Drumming up support, awareness for Darfur

Students heading to late meal walked to a different beat last night, as a circle of students jammed on African drums on the south lawn of Frist Campus Center. Led by New Jersey-based artist Dorothy Sikora, about 20 students made the campus resound with the first sounds of Embracing Darfur, a week of events organized by the Princeton Darfur Action Committee (PDAC).

The week was scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, which began April 7, 1994. In November, PDAC organized An Evening for Darfur, a night of dance and vocal performances that raised more than $5,000 for Oxfam.

"This time around it's really more focused on raising attention and awareness and getting people to focus on the issues," said Katrina Rogachevsky '07, co-director of PDAC. "We feel that attention on this has flagged, but the problem has not gone away."

On Sunday, there was a screening of "Stopping a Genocide," a documentary on Darfur, followed by a talk by the film's director, Cornell University professor John Weiss.

Monday began the weeklong sale of green elastic Darfur wristbands bearing the slogan "Not on My Watch. Save Darfur." The profits from the sale of the bands, each costing $3, will benfit the International Rescue Committee.

On Thursday night at the Street, the wristbands will function as passes for all eating clubs except Cottage and Ivy.

With the drum band, the committee hoped to attract passersby to pick up a flyer, get involved and "get ethnically close to Africa," said Katherine Ensler '08, a member of the committee.

"Often in attempts to raise awareness of humanitarian issues, people lose sight of the amazing culture that is behind it all," Rogachevsky said.

"There's always a picture of Africa that is out there. But I think it is nice for people to learn that there is all this war, but that there were people living normal lives before the war," said Kithinii Muriira, a freshman from Kenya.

Activity on Frist's south lawn continued after the drum circle with a rally led by speakers Ali Ali Dinar, grandson of the last Sultan of Darfur and a professor at Penn, and Brian Steidle, an African Union observer in Darfur.

African hip hop artists Balozi Dola and Chosan entertained students after the speeches, Dola rapping mostly in his native Swahili.

"Stop the genocide. Stop the massacre. Stand up for Darfur," Chosan chanted to applause.

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Embracing Darfur continues tonight with a screening tonight of "The Killing Fields," a film about Pol Pot's "Bloody Zero" campaign in Cambodia. On Thursday there will be a lecture by Brian Sims of the State Department at 4:30 p.m. in Robertson Bowl 16. Friday is the final day of events, with a screening of "Ararat," a film about the Armenian Genocide, at 8 p.m. in McCosh 50, and artists Dola Belozi and Chosan will perform at 10 p.m. at Campus Club.

"We're talking about genocide on a larger level. We're really talking about the current place where [genocide] is going on in the world, but we're also talking about genocide in general and the roots of that," Rogachevsky said.

With the diverse selection of speakers and films, PDAC co-director Amity Weiss '07 sees the week as "opening more of a dialogue and being interested in genocide as an issue that America has an obligation to deal with."

Students were visibly moved by both of Monday's speakers.

"In the newspapers they don't emphasize as much that the government is responsible," Kamilla Hassen '08 said in response to Dinar's words.

Steidle spent six months on one of several AU teams dedicated to monitoring the ceasefire that was announced in Darfur on April 8 of last year. As the U.S. representative on his team, Brian witnessed countless acts of brutality during his time in Sudan, often agonizing over the fact that his position prevented him from intervening.

"We wrote our reports, we took our pictures and we went home," Steidle told the crowd. Steidle closed his speech to the visibly moved crowd by urging, "Tell your professors, tell the lawmakers that this is important to you and that this needs to stop."