[UPDATE: Thanks to the 37,693 other people who joined me in our fast on Feb. 1st. Stay tuned for Kumi Naidoo's report on the results of his appeal to African heads of state in Ethiopia.]
A protest!
From the amazing AVAAZ.org website, comes this invitation to joins tens of thousands of people on Sunday, Feb. 1st as we fast in solidarity with the starving and impoverished citizens of Zimbabwe.
The movement for democracy in Zimbabwe has just raised the stakes: hundreds of activists in Southern Africa, including Desmond Tutu, have begun a rolling hunger strike to press for justice. This regional demonstration of commitment is putting real and growing pressure on leaders to demand a fair settlement in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has descended to an almost unimaginable state of desperation. Most of Zimbabwe’s 11 million people eat one meal a day—or less. But as pressure rises at home, in the region, and around the world, Mugabe’s grip on power may be slipping. That’s why this one day global solidarity fast -(from sun up to sun down)- is so important, for the more of us that fast, the stronger the call for justice and democracy.
And now watch Kumi Naidoo’s video appeal – he will deliver our global message of solidarity to African heads of state gathering in Ethiopia on Sunday, 1 February!
Each day in the world nearly 1 billion people go to bed hungry, most of them women and children and the people of Zimbabwe are among the poorest. Please fast with us at Outrageous Gardens this Sunday as we stand with the people of Zimbabwe to eradicate poverty and hunger with every tool we can find. They are counting on us and for some, this may be their last chance.
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. — Dwight D. Eisenhower
The blogs will be overflowing today with intensely personal reflections on this historic date of January 20, 2009. And as tickled as I was to watch the former president fly away from Capitol Hill this morning (yes, I’ll admit I was screaming FASTER! FASTER! at the tv) there was something else that was mentioned several times by reporters and commentators that resonated even more profoundly for me. It had nothing to do really with the color of skin of our new President, or his faith, or the long march to freedom long overdue people of color, or his promises to again live by the rule of law which sounded so delicious to my ears burned by 8 years of the Bush monarchy. No, what kept rolling over and over… 
