Darfur Awareness Event Dec. 21, 2006, on Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Conn., to Raise Awareness of the Atrocities Taking Place in Darfur

Text of speech by Deacon Arthur Miller, director of the Office for Black Catholic Ministries for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford, Conn.

At this moment, 10,000 miles away, a little girl, two years old, is hungry. She is dressed in a long flowing cloth that gently, but not effectively, keeps her warm through the dark night. That same cloth helps protect her from the searing desert sun during the daylight. Next to her in the camp lies her mother, dead – hacked to death after being ravaged by the Sudanese-backed death squads ... the Janjeweed. This little baby girl will not last long; her death will be painful … and forgotten ... like so many others in this great human tragedy.

This morning, we have gathered to mourn her coming death and to fight to save those whose destiny is the same. If we turn our heads, if we look away in hopes that this will all disappear, we will be right. For they will, they will all disappear; they will disappear into the ugliness of our apathy. We cannot, we must not, let it happen.

10,000 miles away, death is still death, ugliness is still ugliness, pain is still pain. 10,000 miles away, injustice remains injustice, and wrong is still wrong. We can no longer wait for righteousness to roll in on the slow pondering wheels of inevitability. We are called by all that we call holy to not stand idly by – for 10,000 miles away a little precious baby girl will die, alone. There is no land that is so far away that we cannot hear the cry of the slaughtered.

In a few days, Christians around the world will celebrate the birth of Christ. Churches will open and people will gather in joyful noise to celebrate and be blissful. Yet 10,000 miles away, there is no bliss; only agony. This week is the celebration of Hanukkah, the festival of the miracle of lights. The lamp that stayed lit. Yet 10,000 miles away, the lamps have grown cold and are dark ... long extinguished; only the darkness prevails. The fast of Ramadan ended a few weeks ago; after the fast the three-day celebration of Id-al-Fitr begins. It is the time for great meals and celebrations. Yet 10,000 miles away, there will be no great meals, no great celebrations. Only great evil exists; it stalks the hungry, the vulnerable, the weak … feasting mightily on the innocent.

We, every single one of us (and we cannot hide in anonymity), are called to effect a change. Today, this day, this bright and clear day, we are called to stand up for those who cannot, for those who will not. We are called to fight against the pain and ugliness that is consuming a little girl 10,000 miles away. We are called to listen to the voice that speaks to us; that voice that urges us, that compels us to strive for justice. That voice, that little tiny voice, that undeniable voice that brought you here this morning. Tell everyone about that voice that calls out for you, that pushes you to act ... that voice, that voice is the voice of that little girl, 10,000 miles away. Never ever stop listening to it.