Shhhhh! 25 Hours of Silence For A Purpose

On Monday evening more than 100 young people — ranging from middle school children to those in their mid-twenties — sat or stood in silence at The King Plow Arts Center in West Midtown.

The silence, broken only by a shuffling of feet and gentle music playing overhead, seemed comforting and peaceful. The silence was not weird or forced. The silence was for a reason.

For the event called "25," more than 60,000 participants met in 18 cities around the United States. The event was for Invisible Children, a nonprofit organization which is raising awareness and money to stop the trafficking of child soldiers within the Lords Resistance Army conflict areas of Africa.  

The “Break the Silence” campaign asked participants to raise at least $25 and to be silent for 25 hours beginning on April 24 at 7 p.m. and ending April 25 at 8 p.m.

The participants want to end the 25-year war in Africa, and they believe they can do it.

“It’s a silent revolt. It won’t be easy, but easy never changed any one's life," read one participant's shirt. She wrote the statement on the back of her T-shirt.

For the first 30 minutes, participants wrote letters to members of Congress encouraging them to follow through on the commitment they made after passing the LRA Disarament Bill in 2010. Some people also wrote letters to a loved one, letting them know why they are important and why the war in Africa must come to an end.

Holly Tant, a 21-year-old girl who has been involved with Invisible Children since high school, said she used the theme “that we have spoken” in her letter to Congress. She hopes the members keep listening to their cause.

She called the event “a reminder of Invisible Children and those who are living for others.

“We are giving hope to Americans that we still have a say,” she said.

A few minutes after 7:30 p.m., the countdown began. People trickled into an adjacent room, where a stage and a projector had been set up. On the screen, an African boy sat on the left and an American girl sat on the right — both sat in silence.

As the countdown audibly ticked down, everyone sat on the floor and waited, silently. When five minutes remained, the ticking got louder, and then when three minutes hit, the sound of bombs could be heard. As the last minute ran down, the boy and the girl on the screen both began to move. The boy prepared his bullets in his gun; the girl put on her shirt and prepared to leave.

And then, loud screaming and clapping rattled the room as everyone stood up. Afterwards, they recited a “Break The Silence” anthem, and then a speaker from Uganda took the stage.

Speaking about the event, he said, “It’s about the children who have already been abducted. I feel the war is not over ... This night is also about you. It’s about the tens of thousands that are breaking the silence with you.”

As he said the last part, raindrops broke the silence outside.

He then explained the importance of music in Africa as a platform to celebrate, mourn and share. “Let us enjoy the power of music,” he said before stepping off the stage.

Two local bands played, XO (Jake & Jeff of Say Anything) and O’Brother. Other short videos were shown and announcements were made.

Jessica Morris, a 24-year-old girl who works full-time with Invisible Children and helped organize the event in Atlanta, said she was impressed with the sacrifices that people make for the overall mission.

She spoke about one little girl who was going in for surgery earlier that day. The girl wrote notes for her nurses and doctors explaining why she would not be speaking.

“I like the duality of our mission -- to rebuild and re-purpose people,” Morris said. “Look around at the middle school [children] that would normally not be involved in this,” she said pointing to the crowd. “It gets under your skin.”

Cindy Dziwura and Lauren White, both teachers at Hull Middle School, were at the event with members of their school’s Invisible Children club. White said she loves seeing the passion of the children.

“Most of the time when kids are in middle school, they are self conscious, but these took it and made it their own,” she said.

For many of the participants, not being able to talk made them reflect deeper about what the whole cause was about. Some people kept quiet with ease, writing messages or explaining their intentions to friends and family before going silent.

Shae Trotter, a 25-year-old girl, said she had difficulty communicating with her family since it was the first time they had been together in a while.

“It’s like fasting,” she said. “Going without verbal communication made you have more of an awareness of what you were raising money for, how much we’re privileged to have a voice and how much one voice affects other people.”