This isn't something I usually do, and I usually can't stand it when people preach or pontificate to me, however, this is too important to let sit any longer...
As I'm sure you're all aware the atrocities in Darfur have been going on for years. I'd imagine, if you're like me, you've heard the stories and been peripherally aware of the situation for years now. So what turns someone from one who sits on their couch and thinks "God, that's awful," to someone who writes this email and gets involved? A simple answer, I saw a movie this weekend. It's called The Devil Came on Horseback. It's a documentary that details the ongoing conflict in the Sudan. Make no mistake, though we hear little about it anymore, the atrocities continue. Since 2004 approximately 2.5 million Sudanese have been displaced and 400,000 killed.
In DC, the movie is playing at the Avalon Theater on Connecticut Avenue in NW. It's the only place in the area where the movie is showing. If you live outside the DC area, you can go to www.thedevilcameonhorseback.com for theaters and show times in your area. The film is, to put it mildly, disturbing. The images shown will be forever burned on to the IMAX in my mind.
It's as if the ethnic African Sudanese people have been forced into slavery. Now, that word has a lot of power, and most would suggest that it's foolish of me to use it, but, in essence that's what's going on. Not in the same sense as Africans were enslaved in this country, but slaves nonetheless. Slaves to the corporations who would rather protect profit than people. Slaves to their own government who defend and enrich only themselves. Slaves to the outside influence of countries who covet only the resources they can export, not the resources inherent in the humanity of those who reside there. Slaves to the circumstances around them over which they have no control and from which they have no escape. And it's time it stopped.
They say those that fail to understand history are doomed to repeat it. History is repeating itself. Let me ask you this.... If you could go back to the 1930's and stop the Holocaust before it happened, would you? What about the ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia? The genocide in Rwanda? We're too late to stop this before it starts, but we can help put an end to it before any more lives are uselessly wasted.
So, why am I writing this? Because, perhaps naively, I believe that a small group of dedicated people can change the world. And, what am I asking of you? See the movie. If you can't see the movie, and I know most of you have busy lives, jobs and other things that will probably keep you from getting to the theater, go to www.savedarfur.org or www.glabalgrassroots.org and donate $10 (the cost of a ticket). I know, asking for money is the fastest way to get people to hit the delete button, but you should know that 100% of the charitable partner proceeds earned from the film go to Global Grassroots (www.globalgrassroots.org), a non-profit charity that helps Darfuri refugees and Rwandan genocide survivors rebuild their lives. Think of it this way, it's one less drink when you're out one night or two less trips to Starbucks this week or month.
The reason this movie affected me so is I looked at those people and saw my friends and family. The dead and displaced are someone's mother or father, brother or sister or child. What would you do if they were yours?
