ACT NOW

Dear Campus Organizers:

The following is a suggested framework for your valuable participation with the Journey for Humanity. As college students and organizers, we know the value and scarcity of your time. Moreover, we understand that there is no shortage of causes. Therefore, we are reaching out to you with more than a simple request, in hopes that our effort may facilitate your own campus activity and engagement in the struggle against genocide. Our aim with this Journey is not only to walk across the country or to meet elected officials but it is an attempt to consolidate and empower a necessary movement, filling the void of ignorance about genocide.

While we know that you – the reader – already care, there are many who do not yet understand the reason to join us. Thus, as with every other movement, we must begin with ourselves – you and I – and, with consistency, build momentum. With this document, we wish to invite you on the Journey for Humanity. That is, we would like nothing more than for you to walk with us, either physically or in spirit. Please, don’t just do one of these events and stop there. Instead, contemplate a series or variation of events during the semester and become an integral part of the movement. As we write and you read, there are a growing number of victims, most clearly in Darfur. Without you, we are one body short of a stronger movement.

• A) Write emails
  Send updates to your members about our Journey, urging them to check our website regularly, read our blogs, Stories of Humanity, look at our pictures, and leave comments on our Guestbook.
  
• B) Distribute our brochures
  Just send a quick e-mail to pr@journeyforhumanity.com requesting brochures. Please indicate the name of your school, organization, address, and quantity of brochures requested, and we’ll send them to you at no charge (please request distributable amount; we can always send more if needed and would appreciate the excess returned).
  
• C) Start a web-faxing campaign
  There are several web faxes on our website that are sent to elected officials. They are regarding Senate and House legislation related to genocide. Over and over again, in our meetings with legislators, it has been claimed that there is a need for public support and expression. You can read the full texts of these resolutions on our website and the web-faxing takes just a few seconds. This is an easy and quick way to make a difference!
  
• D) Organize a solidarity event
  -You can get creative with this one and invite the media to your event! Very shortly, there will be a “Solidarity Events” section on our website where you can post your event or read about what other events are taking place in your area. Here are a few ideas:
  • 1) Distribute brochures on campus while you table or in your classes
  • 2) Make classroom announcements about the Journey (spread the updates). If there is a professor on your campus who teaches or is particularly interested in this area, speak to him/her about how to get his/her students involved.
  • 3) Organize a vigil or prayer for victims of genocide
  • 4) Fundraise to help with the costs of J4H. You can sponsor our “Food for a Week,” for example (There are many ways to do this, and one way is by selling our t-shirts. For creative ideas on fundraising while raising awareness about genocide, you can e-mail Hasmig at hasmig.dreambig@gmail.com).
  • 5) Organize a mini Journey for Humanity, i.e. a walk around or through the campus, or even up and down the social hub of your campus (You can e-mail Ed at e.majian@verizon.net for details about a “Zen-walk”).
  • 6) Get together to make and post posters. Our logo colors are orange and green; feel free to combine them with your organization’s logo and/or colors.
    
• E) Join our media campaign
  - On this Journey, we have learned, first hand, the difficulty of gaining media support. During the Genocide in Rwanda, our media was immersed in the O.J. Simpson case and now, during Darfur (and the Journey for Humanity), our media has zeroed in on Jean-Bonnet Ramsey. Thus, we need any help we can get to attract the media. This can be done by writing letters to and calling the local media, requesting coverage of J4H and information about genocide. You can also organize vigils and nonviolent demonstrations at local media outlets, urging them to provide the public with necessary news about genocide and genocide legislation.
  
• F) Wear our t-shirts
  -You can designate a day or week for wearing the J4H t-shirts, perhaps during a mini J4H. We will soon have the option of buying our t-shirts on our website and you can purchase them there. Another option is sending an e-mail request to pr@journeyforhumanity.com with the quantity of t-shirts you’d like, your address, name of school and organization, as well as a check for the right amount (The t-shirts are $10 each, and for every 9 you buy, we’ll throw in the 10th for free!).
  
• G) Walk with us
  -You can check our walking timeline on our website to see if we’re walking through your city. Please contact us in advance so we can plan a meeting place.
  
• H) Invite a speaker
  -After the Journey, our marchers will be available to speak about genocide and the experience of walking across the country. This would be a great opportunity for students to learn about genocide, not only from someone who has studied the issue, but who has walked across the country to raise awareness about the crime, and subsequently, has a good opinion of what the rest of the country knows (or does not) about the issue.