Today, President Barack Obama spoke at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum among men and women who survived the Holocaust and heroes that saved lives from being lost. His words gave the highest emphasis to words we have heard echoing across the country this month:

“But we must also remember that bearing witness is not the end of our obligation – it is just the beginning. We know that evil has yet to run its course on earth. We have seen it in this century in mass graves and the ashes of villages burned to the ground; in children used as soldiers and rape as a weapon of war…

Today, and every day, we have an opportunity – and an obligation – to confront these scourges. To fight the impulse to turn the channel when we see images that disturb us, or wrap ourselves in the false comfort that others’ suffering is not our problem. And to instead make a habit of empathy; to recognize ourselves in each other; and to commit ourselves to resisting injustice, intolerance and indifference in whatever forms they may take – whether confronting those who tell lies about history, or doing everything we can to prevent and end atrocities like those that took place in Rwanda, and those taking place in Darfur. That is my commitment as President…

We find cause for hope as well in Protestant and Catholic children attending school together in Northern Ireland; in Hutus and Tutsis living side by side, forgiving neighbors who have done the unforgivable; in a movement to save Darfur that has 1,000 high school and college chapters in 25 countries, and brought 70,000 people to the Washington Mall – people of every age, faith, background and race united in common cause with their suffering brothers and sisters half a world away.

Those numbers can be our future – our fellow citizens of the world showing us how to make the journey from oppression to survival, from witness to resistance and reconciliation. That is what we mean when we say ‘never again.’”

Click here to find out how you can involve yourself in activities this month that turn memory into action.

Click here to see the full text of the speech.

Click here to see the video of the event.

The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 1:21 pm and is filed under Obama Administration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.