Fasting for three days, James Michael shows support and brings awareness to the crisis in Dafur.

By Ryan Fri, Jun 12, 2009

James Michael turns hunger into awareness. Fasting for Dafur, the musician, songwriter, producer hopes to strengthen a humanitarian cause.

Fasting for three days, James Michael shows support and brings awareness to the crisis in Dafur.

Sudan's western region of Dafur is experiencing a humanitarian crisis that has quickly reached epic proportions. Since reaching a boiling point in 2003, the number of people that have been slaughtered, tortured and displaced has become immense. Those numbers continue to grow as the area's inhabitants perish from dehydration, starvation and disease. The most recent setback occurred this May, when the Sudanese government inexplicably expelled 13 aid organizations from the region, further worsening the already devastating suffering of approximately 4.7 million Dafurians. Despite the international effort underway to bring an end to the atrocities, it continues to be met with seemingly impenetrable political resistance. Well... You know what they say; 'There is strength in numbers.'

One organization that is propagating the awareness for our brothers and sisters in Dafur is http://fastdarfur.org/ Dafur Fast for Life has created a network of groups and individuals that have chosen to show their solidarity for the ongoing plight of those affected by the Dafurian crisis by participating in their own personal fasting regimes. Some take on the challenge of 'water only' fasting, which is exactly what it says; No food, at all! Some opt for the 'refugee rations', which consists of less than 10 oz. of cracked wheat and cereal. These rations contain only 1,017 calories a day. To put that into perspective for you, one Big Mac value meal contains about 1170 calories all by itself!!

O.K., so how does this all relate to the music industry? Well, joining the ranks of such esteemed participants such as, Mia Farrow, Sir Richard Branson, and Peter Gabriel is none other than multi-platinum producer, songwriter, mixer and recording artist, James Michael. You may recognize James as the lead singer of the band Sixx A.M. who along with bassist Nikki Sixx and guitarist DJ Ashba, toured with Motley Crue during last year's CrueFest. James also has production credits for numerous bands such as Mötley Crüe, Alanis Morissette, Papa Roach, Sixx:AM, Hilary Duff, Saliva, Scorpions, Meat Loaf, and Halestorm... To say he is widely known and respected in the music industry is a gross understatement.

James began his personal fast today, in which he will endure three days with water as his only sustenance. James' personal commitment to raise awareness about Dafur has been reinforced by an enormous outpouring of support and well-wishes from his fans and colleagues. He has been posting updates to his social networking pages and will produce video blogs to chronicle his experience. James also stated that he intends to write and record a song during his fast. His effort, along with everyone else that gets behind this cause, is to be applauded. I hope you will visit some of the links I have posted to educate yourself on the growing crisis in Dafur and support the efforts to make a change. Spread the word, and offer up some encouragement to James. In a question posted from Twitter follower @KristenML84 she asked, "r you nervous about the fast?" to which he replied, "no...i KNOW when i'll eat again...others aren't so lucky"... Man, if that doesn't put you in the right headspace, I don't know what does.... -Ryan

Links:

http://fastdarfur.org/?cat=55

http://www.savedarfur.org

http://twitter.com/james_a_michael

By Ryan

"Well, think me up a cup of coffee and a chocolate donut with some of those little sprinkles on top..." editor{at}roadcrewmag.com

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June 2009, Featured Articles, Artists

Fasting for three days, James Michael shows support and brings awareness to the crisis in Dafur.

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