I am doing limited fasting this week and using other means of self-denial as a way of expressing my deep sorrow for my government's criminal abuse of real or alleged political prisoners.

The warm and generous hospitality I have received in Muslim communities in the Middle East makes me want even more to return this small effort of love, and to recognize that our human kinship obliges us to behave honorably toward one another.

I am a mother of four, a teacher, an activist, and a Catholic whose heart is breaking over the ongoing crucifixion of Jesus in a world that embraces war, torture, and willful indifference. How strange that tomorrow - the day we begin our fast - is the day that the television series /24/ begins its season premier. We have embraced the demonic values of /24/ while turning on backs on the teachings found in Matthew 25. My decision to fast is a humble gesture of repentance for my complicity in the violence perpetrated in my name by my nation. For my cowardice in not speaking out loudly enough, often enough, or convincingly enough to end the barbarism of torture. I am also fasting in solidarity with the people of Gaza.

Jenn Svetlik, 23, is originally from Houston, Texas and is currently working in the organizing department at Sojourners and is living in intentional community with the other Sojourners interns in Washington, DC. She has lived previously in a Catholic Worker community and the life of Jesus and Catholic social teaching inspire her peace and justice work, including the fast for justice to close Guantanamo. She believes in the immense power of an organized community, united by common humanity and in common action, seeking the common good, to be the impetus for positive change. She fasts to increase personal awareness and solidarity with those suffering at Guantanamo and around the world from violence caused by U.S. policy, and in repentance for the social sin that exists through U.S. action.

Matt Daloisio has led anti-Guantanamo activities since 2002 with Witness Against Torture. “My fast, as an act of cleansing, represents the need for the United States to rid itself and atone for the crimes of torture and indefinite detention. It is an expression of hope that Obama will heed his own words, close Guantanamo, and restore the rule of law.

Tim McKinney joins the fast from his home in Chicago. He says, "I am just a guy who abhors torture and war."

Judith Kelly lives in Arlington, VA, and facilitates nonviolence trainings as the DC Metro Area Regional Associate for Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service. She is a member of St. Aloysius Parish in Washington, DC. She has traveled in Cuba, but not to Guantanamo Bay.

I recently moved from the Open Door Community in Atlanta, GA to Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House in Washington, D.C. For me, participating in the "Fast for Justice" is a way I can not just claim with my words but also feel, to a very small extent, solidarity with the imprisoned and the oppressed. Fasting is a beautiful way to pray for and connect to those we cannot see in front of us--and to do this through our very material bodies which we present in public during the fast. This intermingling of the material and immaterial, the seen and the unseen, is a powerful sign of faith in the mercy of God and a hunger for justice on earth, right here, right now.

Joshua Knight is a father of 3 in Denver, Colorado, working as a Wastewater Engineer. Joshua volunteered with his wife and children as a Catholic Missionary for the Lay Mission Helpers in Cameroon, Africa for three years, assisting communities in finding water for their villages. He volunteers with a youth group at St. Catherine's Catholic Church.

"This 10-day fast follows Jesus. The apostles tried to expel a demon, but could not. After Jesus completed the job for them, they asked why they themselves couldn't do it. Jesus explained that for some devils, you can only remove them with prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29). Guantanamo is a very real demon in our world which cannot be tolerated. We must expel it and all demons like it from our midst, and to do this, we must pray and fast.

I am 22 years old, a 4th year Biology student at Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA, and I’m originally from Cincinnati, OH. In recent years, I have participated in a number of nonviolent, anti-war and anti-torture campaigns, including the campaign to shut down SOA/WHINSEC and the Occupation Project against the war in Iraq. Over the next ten days I will forgo food in solidarity with those held and tortured by the US, domestically and abroad. Because I will not be able to travel to DC, I will use this time for personal reflection and to communicate my belief that Guantanamo is but the visible manifestation of our collective desire to punish in order to maintain systems of international exploitation and internal domination.

I am originally from Minneapolis, MN and I am currently a junior Sociology major at Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA. I will fast these next ten days as an act of solidarity with prisoners held and tortured unjustly and my fellow protesters. As I deny my body and replenish my spirit, I will use this time to educate myself and others and to reflect on the state’s use of torture and imprisonment on "othered" bodies as a means of social control and to create fear. I will be thinking of those persons who we, as Americans, allow to be abused because their humanity is cloaked under the name of “terrorist,” and what that degradation means to their spirits, their loved ones, and their nations.