Action: Call 1-800-GENOCIDE TODAY!

Why: Today is a really important day in the fight to wake up our Ministry officials to ending the genocide in Darfur and if you’re in the US then your step to taking action is just a phone call today.

Are you walking to class? Do you have time for a quick phone call?

Today: Monday, March 31, there is a NATIONAL call-in day
urging your representatives to approve an additional $334 million to
support peacekeeping in Sudan!

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

UNAMID is essentially a big peacekeeping force sponsored by the African Union and the United Nations in Darfur protecting people’s lives–but there is not nearly enough of them and they do not have enough supplies.

The people of Darfur CANNOT be protected if the people protecting them are lacking basic supplies. Please tell the US government that we need to put our money where our mouth is - we’ve promised to do something about ending the genocide in Darfur but actions speak louder than words.

We need money for UNAMID to be enforced!

And all you have to do is call 1-800-GENOCIDE and the line will give instructions to make the call and what to say. Don’t be nervous! They make it really easy and you’re actually doing something to make a real difference and it only takes about two minutes!

I wish I had posted this earlier, but here it is and it’s very exciting!

Earth Hour is a movement that started last year in Sydney, Australia. Essentially it was like Dumbledore had taken his put-outer and turned out all the lights for a whole hour. The purpose of this action was so that individuals could come together and do something about global warming. What they accomplished was nothing short of amazing: in just this one hour they save equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road.

One year later, Earth Hour is a global movement, with cities across the world agreeing to take out their put-outers and turn off all the lights for just one hour. And it happens tonight, March 29 from 8 pm to 9 pm. Further, although a put-outer is an amazing magical tool, what’s even more amazing is that the only actual “put-outer” in this scenario is a countless number of individuals acting on a collective intention to turn out their lights for one hour!

Even people whose cities aren’t participating are still taking part! It’s amazing how one little action like turning of your lights for an hour can add up to be something where we can all share the intention of our inner light to both celebrate and wake up the world.

And what will you do when your lights are off? Here’s some ideas from Earth Hour.

(Also, If you’re getting this and it’s already been 8 pm where you live, so long as it’s still March 29 somewhere in the world, it’s 8 pm where someone lives! So put your lights out for an hour and join THEM! :-)).

Alright everyone! Let’s take out those put-outers and light up the world by turning off the lights!

Here’s a video with more info.

Hello, this is Nicole, an HPA staffer. I am in charge of the t-shirt sales for the organization. As you know, we have the current HPA design (the heart with Harry’s scar through the middle) since we started. So we have decided that we are ready for a new one and we need your help.

The HPA is holding a contest for the new design. Until April 15th Midnight ESTwe will accept designs to put on a new shirt. The design can be anything, a new slogan, a logo, and/or more. After the submission period is over, a group of senior staffers will narrow it down to seven semi-finalists. Those semi-finalists will be posted on both the website and our Myspace where you can vote for them! The semi finalists and winner will all receive a t-shirt with the winner’s design!

Some ground rules:
-The design must say HP Alliance somewhere on the shirt.
-The larger the design, the better. We can shrink it down and put it on the shirt, but it will get pixilated if it is too small.
-The color of the shirt must be included in the email (does not need to be part of the design).
-Nothing obscene/derogatory/offensive
-Send your design to merch@thehpalliance.org

Please have fun with this! Your help will keep the HPA up and running! If you have any question don’t hesitate to email me at nicole@thehpalliance.org.

Thanks so much!
Nicole

Investors Against Genocide just put out a statement letting us know that momentum is on their side. Essentially they are working to get Fidelity to stop investing in companies that fund the genocide in Darfur.

Most people would have said a year ago that this small group of people could never effectively “break into” one of the biggest banks in the world to rid them of assets that are dangerous to human life. But they are close to doing it and need support. Penetrating the walls of a seemingly impenetrable bank in order to rid both that bank and the world of something terrible. Does that remind you of any one? Oh, yes: I’m looking at the lanky boy with red hair who can’t get his eyes the young woman with bushy hair standing next to the bespectacled young Wizard with the scar on his forehead.

Click Below To Find Out Ways That You May Help. While everyone can do something, the people that can do the most are going to be those who own shares of Fidelity or who are connected to people who do.

Read the rest of this entry »

One note on the below post: there is a prevalent idea amongst many Fidelity spokespeople and the business community at large that it’s someone else’s job to take care of serious matters like genocide.This, of course, does not categorize all businesses. Still, there are a significant number of companies who seem to want as much power as possible until they have to actually use that power to make moral decisions like choosing to not fund a genocide. At that time they say things like, “oh that’s the governments role. We don’t have any power.”

The Slytherin attitude here is uncanny: slithering into positions of power but ignoring the responsibility that comes with that power.

I am reminded of this poem.

I wonder what would happen if Chinese oil companies started funding genocides in the neighborhoods of Fidelity executives and shareholders. And perhaps it’s time to start buying shares in Fidelity on behalf of Darfurians and then letting the press know that Fidelity is complicit in funding the murder of their own shareholders. It’s a crazy idea. But a powerful one nonetheless.

Like Dumbledore’s Army who woke the world up to Voldemort’s return, the HP Alliance aims to be a Dumbledore’s Army for the real world, waking up our Ministries, our Daily Prophets, our fellow citizens, and our BUSINESSES about the need to end the genocide in Darfur.

This post is zeroing in on the mutual fund company, Fidelity Investments, who continue to make large investments in Chinese oil companies that are funding the genocide in Darfur.

If Fidelity and other companies like it were to pull out from these Chinese oil companies (such as PetroChina and Sinopec) than PetroChina and Sinopec are going to be upset because it means that they’ll be losing money (unfortunately money is the name of their game). When this happens, the hope is that they will start putting real economic pressure on the Sudanese government to make them end this genocide.

This may also have a Domino effect on President Bush and other world leaders…pressuring them to take a firmer stand on Sudan, as Sudan is already responsible for killing over 400,000 innocent civilians and displacing over 2.5 million.

A group called Investors Against Genocide made up of ordinary people like you and I started last year and they have been making great progress in getting Fidelity to pull out of PetroChina, etc. They have not won this battle yet, but as ordinary people they have moved mountains and are creating the kind of noise that inspires a whole world to realize that the people in Darfur matter just as much as you and I, that we need to therefore end this genocide and prevent future genocides, and  when we wish to honor those killed and those hurt by the Nazi Holocaust as well as the genocides in Armenia, Cambodia, Rwanda, and so on, by saying “Never Again,” we actually need to mean “Never Again.”

Hooray! It’s the first day of spring!

For the past few weeks, I’ve been writing myspace bulletins saying “there’ll be a lot more stuff from the HP Alliance on the way.” And I wasn’t kidding. There is A LOT to be looking forward to in our journey together to tap into the magic of our creativity, spread love, and fight the horcruxes of injustice in the real world (while celebrating Harry Potter).

And what better way to begin this new phase than with the first day of spring (also Mr. Rogers’ birthday)? So here we go. The first example of a big change: we now have a blog. This blog will be updated regularly by me and a lot of other exciting people (that is if you count me as exciting :-)).

So HOORAY FOR SPRING! And HOORAY for this next phase of the HP ALLIANCE! And more soon!