Resolved to Remember Blog Posts
In just a couple of days, our Resolve team will close up shop and head to our respective homes and families for the holidays. But as we eagerly anticipate the celebration and rest to come, we’re mindful that the comfort and privilege we get to enjoy is not the norm for most.
For many families in central Africa, this time of year is filled with sorrow, as it marks the anniversary of two of the LRA’s most brutal attacks – now known as the Christmas Massacres. And with the LRA still at large, the holiday season serves as a fearful and almost paralyzing reminder that similar attacks could happen again.
In light of this sobering reality, last week Resolve launched our second nation-wide vigil, One Voice: Resolved to Remember – an invitation to advocates all over the world to join us, from wherever they are, between December 14th and 25th as we pause to remember those lost to LRA violence and pray for the loved ones they left behind.
To usher in the two-week vigil, our team gathered with a handful of friends and fellow advocates in front of the White House last week. Each of us picked the name of one person to honor from a list of those killed or abducted in Christmas Massacres and we collectively offered a prayer of peace, comfort, and justice for those caught in the middle of this crisis.
It was a powerful time of reflection for our team and we were deeply encouraged by the opportunity to come together with fellow advocates and honor lives lost to the LRA crisis – lives that the world so easily overlooks.
As you celebrate the holidays this week and next, we encourage you to participate in One Voice: Resolved to Remember – individually or with others — in whatever way is most meaningful to you. Let it be an act of resistance against the injustice of being allowed to forget these epic tragedies and against our world’s tendency to treat some as if their lives matter more than others.
Peace to you and yours. And Happy Holidays from the Resolve team.
- Lisa
* Photos courtesy of Wade McMullen
This past year, we worked together as never before to bend the ears of our leaders and turn our country’s attention to the task of ending the violence being perpetrated by the Lord’s Resistance Army. With one voice, thousands of us lobbied, wrote, shared, and gave of ourselves on behalf of peace.
But today, as our year draws to an end – amidst all the final exams and holiday shopping – we invite you to simply stop for a moment, and to remember.
From December 14th – 24th, the Resolve team will unite with supporters across the country for our second One Voice: Resolved to Remember nationwide vigil. We commemorate those who have lost their lives in this violent conflict, particularly during the LRA’s Christmas Massacres.
On December 24th, 2008 and December 14, 2009, the LRA launched two of the most brutal attacks in its history, targeting remote Congolese communities left vulnerable as they celebrated Christmas. Joseph Kony and his top LRA commanders ordered their soldiers to seek out churches conducting Christmas services, trapping worshipers inside. They killed and abducted hundreds, including many children.
As we continue to work hard to ensure that atrocities like these never happen again, we also believe it’s importance to stop and remember — to honor and uphold the memories of each life lost in these attacks as a simple act of resistance against our world’s tendency to forget. And we celebrate all those in central Africa and around the world who continue to struggle for peace.
On December 14, you can join our team across from the White House in Washington, D.C. at 7:30pm, or hold your own vigil — from right where you are — at any point between December 14 and 24. (Check out the video above of vigils held across the country last year.)
Whether in DC or around your family’s kitchen table, we hope you’ll join us at some point to stop and remember.
- Lisa
P.S. For more information about the D.C. vigil tomorrow night, email vigil@theresolve.org
Following the Resolve office’s vigil in front of the White House last week, Resolve has continued to receive emails, photos, videos, and stories from people across the United States — and even internationally — who have stopped to remember and honor the lives lost in the LRA Christmas Massacres and to pray for peace.
From the Invisible Children office in San Diego, CA to Kinshasa, DR Congo, to Brisbane, Australia, hundreds of committed individuals have come together in One Voice: Resolved to Remember, a vigil for the voices silenced by the LRA Christmas Massacres.
Like us, these individuals believe that the inherent dignity and worth of each life lost should be recognized and must be, if we have any chance of rightly addressing the unacceptable injustices that took these lives and that have allowed the violence of the LRA to continue.
We’ve compiled a collection of some of the photos and stories from the vigils all over the world. And, to see a map of all of the vigils taking place across the globe or for more information on One Voice: Resolve to Remember, visit: www.theresolve.org/join-the-vigil.
— Lisa
The Resolve team gathered with a handful of local activists in front of the White House on Tuesday to usher in the One Voice: Resolved to Remember campaign. We were humbled by the people who came to join us – in the freezing cold – for our vigil to remember the lives lost in the LRA Christmas massacres. It was a powerful time of honoring those who lost their lives and the memories of all who have been affected by LRA violence.
Each of us picked the name of one person from a list of those killed or abducted. For many of us, the process of connecting with one name and the life it represented was a sobering reminder of the reality people in these communities continue to face.
Several of us shared our personal stories of why we were there. We will be posting some of these thoughts in the days ahead. In the meantime, this video gives a sense of our experience on Tuesday.
And, if you’d like to see photos from other vigils across the world, please visit our Facebook wall.
We invite you to join us in remembering by having your own vigil – individually or in a group. Find out more.
— Lisa
This is an invitation to stop.
2010 is coming to a close, and in the midst of final exams and holiday shopping and office parties, we’re inviting you to stop. And to remember.
On December 14th, Resolve will unite with supporters across the country in One Voice: Resolved to Remember, a nationwide vigil to commemorate those who lost their lives in the LRA’s Christmas Massacres.
Together, we’ve accomplished a lot in 2010 and there is certainly reason to celebrate. But the promises of our leaders have not yet translated into real peace for families in central Africa, a reality that is particularly apparent during the Christmas season.
On December 24th, 2008 and December 14, 2009, the LRA launched two of the most brutal massacres in its history, targeting remote Congolese communities left vulnerable as they celebrated Christmas. Joseph Kony and his top LRA commanders ordered their soldiers to seek out churches conducting Christmas services and burn them down, trapping worshipers inside. They killed and abducted hundreds, including many children.
For the families and communities targeted in these attacks, the Christmas season brings a reminder of the unspeakable violence in years past. And it arrives with the fear that similar violence may take loved ones again.
To honor and uphold the memories of each life lost in these massacres is a simple act of resistance against our world’s tendency to forget. And as we look ahead to 2011 and the challenge of implementing President Obama’s strategy, we invite you to join us in One Voice: Resolved to Remember, a vigil to commemorate these massacres, affirm the value of each life lost, and renew our shared commitment to preventing them from happening again this year or in the future.
On December 14, you can join us across from the White House in Washington, D.C., or hold your own vigil — from right where you are — at any point between December 14 and 24. Whether in DC or around your family’s kitchen table, we hope you’ll accept our invitation to stop and remember.