San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition

As the International Criminal Court ruled that Sudan President Omar al-Bashir may be charged with genocide, Damanga, Sudan human rights activists, and their supporters rallied in Washington DC at the Capitol and the White House on February 3, 2010.  The Sudan human rights activists supporters called for the U.S. Congress, President Obama, and Vice President Biden to do more to end the genocide in Darfur and Sudan.  Activists at the rallies came from around the country, including some from San Francisco, California. More>>

SF Bay Area Darfur Coalition activists included in this photo.

The International Criminal Court is almost 10 years old, but the Obama administration has yet to decide if the U.S. will join. Fear that it would be a politicized institution likely to prosecute American soldiers have not been realized, nor has it been effective in prosecuting persons responsible for war crimes. In recent years the U.S. has moderated its hostility to the court, but where do we go from here?

Speaker: William H. Taft, IV, Professor of International Law and Diplomacy, Stanford Law School

Date: February 24, 2010
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $8 members, $15 non-members

Registration: http://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/auto_choose_ga.asp?area=1&shcode=1664

Location:
The Commonwealth Club of California, San Francisco Office:
595 Market Street, 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
Telephone: (415) 597-6700

Please support our efforts.
 
The San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition (SFBADC) is an alliance of San Francisco Bay Area organizations, groups, and individuals working to stop the genocide in Darfur, end war in and bring peace to Sudan, and promote anti-genocide strategies.
 
Donations help to cover the cost of awareness and advocacy work. Your support helps our coalition continue its work.

Please donate online using PayPal’s secure online donation service:

Donations by check should be made payable to “San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition” and sent to 3919 Washington Street, San Francisco, CA 94118.
 
SFBADC is a California Revenue and Taxation Code Section 23701(d) non-profit corporation. It is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States of America (the “Code”), and its Federal EIN# is 36-4605099. If you have any questions regarding donations, please email info@darfursf.org.

Please complete the form below to sign up for the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition email list, including Darfur Fridays notifications. Note: We take your privacy seriously. We will never rent, sell, or trade your contact info to others.

About Darfur Fridays

Who:
Faith community members, schools, co-workers, summer camps…really anyone (remember “casual Friday” before every day became casual Friday?!)

Step 1: Just sign up via the box above!

Step 2: Participate!

Each Friday:
- Take one action for Darfur: We’ll send you an email with a new action every week.
- Wear a Darfur t-shirt. T-shirts available here.
- Invite one person to join Darfur Fridays.
- And that’s it! Thanks for taking action to help the people of Sudan.

For a Darfur backgrounder, please see this summary from the Genocide Intervention Network.

ENOUGH: www.enoughproject.org

Americans Against the Darfur Genocide: www.ourpledge.org

Save Darfur Coalition: www.savedarfur.org

Genocide Intervention Network: www.genocideintervention.net

STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition: www.standnow.org

Sudan Divestment Task Force: www.sudandivestment.org

Investors Against Genocide: www.investorsagainstgenocide.org

Eyes on Darfur www.eyesondarfur.org

Eric Reeves – Sudan Research, Analysis and Advocacy: www.sudanreeves.org

OCTOBER 2, 2009 ACTION

Ask Senator Boxer to Request Disclosure of White House Contacts Re Sudan

The Washington Post this week revealed that U.S. National Security Adviser James L. Jones and U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Major General Scott Gration met with former National Security Adviser Robert “Bud” McFarlane to discuss Sudan policy at a time when McFarlane appears to have been working for the Government of Sudan. See the full article.

The story reveals a web of connections between disgraced former U.S. National Security Advisor Bud McFarlane and the Sudanese government as part of an effort to improve its relationship with the Obama administration. McFarlane was apparently contracted by the Sudanese government — for $1.3 million channeled through Qatar — to lobby Obama administration officials.

Who else are the White House and State Department talking to about Sudan?

If you are a California resident, please call Senator Barbara Boxer’s Washington, DC office at 202-224-3553 today and say to the person who answers the phone:

“I urge Senator Boxer to call on National Security Adviser Jim Jones to publicly release the full list of outside individuals and groups that he has personally met with to discuss Sudan policy and U.S.-Sudan relations. This transparency is in keeping with President Obama’s repeated pledges to govern openly and with the benefit of public input into the policymaking process. We need to know that the National Security Adviser is seeking a broader circle of counsel on Sudan policy than an individual who appears to be working for the Sudan government headed by a wanted war criminal.”

The people of Sudan deserve better representation in The White House than a disgraced former U.S. official known for his role in Iran-Contra.

Thank you, and please tell a friend!

For more information regarding the Coalition, or if you would like your event listed on our event calendar, please contact us at info@darfursf.org or call 415-221-8400.

To join our active mailing list, please sign up via the sidebar to the right. Please note that we take your privacy seriously. We will never rent, sell, or trade your email address to others.

Thank you for your interest! We hope you will join our active and growing community.

You can download the following information in PDF format.

As many as 450,000 people have died.
Over 2.5 million have been displaced from their homes.
Over 4 million are dependent entirely on humanitarian aid.

The San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition, founded in 2004, is an alliance of San Francisco Bay Area organizations, groups, and individuals working to stop the genocide in Darfur, end war in and bring peace to Sudan, and promote anti-genocide strategies.

Representative Constituent Organizations

Selected 2006-2009 Events

Sponsor, “Violence Against Women in Darfur: Film Screening, Discussion and Advocacy,” with Omer Ismail, ENOUGH Project, San Francisco, February 12, 2009

Participant, California Legislature Lobby Day for AB 498 (ban on state contracts with certain
companies doing business with Sudan, signed into law September 2008), Sacramento, August 12, 2008

Co-Sponsor, “China: Extinguish the Flames of Genocide in Darfur”, action during the 2008 Olympic torch relay in San Francisco, April 9, 2008

Co-Sponsor, Divest for Darfur National Day of Action, actions at Franklin Templeton Investments, San Mateo, and San Francisco financial district, October 15, 2007.

Sponsor, Global Day for Darfur, Interfaith Prayer for Darfur and World Leaders and a Film Screening of “The Devil Came on Horseback”, Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, San Francisco, September 16, 2007.

Sponsor, Presentation and Discussion by Dr. Ashis Brahma, sole doctor to 27,000 Darfuri refugees in Chad, San Francisco, August 9, 2007.

Sponsor, Petition Delivery and Vigil at Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, together with Save Darfur Coalition & affiliates in Washington, DC, New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, July 26, 2007.

Sponsor, Global Day for Darfur, “On Our Watch: Stop Genocide in Darfur”, interfaith prayer service at Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, April 25, 2007; rally at San Francisco Civic Center Plaza, April 29, 2007.

Conference Partner, “Stopping Mass Atrocities: An International Conference on the Responsibility to Protect”, Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, March 13-15, 2007.

Co-Sponsor, “Post-War Challenges of Faith: Southern Sudan in the Shadows of Darfur”, Talk by Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban of Southern Sudan, November 20, 2006, SF Jewish Community Center, San Francisco.

Co-Sponsor, Global Day for Darfur, rally and concert in San Francisco, September 17, 2006.

Sponsor, Bonnie Raitt Concert Fundraiser, for the Darfur Peace & Development Organization Schools Project, SleepTrain Pavilion, Concord, September 17, 2006.

Co-Sponsor, Images of Hope from Darfur, photographic exhibition by Alissa Everett and fundraiser for Friends of the World Food Programme, San Francisco, September 14, 2006.

Sponsor, Interfaith Prayer Service for Darfur, Unitarian Universalist Church, San Francisco on Save Darfur Coalition National Day of Prayer, September 13, 2006.

Co-Sponsor, Rebels, Refugees, & Resistance in Darfur: Presentations and Discussion
about the Ongoing Genocide, featuring Shane Bauer, photojournalist, San Francisco, September 7, 2006.

Sponsor: Drumming for Darfur, a drumming circle, initiated by Africa Action, in an appeal to Darfur activists to “take to the streets”, including a prayer vigil led by Bay Area clergy, and Co-Sponsor, Surviving Darfur, a lecture and slide show at The World Affairs Council, San Francisco, June 20, 2006 (World Refugee Day).

Co-Sponsor: Darfur Days of Conscience in San Francisco, Vigil of 5,000 on the Golden Gate Bridge followed by Rally at Crissy Field, San Francisco, April 30, 2006.

Co-Sponsor: Voices Against Genocide Darfur and Sudan: Education to Action, Oakland, April 23, 2006.

Co-Sponsor: Paul Rusesabagina in Conversation with Georgette Gagnon, Deputy Director, Africa Division, Human Rights Watch, San Francisco, April 21, 2006.

Sponsor: Standing Against Genocide: This Time Darfur-An Evening of Reflection, Determination and Action, Congregation Emanu-El, San Francisco, April 6, 2006.

Co-Sponsor: Tour for Darfur: Eyewitness to Genocide, San Francisco, March 8, 2006.

In 2006, SFBADC members met with the San Francisco Consuls General of Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, and Luxembourg to discuss donations to the World Food Programme for aid to Sudan and efforts by their Foreign Ministries to end the Darfur genocide.

The list above includes only activities sponsored by the entire Coalition. Constituent organizations’ numerous events and activities include, for example, principal sponsor and developer of California Assembly Bill 2941 signed by Governor Schwarzenegger on September 25, 2006, calling for both state pension funds, CalPERS and CalSTRS, to divest from certain companies doing business with the Government of Sudan (Sudan Divestment Task Force) and a fundraiser with and speech by Elie Wiesel to over 1800 people (STAND, Stanford University).

Individual participants throughout the Bay Area organize grassroots advocacy including national postcard campaigns, call-ins and e-petititions to Congress, the White House, the State Department, and Representatives to the United Nations); rallies for divestment campaigns; meetings with members of Congress and Senators Feinstein’s and Boxer’s staffs; US Presidential Envoy to Sudan, State Department Sudan Desk, and numerous local educational/awareness events and fundraising activities for humanitarian aid.

Intern with the Coalition!

A number of internship opportunities are available with the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition. If you are interested in finding out more about these positions, please email info@darfursf.org today.

Here’s what Anisha Gupta, a Summer 2007 Intern, has to say about her experience:

An internship with the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur coalition is a prime opportunity to gain comprehensive insight into one of the most deeply involved grassroots organizations in the Bay Area. A small non-profit with huge projects and vast goals, the SFBADC is involved with divestment, advocacy, lobbying, education, aid work, and about a million other things. As an intern I was able to participate in every aspect of the Darfur movement and experience a broad spectrum of the non-profit world. From sitting in on important board meetings to researching newspaper coverage, to attending large-scale activist events, my summer internship was an incredible learning experience. Not only did my knowledge of the Darfur situation expand infinitely, but I was able to gain valuable skills crucial for any kind of public policy or service work. Working with the SFBADC was an immensely gratifying summer experience; not only for the education I received, but also for the people I met. With an internship here, you will be working with some of the most dedicated, driven, determined people you will ever meet. My experience was a challenging, formative, and dynamic one—one that I am so fortunate to have had.