The Power of the Pump

Last night King called me to tell me that one of his cousins in South Sudan contacted him to tell him the Northern Arab militia is again setting fire to the villages in the South. When his People flee, they capture them and "slice their throats like goats".  King said, "Valerie, we must do something." "Do something" reverberated in my head over and over. I am not a political leader with influence. I am not a diplomat with opportunities to meet with dignitaries. I am a filmmaker. That is my voice; that is my sphere of influence. But if no one sees this film, if we don't raise the funds to finish the project, I have failed King.

The genocide is about oil. We support South Sudan. China supports northern Sudan. China owns our debt. Hmmm. The oil is under the soil in the South; the pipelines empty out in the North. The government in the North won't pay the government in the South a fraction of what the commodity is worth per barrel. The government in the South turns off the flow. The government in the North goes and kills King's People, innocent villagers living peacefully in huts that don't use gas or oil or anything made from it. They are nowhere near a city. They have no electricity, no cars. They make fire rubbing two sticks together to cook their meager meals. Real old school. Live caveman oldschool.

We buy gas without a care in the world. And everytime we do, we are part of the problem. I am no hippie, I assure you, and I have no interest in rubbing two sticks together in order to eat. But there has to be better way than murdering innocent people to get a good value at the pump. Ya think? Would we take a stand if every time we filled up our SUVs we had to watch a villager have their throat slit after we swiped our credit card before the gas was released from the pump? I think so.

And that is why I want this film to be seen by the world, because if consumers knew, they would demand change. The power of the consumer is the most powerful voice we have. Blood diamonds. When we were educated about those atrocities, sales declined dramatically and now we hear the phrase "conflict free diamonds" when we shop for engagement rings in addition to the four C's. We don't "need" diamonds and we do need gas but this nonetheless demonstrates the power of the voice of the consumer. We have the power to make the same change here. King is the voice of his People; I am his voice through film; you are our collective voice to your network to support this important film.

King and I implore you to share this powerful message.