Now that Michael Vick has been sentenced and those dead dogs have received a measure of justice… what about Darfur? The experts say that this "genocide in slow-motion" is still very preventable with a minimal amount of intervention. Below is a repost from June that, unfortunately, has no less relevance in December.
The Devil Brings Death to Darfur… and Indifference:
I really thought that I was done with Darfur. I signed the petition, sent in my 20 bucks, and even bought a “Save Darfur” t-shirt to boot. It wasn’t enough to stop the genocide… just my conscience. Don’t get me wrong: I often remarked to others “just how terrible what was going on”… usually somewhere before passing the potatoes and sometime after checking the New York Yankees daily box scores. I mean, I really did want to do more; it was just that Sudan seemed soooooooooooooooooooooo far away. That was before yesterday. That was before I saw “The Devil Came on Horseback (view trailer) at SILVERDOCS annual AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival. Other viewers can decide just how much that is a statement on my own character flaws or the power of this documentary.
Documentary Review: “The Devil Came on Horseback”, co-directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, chronicles how Sudan’s Arab government and its Janjaweed militias have systematically destroyed villages and displaced, raped, tortured, and killed Darfur’s black African citizens since 2003. The story is told through the eyes of former US Marine Captain Brian Steidle who was transformed from “soldier-assigned-a-mission” to “activist-on-a-mission”. His old cause was taking pictures to make a few extra dollars. His new one is waking up the American people and American government to wield its unique power. The documentary includes factual background information behind the unfolding of the genocide, graphic photographs depicting the worst of atrocities, and perhaps most importantly, rarely-heard voices from displaced Darfur survivors. Like the photographs, this documentary simply cannot be ignored.
Post-Screening: After the viewing, a panel discussion ensued of guests who have been intimately involved in the trenches of raising awareness and spurring action. John Prendergast who along with “actor-vist” Don Cheadle (see news video) co-authored the book, Not On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond, said: “if America spent one quarter of 1% as much effort diplomatically as it does with regard to Iraq, we can end the genocide in Darfur overnight”. He mentioned that such a US led multilateral effort should include Sudan trading partners such as China and France. So what’s the problem? The more I listened, the more I realized that I was definitely part of it. He stated: “Unless we have a constituency of Americans continually urging their local congressmen to make Darfur an urgent priority, nothing is going to change”. Co-director Sundberg expressed optimism around the documentary’s scheduled June 26th screening for US congressional members. She hopes that the screening will help lead to a “tipping point where awareness turns into action”. She added that this all depends on whether those congressmen even show up to the viewing, which in turn, is dependent on whether people in their districts urge them (1-800-436-6243).
Personal Reflection: I have seen many documentaries on genocide and human atrocities. Movies too. Hotel Rwanda? Killing Fields? Roots? Schindler’s List? Been there, done that, and after each time I incredulously asked: "how did all the ‘good people’ allow this to happen?" “The Devil Came on Horseback” was different. The others were always past tense. This one is “in progress” or as Prendergast puts it “genocide in slow motion”. So what if President Clinton could have made good on what he admits today to be his biggest presidential mistake (that’s Rwanda, not Monica)? And what if we could turn back the clock and intervene at the Holocaust’s “3 million dead” marker? No need for time machines. From what I learned yesterday, each American can still play the role of Oskar Schindler. Prendergast calls it “moving from a bystander to an upstander”. Sounds like a good move to me. Like most of our elected officials, I have been far too quiet on this. However, when it comes to fighting for "the side of right", I’d always rather show up late, than not at all. Even still, it should not have taken a documentary for me to get focused. Everyone should see "The Devil Came on Horseback", but no one should wait for it to act. And no, I have no idea how many hits Derek Jeter got last night.
What Now? The amount of Darfur citizens driven from their homes equal THREE Katrinas, the amount of deaths far exceed ONE HUNDRED “9-11s”, and the percentage of screening audience members who wanted to do more was 100%. Thankfully, all members were handed a “TAKE ACTION NOW” card before they left which I will now share with you.
"The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference." — Elie Wiesel
This information has been reprinted below verbatim.
TAKE ACTION NOW
1) SPEAK OUT
– Check out your elected leaders’ record on Darfur: www.darfurscores.org
– Call the President, Congress, and your governor: 1-800-GENOCIDE (436-6243) Demand: Immediate UN intervention in Darfur Unrestricted Access for Humanitarian Aid No-fly zone and economic and military sanctions
2) TAKE ACTION
– Divest in Companies doing Business in Sudan www.sudandivestment.org
– Contact the Save Darfur Coalition: www.savedarfur.org Learn how to generate media coverage, lobby elected leaders and pressure the international community to do more to help the people of Sudan.
3) LEARN MORE
– The Devil Came on Horseback See the film: www.thedevilcameonhorseback.com Read the book: www.publicaffairsbooks.com/steidle.html
– Enough www.enoughproject.org Enough uses field and policy analysis and strong policy advocacy to empower a growing activist movement to stop and prevent genocide
4) SUPPORT CHANGE
– Global Grassroots: www.globalgrassroots.org Global Grassroots offers training and seed funding to help women genocide survivors launch social projects. Proceeds from this film will help Darfur refugee women rebuild
– Three Generations: www.threegenerations.org Three generations is compiling evidence of genocide in Darfur, especially through the making of this film. Make ending genocide a personal commitment.
– Join HOPE: www.hopemusicfund.org The HOPE (Helping Other People Everywhere) Music Campaign empowers individuals to take action on Darfur through music.
"The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference." — Elie Wiesel
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Thank you so much for the contact information on this.
MODI:
I agree there are problems in Sudan – and it’s not the only place. An argument could be made that the situation in Congo is far worse – but before we get to that…
What’s a Black African? And what’s a Sudanese Arab?
Actually – don’t bother to answer that…it’s immaterial given the gravity of the matters at hand. The answer is simply that there is no such thing as a “black African” any more than there is such a thing as a brown Asian a yellow Asian a red American or a white European. The fact of the matter is that Arab is not a racial designation in Africa and refers only to language. The fact of the matter is also that this notion of sub-saharan Africa is a neo-European attempt to erroneously classify the history of Africa. The terminology miscasts complex issues – and leave one to wonder why there is so much attention paid to the country that shares 9 borders with other African nations and has so many Chinese infrastructure investors. I doubt that savedarfur.org is the best place to send your money since their leadership was just blasted for spending too much money on media buys – and because folks like Ruth Messinger could give two shits about what goes on in Africa.
Yes, indeed a very good argument can be made for the Congo.
Well, everone in Sudan is an African of course. But the distinction in language is to help explain the root of the genocide as the Sudanese Arab government and the Janjaweed (arab) view black Sudanese citizens as inferior. This view of supremacy makes the atrocities possible. Without this very important distinction there is probably no genocide. Perhaps there was a better way for me to communicate that distinction.
I can’t say where every dollar should go – but donations might go here. http://www.johndaufoundation.org/
Modi – their all “black” in the western sense of the word. If you’ve seen pictures of those folks in Khartoum who were ready to string up that British teacher for dissin’ their prophet, you’d get my drift.
Perhaps religious allegiance is the question. In the south, where Islam has absolutely NO chance of gaining significant penetration without force, there is no allegiance by the residents to anyone or anything outside of the region. The Sudanese know their history is as long as any people on the planet and have no self-esteem issues with respect to impositions of Christianity or Islam – in fact, few of them would see either faith as foreign given the manner in which the African continent nurtured both faiths and saved them from extermination in Europe and Asia.
The Western media does NOT use the term Arab to signify language – they use it to suggest race. Properly speaking, the term “Arabic” might be used, but the use of the word “Arab” to signify language is not appropriate in the Western sense. Many “Arabs” around the world self-designate as such to signify their linguistic grounding – rather than an ethnic heritage. Professor Ali Mazrui often refers to such populations as “Arabized.” The Southern Sudanese are not an “Arabized” population. The Sudanese are African – and not of disparate ethnicity sufficient to occasion genocide. They are of sufficient linguistic and religious orientation to “justify” the imposition of force – but the goal has not been conversion – it’s been relocation.
Perhaps Ruth Messinger should try to get a sit down with LeBron James and his boy Warren Buffett who is deep in Sudan. They could talk about the finer points of bullshit, basketball and politics.
She could explain why all of their money is being spent on Madison Avenue; Warren could explain why all of his money is being funneled through Wall Street; and LeBron could sit there stupefied at the conversation wondering when his next dunk would be broadcast. (I don’t say that to slam him personally – I say it to suggest that these adults have some serious game about themselves and that game would be imperceptible to him – given his age and political miseducation.)
“The Western media does NOT use the term Arab to signify language – they use it to suggest race.”
I agree and that is what i meant in my original statement (i used the word “language” to refer to the words in this original post).
“The Sudanese are African – and not of disparate ethnicity sufficient to occasion genocide. They are of sufficient linguistic and religious orientation to “justify†the imposition of force – but the goal has not been conversion – it’s been relocation.”
I think the situation might be more muddled than that. The perception that i got from the documentary is that the Janjaweed considered themselves “Arab” in a racial sense and considered the “black” Sudanese to be racially inferior. I could be wrong on this point, either through my memory or faulty information, but I remember a clear racial element to this.
Are you suggesting that the Sudanese “Arabs” believe in the Western sense, that they are of the same “race” as “Arabs” in Syria? You kidding right?
I’m being facetious. I’m sure it’s not what you meant – but it may be what the documentary intended.
Modi,
Back during the time of the atrocities in the Great Lakes, I wittnessed what I termed a “tricklecide” (I think you called it here “genocide in slow motion”). The MSM find more interest in mass graves, graphic scenes, and misery beyond the human recognition. Those “scenes” are more interesting for the economics of MSM. People killed at a rate of 10/day for months on end is a trickle compared to the rate seen in Rwanda.
The insidious nature of the Vick ruling is that he was charged for “inhumane” treatment of animals. For my liking and understanding, maybe humane treatment should be reserved for HUMANS regardless of the ethnic/national origin.
Calling on the MSM to turn their focus on the substance of pain and human suffering rather than testing the poison level of their venom is noble Modi. Will they heed? Dare we try!
Yes, Steady all we could is try… my motto is “blog for change or die trying!”
You know, sometimes I feel like blogging is immaterial – and then there are times when I know better. The cases of Shaquanda Cotton and the Jena Six are probably the best examples. But I can’t help feeling that folks are reading our stuff. When I read certain MSM articles or hear certain personalities, I know they weren’t saying some of these things last year – and I wonder if they’re “coming around.”
Some have literally been coming around where they can get closer to our sentiments – and still others are listening from afar. You were able to reach out on the Nash issue – and that’s not even one of your high-flying issues.
Frankly, on some levels, I was surprised to see anyone at ESPN acknowledge Mitchell’s role at Disney. It has not been a long-standing critique of their writers – I suppose it was unavoidable yesterday. In any event, I do believe there is something to be said for building a legacy.
Temple, I believe in blogging like I believe in voting. Will my vote make the difference, most of the times “no”. But you’ve got to stand up and be counted to avoid being part of the problem. However, there are certainly some tangible areas that I can point to that we KNOW we have helped shape the discussion.
And quantity of readers is good, but what is more important is WHO might be reading. A highly circulated piece around the web might get 10,000 views and not make a dent, but another piece could get 500 views but have influenced some primetime journalists with more juice. There is value in that. So it is really hard to say. Sometimes another blogger likes your shit, rides it with a new angle and they get noticed. That is what we want in the blogging community: “collective power”. As you mention, that is exactly what happened with Jena 6 and Shaquanda Cotton. In my mind every single blogger out there who wrote a post on each of those subjects before the mainstream came rolling along deserves a measure of credit.
I don’t want to get too philosophical here, but blogging is the closest thing to a true democracy that we have. The media conglomerates have removed diversity from all other mediums whether it be print media, TV, or radio. it is the only thing that can provide alternative voices and possibly even save our media. whether that last statement is merely opimistic or just plain foolish I’ll let you decide.
“blog for change or die tryin’”