I watched another heart-wrenching documentary on the genocide in Darfur. Titled “On Our Watch”, it was featured on PBS Frontline. It’s unbelievable that this atrocity is still occurring in 2008 and the leaders of our world community cannot muster the “will” to impress upon Sudan that it must stop this genocide. The documentary touched on some of the reasons why there is such a failure to act… the most vital being oil. It’s paradoxical that there are those who believe that Iraq was invaded because of it’s oil fields, while Sudan is left to continue it’s policy of genocide because of it’s oil fields.
There is lots of blame to go around for this failure to act, from the U.N; the U.S. (which has taken a hardline and imposed strict economic sanctions on Sudan, but could obviously do more… see here); the European Community, The Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Iran, The African Union, The Arab League and China… to name just a few of the major players. Let’s not forget about the Afrosphere, which could do much more to advocate for the people of Darfur. If half as much energy, focus and commitment was utilized by bloggers of African descent to organize, petition and demand action to stop the genocide in Darfur, as was generated to support the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, there would be more pressure on our leaders, both community and political, to address this issue. If we don’t show we care by taking action, they certainly won’t! For some of us, it will be a historic achievement to have a black face in the White House… while for others, it’s a historic achievement to survive the day without being raped, tortured or killed… and being able to have one meal for the day. Let me give a “dap and a big up!” to Yobachi over at BlackPerspectives.net, who has been constant in his commitment on keeping Darfur an issue in the Afrosphere.
Below are links to the PBS Frontline documentary and other informative sites on Darfur. There are also links on these sites giving you the opportunity to get involved in stopping the genocide.
- On Our Watch
- sudanreeves.org
- Eyes on Darfur (Seo Company)
- Save Darfur
- Save Darfur: Partner Campaigns
So right you are. I myself have been aware about the situation in Darfur for a while now (I want to say over a year) but have never really spoke on it in my blog. Thanks for taking me to task, your message has not fallen on totally deaf ears.
Ditto! I need to learn more and do more. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks for this Asa! More knowledge is always good.
Thanks for posting on this. I really hope people will think about what kind of world they wan to live in, where this type of thing is allowed.
Today it’s over there – tomorrow it will be over here.
I worked on a kiosk project for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center on Darfur. George Clooney and his father Nick were the driving force behind the project.
You can watch video of their trip to Darfur here: http://www.cetconnect.org/genericPlayer.asp?id=392&topic=CET+Connect