Joycean Values
Injustice may pain the body, mind and heart, but the soul shall heal all of these. Indifference—to not care, to just stand by, to look away—this bleaches the soul entirely and justice disappears, leaving the rest as invisible. W. Santiago
We at the Ramble believe that our road race has consequence in the areas of fitness, athletic competition, cancer research, literacy, the arts, human rights and community—all values of a vibrant democracy. The James Joyce Ramble takes the position that human rights are central to the sustenance of these democratic values.
Since 1989 the James Joyce Ramble added to its mission the effort to make people aware of the sanctity of human rights. We have petitioned on behalf of such writers as Vaclav Havel, Xu Wenli, Burma’s Aung San Suu Ky, and many others. In 1999 we urged the International Olympic Committee to reconsider China’s application for the sponsorship of Y2K Olympics because of its longstanding human rights abuses. Our work helped the larger effort by human rights organizations to deny China’s application.
Since the Iraq War began, we have refined our focus to journalists, previously dedicating our efforts to the late Wall Street Journal writer Daniel Pearl and Christian Science Monitor freelance journalist Jill Carroll. We more recently sponsored Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist who was shot dead in October of 2006 in Moscow, and Mesfin Woldemariam, one of many journalists being tried for "treason" in Ethiopia.
Our focus remains on journalists, whose safety all over the world has become a great concern for those who believe in and practice democracy. The killing, torturing and imprisoning of journalists contribute to the inevitable erosion of freedom of speech and expression, which are protected in the USA by the First Amendment, and internationally, by Article 19 of The Declaration of Human Rights. Unfortunately these are violated regularly throughout many parts of the globe and even right here in the United States.
Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman did what thousands of young bloggers around the world do every day: he logged onto his computer and typed in his thoughts about the politics of his country, criticizing both the Egyptian government and religious authorities. For this the 23-year-old former student, widely known on the Internet as “Karim Amer,” was arrested and sentenced in February 2007 to four years in prison on charges including “incitement to hate Islam,” “defaming the President of the Republic,” and “spreading information disruptive of public order.” Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman has been jailed solely on account of the peaceful expression of his views. Egypt’s Penal Code, including Articles 102, 176 and 179, stipulate prison sentences for the mere exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion.
We join Amnesty International in imploring Egypt to reconsider its Penal Code in regard to freedom of expression and call for Suleiman's immediate release.
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| Joycean Values |
All Proceeds from the Ramble are donated to the Claudia Adams-Barr Program at Boston's Dana Farber Cancer Institute. This fund supports innovative basic research endeavors at Dana-Farber. Proceeds since 1984 have contributed well over $250,000 to this account.
"One Runner's Unsolicited Review"
-John Barbour - 3rd place/1st master,98 Ramble
The James Joyce Ramble has been recognized by a United States of America Congressional Resolution.
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