Students stand for Darfur

    Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” To have knowledge of an urgent situation and allow it to happen anywhere in the world is failing to uphold a personal responsibility to the human race. The genocide in Darfur has caused an estimated 450,000 deaths and left approximately 2.5 million people displaced. If the statistics alone do not spark global interest in Darfur’s genocide, Mic Stand for Darfur held by the AAC, Art as an Agent for Change, will inspire and motivate students to get involved.
    Paul Grigsby, a junior English major and president of the AAC, is using dramatic representations to provide counter-types to the media and raise awareness for vital issues. After assisting the A.N.G.E.L.S. organization to promote HIV awareness, the AAC has been traveling and expanding to better educate, entertain and inspire.
    “I want to enable students to create change. People always ask ‘what can I do’ so we provide a positive outlet to raise awareness and be the change you wish to see,” Grigsby said.
    While students can’t physically take the guns out of the hands of Sudanese murderers, they can write influential letters to representatives who do have that power. Along with providing the names and addresses for Georgia’s representatives, the mic stand raised money for defenseless children in Darfur through the UNICEF organization.   
    “I don’t want to take the notion of freedom for granted and I don’t want anyone else’s freedom to be infringed upon,” Grigsby said, “Though it doesn’t directly affect me now, I’d rather put my foot toward stopping it so the violence can’t spread.”
    To begin the mic-stand, a roll call of demands set the mood for the night. One demand was to forget the label republican, democrat, green, socialist, anarchist, etc., and realize that we are all activists. Thus, holding all attendees responsible for their knowledge.
    The performance proceeded with acoustic performers and several slam-poems concerning the situation in Darfur, as well as slave trafficking, sex-trafficking, desensitization to murder, genocide, violence, terrorism, sexism, racism and prejudice. During the mic-stand, audience members were used in a visual representation which demonstrated the violence and death that hundreds of thousands of people experience daily.
    “Terrorism wears the mask of genocide in a country with few resources,” read one poem, “This is more than just another human rights violation.”
    Despite the horrifying situation in Darfur, there was not adequate attendance from faculty or students. Chrissy Begemann, a sophomore English major, was not pleased with the turn out.
    “The show was very moving. I am just sad there weren’t more students there,” Begemann said. “I think professors should make more extra credit opportunities so students would have more incentive to come.”
    However, there is more than just a lack of student participation. The media and government have not taken responsibility for the shocking devastation in Darfur, Sudan, according to Ryan Hamraham, an attendee from Providence, R.I.
    “Peter Jennings isn’t coming into your living room everyday talking about the genocide in Darfur,” Hamraham said. “The only reason we don’t know about it is because we [the United States] have no resources in jeopardy. What are we going to lose – dirt and sand? Human lives don’t seem to matter to some people.”
    Though there is not satisfactory coverage from knowledgeable outlets, there lays a certain responsibility to the individual, according to Hamraham.         Being a socially responsible member of society exceeds national borders and effects the human race as a whole – environmentally, politically and socially.
    “If I could put my finger on the real problem, I don’t think we would have such a desperate situation. However, it’s a combination of many things and unfortunately is derived from a greed that will always be there,” Hamraham said, “The mic-stand was a good medium to get some of these issues out there.”
    In a combination of Dr. King’s and Grigsby’s words; now that you are aware of the injustice, be the change you wish to see. There are too many opportunities to positively impact society. Ignorance is not an excuse anymore. 

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 27 2007. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry