle, whose lives were imperiled, would you not do everything in your power to help them?

I understand that there are serious problems all over the world today, many of them requiring your immediate attention. Samantha Power in her book “Genocide, A Problem from Hell,” spoke about the need to recognize that genocide is not a natural disaster. It is man made. It can also be stopped by man…we must make this a priority!

Those of us who have been concerned about this issue since it began, believe strongly that one way to make a difference is to appoint a full time Envoy, giving the Government of Sudan the clear message that we are taking this seriously. John Prendergast, and the team at Enough Project, have suggested policy steps that can be taken to improve the situation on the ground. I urge you to think of your love for Sasha, Malia, and Michelle, and then act as swiftly and decisively for the children and families in Darfur as you would if they were your own. Time is of the essence!

Respectfully,
Gerri Miller