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Let's Not Just Go Back to Our Dinners
Posted by MadameX • 4/10/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Tags: darfur, hotel rwanda, paul rusesabagina
I want to take a moment to shamelessly promote someone else's blog, extend my thanks, and perhaps stimulate some thought.
Last night, I had the opportunity to see Paul Rusesabagina speak. He is the hotel manager portrayed by Don Cheadle in the movie The Hotel Rwanda and a true hero in the sense that he wasn't fighting for a "side" or to "win" or achieve power or advance an agenda or anything like that--he simply risked everything to keep people (mostly strangers) alive.
There's a line in the movie in which Rusesabagina says that once the news footage reaches the west, someone will have to do something, and someone else responds something like, "They'll see the footage, they'll say 'that's horrible', and they'll go back to their dinners." It's a sad truth for most of us, and this man provides a stunning counterpoint because he demonstrates the overwhelming difference an "ordinary man" can make if he simply chooses to do so.
A college student asked Rusesabagina what we could do to avoid just going back to our dinners, and he said that awareness was the most important thing, that the more people who knew and cared and spoke out, the more likely intervention became. We never know which little piece it is that tips the scales, but it seems clear that we should just keep piling them on, however small, until we find out. So I want to encourage everyone to check out Cooper's Darfur blog at hellonearth.wordpress.com/
I also want to thank Cooper and everyone else like her for NOT simply going back to their dinners.
User Comments
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Odd. I was thinking about this today. Everyone keeps saying "never again" and it still happens. -
What bugs me about China most is not Tibet (sorry!) but its shameless active support of the Sudan government. The U.S. having overreached in Iraq doesn't help matters,-
I think you'd find a smörgåsbord of issues involving Chinese government actions to be upset about.
In the case of Tibet/Sudan, I think an important difference is that, while China is involved somewhat indirectly in the Sudan situation, the current situation with Tibet is a direct result of China's 1951 invasion, and subsequent claim that Tibet is a Chinese province, called Xizang (Latinized, of course).
I'm not excusing China's involvement in Sudan: But I think that the Sudanese government is much more than a tool of the Chinese government: and bears some responsibility for the appalling situation in the Darfur region. -
Well of course the Sudanese govt. is responsible. But Chinese diplomacy is undermining other diplomatic efforts to do something about the issue. And the reason it bugs me more than Tibet is that a genocide is in progress.
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Bingo.
(That's one reason I never considered a career in the diplomatic corps.)
And agreed without hesitation: genocide outranks conquest, in terms of immediacy.
And, in reference to Darfur, the Chinese government has been at best unhelpful. At worst, well, I'm trying to control my blood pressure, so we won't go there. -
I'm late to join this as usual, but felt like throwing my pennies worth in having recently had a rant on my blog about celebrity involvement in Darfur.
I am not sure how educated the world is (or I am) about exactly what China IS or ISN'T doing for Darfur. I know that the arrogant finger wagging approach that some countries favour is pretty ineffective too when dealing with a face saving government, and I know that Chinese diplomacy has recognised this with good effect - and they are beginning to recognise the power of infrastructure development possible in return for economic favour (can I say exploitation?). www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article26763
I'm not bigging up the Chinese here - just playing devils PR girl. -
Nomadic,
I'm glad that you pointed out that you were playing 'devils PR girl' - It's a good idea, sometimes, to bring up alternative views. Your statement made your motives clear.
Although I am no fan of the current regime in China ( apatheticlemming.blogspot.com/2008/03/youtube-banned-by-china-online.html ), I try to be reasonable ( anotherwaronterrorblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/place-names-in-conventional-eng... ).
And, obviously, I like to self-promote.
More seriously, there's no question that the Chinese government is making a difference it its part of the world. And, in Sudan.
Part of the issue, as I see it, is what sort of difference they're making, and and how they're doing it.
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I just read the post and the suggestions its puts together to try and stop the genocide.
That was very good thought out ideas. I have my doubts on how effective they may be but its like what he says: its better to do something than to just shrug and say we cant help. -
Thanks for the post.
Darfur is a mess: moreso than many other places in the world. -
Thanks for reminding us to be diligent and supportive for our neighbors of the world...dialogue is the BEST way to help others because it encourages folks to pick up the ball and run with it! -
Thanks for the reminder and the link, Tiffany. It really is important that we do everything that we can. But for the grace of God... -
great post tiff - Hotel Rwanda was a must see movie and Don Cheadle is one of the most under-appreciated actors on earth. He's freakin' brilliant.
Regarding China - I'm also not a fan of their intentions on Taiwan, although most don't like to talk about that. They have plans for the military invasion/conquest of a democratic people there. Plus they send warnings to us and other nations not to "interfere" with their plans.
But you both are right - Darfur's situation is much more urgent. -
I agree with Mr. Rusesabagina on saying that awareness is one of the most important things. About a year ago, I saw that movie that Don Cheadle starred in at the movie rental place. I promptly rented it and took it home. My oldest son was eleven at the time. I was torn between having him watch with me or not, so I watched it by myself first.
After watching it, I decided easily that he should watch this. Given that his mother (not my wife) let's him watch just about every gory movie that has ever been made, I figured that he could watch what REAL gore and horrible atrocities are, and learn from it.
So we watched it. I paused the movie everytime that he had a question. I wanted him to learn from this. There were a couple of times that he had tears flowing from his eyes. He was a reality check that, unfortunatly, he needed to learn.
Since then he has asked to watch other movies that I thought I would not allow my son to watch, such as Schindler's List. I also sat down and watched the movie with him, answering his questions.
I can tell that it has had an impact on him in a positive way. He is still a typical happy 12 year old, who plays ball, picks on his younger brothers, and still loves his horror movies. But he has become more aware of what he hears on the news, what me and my wife talk about, and has impressed his history/social studies teacher at school.
Once again, I agree with Mr. Rusesabagina on saying that awareness is one of the most important things.
And please don't think that I believe all children should watch movies mentioned above. I would never think that. It is just I think my oldest son was ready and matue enough for it. -
Awareness is everything because once there is awareness then there is the chance that people will speak up, question, challenge, support a change (through their vote, through pressure/letters to their representatives, through boycotts).
thanks for sharing the link. -
Yes. Awareness that inspires action is the key. Feel like starting a new discussion...."sick of apathy"
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There's a thought.
"Apathy is rampant, but who cares?"
I remember reading that in the late sixties, or maybe early seventies. (The good old days - you can keep them.)
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Yes I don't like apathy but sadly with so much media bombardment of disturbing images from all corners of the world, the world becomes immune which is sad and wrong. The question is what you can do in your small corner of your world to promote change for the good?-
www.theshiftmovie.com
There is MUCH you can do, my friend! Time to reassess....think....become part of it all.
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There is apathy when the we hear statistics on the news "50, 000 dead in ..." We feel more of a connectedness when we hear of one individual who has died, we know their name, age, hobbies, quirks, history and their loving qualities.
There needs to be more of a personal quality on the news stories.-
Oh God! I think you are on the wrong discussion.......jafabrit....help me out here.
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I don't know if I can help nomadic lol! but I did find this and thought it interesting:
www.empowerthyself.com/apathyorempowerment
Really is the public apathetic to the situation in China? Frankly I can't see how the loss of thousands and the collective daily groan of anguish emanating from china isn't enough to move a person from indifference? If people need more personal story to be moved, are they the type to actually read the news and find the personal stories, or does it have to be rammed down their throat?
From what I see aid is pouring in from all over the world from organizations and individuals.
www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/05/12/daily113.html
www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/05/12/daily113.html
WE may not be able to fund every cause on the planet, but we can donate to to organizations that distribute funds for various causes, such as unicef, american/international red cross, amnesty international etc just to name a few.
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How can you give personal info on 50,000 people? Your own imagination struggles with the figures and human loss. I agree it is natural to be able to identify with one.
The other problem is - what can you do? Give money? There are so many causes, and money gets misspent. Go to the trouble zone? (My cousin does this to provide aid), but it isn't viable for everyone to go. It isn't easy.-
It is impossible to give a personal touch to the loss of thousands. I am thinking if the newscaster would tell us about the villagers that died, a few minutes about their culture, their struggles. & most importantly how we can help at home?
Perhaps? -
Even outside your door is tragity. My thing is community service I can't afford to give money. Homelessness is everywhere volunteer at a soup kitchen. Coats for kids need people to inspect coats, Salvation Army needs people to inspect clothing, Make A Wish takes volunteers for fundraising and visiting children. You don't need money just a heart.
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I volunteer with my time because i lack the funds. I love it! I belong to a small grassroots volunteer group that advocates for people who have a mental illness. We teach the public about mental illness and bring programs to the community.
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As a child, I volunteered with the Men's group for the St. Vincent DePaul Society. I helped clothing drives, worked at the soup kitchen, and helped distribute food baskets. I came in contact with THOUSANDS of people over the years doing that, and I'll tell you what; I think Shiley will agree with me that everone you make eye contact with, everyone you speak with, there IS a personal touch.
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Thanks to a new BC member, it seems, for bringing this thread back to the first page.
I've updated my Bloggers Unite May 15 post, with a link to the "Hell on Earth" blog, and to this thread. Good ideas are being exchanged - and one of them might make a difference.-
Thanks Norski for the links, I have left a facetious comment about place names...sorry I can't help myself it's like I have a blog tourette thing going on.
On apathy, interesting the "powerless" thing going on here. Especially given other discussions about media going on. Clearly things in the news are not really connecting with people - and giving money just isn't enough. Well, it isn't for some people. Perhaps images are becoming more and more grisly in order to move us.....perhaps we need that real life experience. For me what is happening in Darfur is very real. I was meant to be in Sudan this week and I have a colleague stuck in El Fasher as the SLA are approaching.... -
I am not sure I agree Nomadic, but perhaps that depends on which country one is living. why isn't money enough? We can't all rush off to china and help dig people out. What they need is money to buy food, supplies, equipment and medicine etc and it seems aid is pouring in. As for grisly images, viewers in this country (usa) are spared quite a bit from them so I am not sure your argument applies here.
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Wow. Jafabrit. You really like to disagree. Even when I don't know my own mind. I like that. I am a passionate agnostic remember (from the "Which one are you? Religious, Agnostic or Atheis ?" Discussion). Who suggested rushing to China? But I can see that there are many wonderful people who are part of this community who don't suffer apathy, who get out and volunteer and generate a positive rather than a negative or a "don't care". Bloody well done.
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I love discussing/exploring issues and am willing to disagree respectfully or play devils advocate. I would hope you or others don't take it personal as it's more about the idea than an attack on a person. So I wasn't saying that you said we should rush to china, just was speaking in general. We are not as helpless as we think, it just feels that way because we feel the pain and can't assuage it with a quick fix remedy.
It does seem we have crossed paths quite a bit today
toodle pip for now passionate agnostic
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Thanks Madam X,
I have to tell each and every one who read this that on so many levels whether it be for Darfur, your local women's shelter, or Veterans Center - what ever floats your boat so to speak -there is much that can be done.
When I started the blog on Darfur there was only one other blog posting about this issue "Coalition for Darfur" and no one was reading it - all of a sudden things changed and there was more activity. If nothing else you can write legislators, divest and let it be known. Many people have started local groups for fund raising or joined fund raising efforts just from reading information on the blog.
Choose something and go for it, it is true there is much we have no control over but there are some things we can get involved in.
The celebrity part of this is sadly that in this country no none cares about anything unless there is a celebrity involved.
Actually the pressure of China has worked to a degree. China remains one of the worse violators of human rights out there, in the top ten until this march when the UN took them off "the list" merely because they were hosting the Olympics.
There are some great blogs from Sudan out there as well, on the ground blogs which all give their opinions on the issues and even they do not agree. I think actually reading what those who live in Sudan have to say is worth noting. Blogs from Khartoum - the capital of Sudan where the people live in veritable luxury compared to their refugee countrymen.
Just as in Congo where it is unlikely we will stop the Coltran wars which are devastating the country, we can encourage the UN and it Nation States on the Security council (as lame as the whole thing often appears) to demand punishment for the horrific and brutal rapes of Congolese women. It is lack of punishment (despite laws enacted a couple of years ago) which allows this to go on. Little by little the women are starting to prosecute and there have been a few convictions - it will take constant and sustained prosecution for these crimes to stop this.-
This is all inspiring.
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I should also mention that the Darfur blog is the only blog where if someone links to it we link back( unless you have an offensive blog0. Though you have to email us as there as we really don't check back links.
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For those of you who want some positives on Darfur from the people of Darfur have a look at www.afiasudan.org/
If you read arabic afia-darfur.net/afia/
This is not shameless - I am very proud that this came about due to the efforts of the people I work with. Let me know if you want to know more about the projects or the Afia Darfur festival. Yes, we used celebrities there, where it had an impact - Sudanese celebrities. -
Nomadic this is great.
One of the better known blogs written by a Sudanese, but one which you all may not read is "The Sudanese Thinker" - just thought I'd throw that in as well.
Drima, ( the Sudanese thinker) often sarcastic and certainly opinionated and from Sudan is worth the read. -
I am praying every day for peace, love and harmony. I now think about the world's peoples throughout my day and pray for Divine Intervention.
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