Friday, May 01, 2009

A peaceful invitation to Oprah from Invisiblechildren.com


I woke up to a peaceful gathering of Invisiblechildren.com around Harpo studios at 5:30 this morning. They were here yesterday afternoon singing trying to get Oprah's attention. Their cause is to stop the war in Uganda and rescue the child soldiers and get the government to write policy to end the war. You can follow this organization on twitter "#therescue". You can see their live feed right now here. So today's Oprah show is live with Ellen Degeneris and Hugh Jackman and they both know about this organization and the event, the show is live in Chicago at 9 am and 4pm everywhere else. Oprah just came out and talked to them and brought Jason inside, and he's going to be on the show. So they had success! Oprah is going to come outside and tape them for the first segment of the show. I'll see if I can get some video from our driveway which will be behind them.

Oprah did not come outside but spoke from inside the studio on a monitor that could be seen just below the camera in front of the studio doors. The organizers were thrilled with the amount of time Oprah spent talking with them and hearing their story. They were an extremely well mannered, organized and respectful crowd, I think it really helped them get what they wanted. Job well done people!

This is a clip of the group practicing to sing in front of our building yesterday afternoon. We heard them singing in our loft on the 5th floor, but by the time we got down there they had finished. Beautiful, huh?


Blogger Butterfly kisses wrote a great post about her experience participating in a rescue in Denver, please go see what she has to say about it.

13 comments:

  1. How amazing that you have a view of what is going on as it happens. their cause is a good one so lets hope they get what they want.

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  2. Thank you for posting this. I took part in the event in Denver and have been following the Chicago event. It was great to see what went on from your view as well. THANK YOU!

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  3. Butterfly Kisses, thanks so much for commenting I loved seeing your blog about your experience. I have linked to it at the bottom of my post.

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  4. Judy

    How great that you have posted about the issues facing Northern Uganda. It is such an important thing for people to know about - it gets so little coverage in the mainstream media. Invisible Children is a wonderful organisation. You may also have heard about Watoto Children's Choir? Watoto is also working to rescue these Child Soldiers and Child Mothers in Gulu, Northern Uganda and provide rehabilitation and hope. I really hope Oprah does a story on them - the awareness will skyrocket! Thanks for this post and love your work!

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  5. Judy, I was there... thank you so much for blogging about it! It's amazing the movement that's going on, and what happened today was such a huge victory for the invisible children of Uganda. Keep spreading the word, and thanks thanks thanks again! Together we are free!

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  6. OMG! That last video made me cry. They sounded so beautiful. Thanks for posting about this. I discovered your blog after searching the internet about the invisible children.

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  7. I too discovered your site through searching the internet for Invisible Children. This group of people is truly moving- I posted on my blog about The Invisible Children- and I'm now following you

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  8. Anonymous1:29 AM

    I too was there and am in the dance as well! It was amazing to take part in this experience. Thank you for recording this!

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  9. Susie2:56 AM

    I have been following the IC movement since '05. I've attened the two other events, "The Global Night Commute" and "Displace me" and just recently, "The Rescue" in Orange county, CA. We were rescued by the band, Paramore. It broke my heart though not to not be able to be there in Chicago with everyone else. I did however live vicariously (sp?) through the live feed and the updates on facebook and twitter and the IC blog but finding this was just so great. Thank you for your support, your word and your blog. The fact that Oprah is helped us out today is HUGE and I can't wait to see what this means for change in Uganda.
    Oh, and by the way, I would love to learn to quilt...where do I start? :)

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  10. Hi Susie, I was completely unaware of IC until I heard the singing thursday afternoon, I am so happy that I can put the word out as well and help in my own small way.

    I am guessing you live in southern CA, since you went to the OC rescue. The best place to get started with quilting is to find your local quilt guild, they are everywhere, just do a google search. You will find good speakers, friendship groups of quilters to join that meet on a regular basis usually in each others homes and great priced workshops through the guild.

    Also of interest would be to go to the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, July 24-26 http://quilts.com/home/shows
    If you are interested in quilts, that show should not be missed. Also check out magazines like Quilting Arts.

    good luck, once you start you may not stop ;)

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  11. I watched this live on the IC feed, from my room here in Norway :)
    Most amazing thing I've seen in my entire life.
    I'm proud to have been a part of it!

    Really cool to watch it from this view too :D

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  12. That was QUITE the blog post. :)

    I had not seen your "home video" or your blog post until it was placed into an IC video that was shown at Lobby Days in D.C. (June 22-23) The video was called together we are free.

    Thank you so much for your positive reaction to our efforts in Chicago. I got a kick out of your comment "this IS live".

    I hope you have been informed about Northern Ugandans and Invisible Children's efforts.
    And again, what a great post.

    -Ethan

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  13. Ethan I was so glad that I could contribute to the cause in this way. I hope the film that was put together really helps get some action in Washington and opens some doors on the international front.

    Good Luck!

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