George Clooney and Hotel Rwanda star
Don Cheadle will join Gov. Schwarzenegger and former US Secretary of State George Shultz today in public divestment of the state's holdings in companies that do business with the genocidal government of Sudan.
The event will be webcast live at 3PM Eastern/12PM Pacific, and will also feature a presentation by Adam Sterling, national policy director for the Sudan Divestment Task Force and a student at UCLA.
The divestment is a major victory for the anti-genocide movement and the hundreds of activists across the state who have been sending thousands of postcards to the governor, urging him to sign the bill passed by the Democratic legislature. Targeted divestment campaigns -- which focus on companies providing no benefit to Sudanese civilians through agricultural, medical, educational or other means -- are on the upswing in dozens of states. See what's going on in your state.
More information about the divestment campaign after the jump.
For the last three weeks, activists from across the state have been collecting thousands of postcards, urging Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign
AB 2941 and adopt a targeted divestment from Sudan for California's public pension funds. The governor will sign AB 2941 as well as AB 2179, which completes the University of California's targeted divestment from Sudan.
Today at Noon (PDT), Gov. Schwarzenegger will be joined by a task force of celebrities, politicians and students at the Burbank Hilton Airport for a press conference and public signing of AB 2941 and AB 2179! The event will also be webcast live.
Why is divestment important?
A silent genocide rages on in the Darfur region of Africa's largest country, Sudan. For the first time in history, the US government has declared a genocide while the massacres are still ongoing. To date, over 400,000 have been killed and over 2.5 million have been displaced. In August, UN humanitarian director Jan Egeland said, "It's going from real bad to catastrophic in Darfur."
Genocide is an expensive venture. The Sudanese government relies heavily on foreign investment to fund its military and the brutal militias seeking to eliminate the non-Arab population of Darfur, has shown an historic responsiveness to economic pressure, while political pressure and diplomacy have failed to stop genocide in Darfur.
Along with pressuring the Sudanese government, this action will likely catalyze divestment in numerous other states, including 15 states which are set to introduce legislation modeled after this bill at the start of 2007.
Get involved in Sudan divestment where you are!