27 April 2009

The Rescue

Saturday was the national Invisible Children event The Rescue (of Joseph Kony's Child Soldiers).

The basic idea was that in one hundred cities across the world, people would gather and not leave until they were "rescued" by a celebrity and the media. For Atlanta, this meant a visit from comedian Jeff Foxworthy, who delivered a letter from Governor Sonny Perdue, an aide representing Senator Johnny Isakson, Representative John Lewis, who flew from Washington, D.C. to attend the event, and media coverage from the local Fox affiliate.

As the event drew to a close, "Rescue Riders" piled into cars and vans to head towards the nearest city not to be rescued, which was Charleston, South Carolina. Several people have vowed not to return home until all cities have been rescued (at posting, seven cities, including Charleston, await rescue -- to find out how you can support these protests, follow the link).

The Rescue Riders take their inspiration from the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights movement, to include Representative Lewis.

On a related note, Rep. Lewis and five other members of Congress were arrested at a protest in support of the Save Darfur Coalition. The congressmen crossed a police line at the Sudanese embassy and refused to move.

Rock on.