Jazz for Darfur: the Drum Beats on

An engaged crowd of jazz fans turned out on Sunday night (March 25) in Boston’s North End to learn about the ongoing crisis in Darfur and UUSC’s Drumbeat for Darfur campaign. Organized by MuseAid, a nonprofit group that puts on concerts to benefit relief efforts, the event featured hot jazz, spoken word pieces, and thought-provoking encouragement on how to get involved.

The last was provided by UUSC Program Associate Gretchen Alther, who got the evening underway by sharing an e-mail from a 12-year-old Michigan girl offering to help. This young UU congregant had written in right after a Justice Sunday presentation on Darfur at her church. Gretchen pointed out the ways in which her correspondent’s expression of concern exemplified the very approaches UUSC recommends: “educate” and “advocate.”

One hundred percent of the proceeds was donated to the Dumbeat for Darfur campaign, thanks to the generosity of the Improv Asylum and the players in the Phill Argyris Quartet and the Jamie Stewardson Quintet. Musically, the highlight for this blogger was the Argyris Quartet’s rendition of the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic “Corvocado.” Nothing like a little Jobim sung in Portuguese on a chilly Spring evening in Boston . . .

Ending the weekend on this upbeat note was welcome, coming as it did on the heels of disappointing news on the diplomatic front. As reported by the Associated Press, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak declined U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s request that Egypt join the effort to persuade Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to drop his objections to a U.N. peacekeeping force entering Darfur. Reaching out to Arab nations is part of the secretary general’s plan to broaden the base of nations working to end the crisis in Darfur.

This latest (non)development underscored for me the need to keep the pressure on, through all the means available to us. As Gretchen mentioned, the weight of international pressure contributed directly to the north-south peace agreement – speaking out works. It’s therefore incumbent upon us not to let up until the safety and basic well-being of all the people of Darfur are secured.