SUDAN in Spotlight at The NEW School
On Sep 30, I attended a debate on the crisis in Sudan at the New School here in New York, which coincided with the first prez/prez wannabe debate. The evening's host was Ann Curry, of NBC's Today show. If you attended, you'd have seen a startlingly novel side to the incredibly beauteous Ann (yes, I'm crushing) than she generally shows on the Today Show. On the podium that Thursday night she was sharp, sarcastic ("I'm sure we all want to hurry home and watch two similarly-dressed men say nasty things to each other...") and incredibly knowledgeable and/or feisty. I think it would be great if she found a forum that really gives her the opportunity to let loose: Sunday morning political show, perhaps?
Anyway- I want to let you all in to a few of the conclusions that were drawn. A New York Times writer on the panel intimated that one of the reasons for the lack of response from the international community was due to international disfavor of the Bush regime, and its actions with regard to Iraq. The statement that got the applause was "Darfur is a victim of Iraq". That was a sorta mind-blower...imagine people hating us and our prez so much they won't do anything that resembles working with us. A guy who said he worked as a prosecutor trying war crimes in the Hague stepped up to the mic and said that given his experience and intimacy with the relevant laws, the situation can most ably be classified as genocide. This same gentleman had also been to the Sudan and had interviewed 50 people, who confirmed that slaughter was often preceeded or followed by air strikes by the Sudanese air force, thereby proving the collusion of the Sudanese government. Another reason for inaction may reside in the fact that China, a member of the UN Security Council, is the largest single investor in Sudanese oil. The implication is that they wouldn't vote for any sanctions because they would not want to offend the Sudanese government and jeopardize all that cheddar.
Then a young, white woman raised the issue of race. It seemed to her that there was a much faster universal response to the genocide in Bosnia than to Rwanda and now Sudan. She wanted to know if race played a part. And here, in a theatrical aside, I have to say that I looked at this 'lil chick and thought to myself, "this is the generation", this is the generation that isn't looking at race, but is thinking deeply about humanity.
We continue: The NY Times writer at that point interjected that one editor at a leading news magazine confided to him that sales went down across the board when a black face appeared on the cover.
Here I stopped myself and I looked around at the crowd. Where are the black celebrities, the Puffies, the Simmonses, the rappers, the ballers, the actors, all so rapidly to the scene when something hollow is underway? The BET Comedy Awards, surely the awards show for the crack-addicted and the silliest presentation I have ever witnessed, was crammed to the gills with the black- blinged masses, slavering and crying croco tears for another meaningless statue.They should have been there, that Thursday night, supporting.
Listen, we are to blame if we don't take responsibility for our own, when it's a proven fact (see above) that middle America doesn't even want to see us in print.
I went away thinking that I HAVE to do something, even if it's just to post this and hope someone reads it and cries or is moved to call their congressman or calls a radio station to rant. Hope is all any of us has, given the trials of this often cruel world. And living in the absence of hope, as my brethren in Darfur, is insupportable and must not continue.
Please visit www.doctorswithoutborders.org.
Anyway- I want to let you all in to a few of the conclusions that were drawn. A New York Times writer on the panel intimated that one of the reasons for the lack of response from the international community was due to international disfavor of the Bush regime, and its actions with regard to Iraq. The statement that got the applause was "Darfur is a victim of Iraq". That was a sorta mind-blower...imagine people hating us and our prez so much they won't do anything that resembles working with us. A guy who said he worked as a prosecutor trying war crimes in the Hague stepped up to the mic and said that given his experience and intimacy with the relevant laws, the situation can most ably be classified as genocide. This same gentleman had also been to the Sudan and had interviewed 50 people, who confirmed that slaughter was often preceeded or followed by air strikes by the Sudanese air force, thereby proving the collusion of the Sudanese government. Another reason for inaction may reside in the fact that China, a member of the UN Security Council, is the largest single investor in Sudanese oil. The implication is that they wouldn't vote for any sanctions because they would not want to offend the Sudanese government and jeopardize all that cheddar.
Then a young, white woman raised the issue of race. It seemed to her that there was a much faster universal response to the genocide in Bosnia than to Rwanda and now Sudan. She wanted to know if race played a part. And here, in a theatrical aside, I have to say that I looked at this 'lil chick and thought to myself, "this is the generation", this is the generation that isn't looking at race, but is thinking deeply about humanity.
We continue: The NY Times writer at that point interjected that one editor at a leading news magazine confided to him that sales went down across the board when a black face appeared on the cover.
Here I stopped myself and I looked around at the crowd. Where are the black celebrities, the Puffies, the Simmonses, the rappers, the ballers, the actors, all so rapidly to the scene when something hollow is underway? The BET Comedy Awards, surely the awards show for the crack-addicted and the silliest presentation I have ever witnessed, was crammed to the gills with the black- blinged masses, slavering and crying croco tears for another meaningless statue.They should have been there, that Thursday night, supporting.
Listen, we are to blame if we don't take responsibility for our own, when it's a proven fact (see above) that middle America doesn't even want to see us in print.
I went away thinking that I HAVE to do something, even if it's just to post this and hope someone reads it and cries or is moved to call their congressman or calls a radio station to rant. Hope is all any of us has, given the trials of this often cruel world. And living in the absence of hope, as my brethren in Darfur, is insupportable and must not continue.
Please visit www.doctorswithoutborders.org.
posted by euphoria at 1:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home