This week I had the opportunity to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s new exhibit—staged by their Committee on Conscience— which has just opened, and is definitely worth visiting when you are in DC. The Holocaust Museum’s permanent exhibit documents the Holocaust through artifacts and multimedia displays. At the end of the permanent exhibit, be sure to continue across the hall to move “From Memory to Action” at the new exhibit.
“From Memory to Action” begins with the history of Raphael Lemkin who coined the word genocide and pushed for the adoption of the UN Convention on Genocide in 1948. Around three sides of the room you will find 3 tiered banners, artfully mounted on poles reminiscent of a refugee camp, giving facts about the genocides in Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur. I was pleased to see that this portion of the exhibit ends with a full tiered picture of one of the many Save Darfur rallies, highlighting how the Darfur movement has changed the way that the world responds to genocide.
Mounted on the ceiling are about a dozen TV screens with prominent genocide survivors, activists and scholars taking turns speaking about their experiences with genocide, the anti-genocide movement and why it is important to take action now. Our own Jerry Fowler, Mark Hanis of the Genocide Intervention Network and Omer Ismail of Enough are among the many Darfur activists featured on this display.
Below the TVs is a table with rotating quotes which you can touch to receive more information about the person quoted. This causes a box to pop up on the table with that person’s story, pictures (which can also be touched to reveal more information boxes) and an option to save the story. To save it you insert your pledge card (more on making pledges below) into a slot on the table under the story and you can revisit the story on the website once you go home. I found stories about my colleague at Save Darfur, Niemat Ahmadi, and activists Brian Steidle and Carl Wilkens to save, but there were many others you might find interesting.
Which brings us to one of the most exciting parts of the new exhibit: all of the content is available online! You don’t have to come to Washington to pledge your commitment to Darfur and the anti-genocide movement. You can do it from right here in front of your computer. Although I do recommend doing it in person, if you have the chance, because the technology involved is really the best I’ve seen at any of the exhibits I’ve visited in DC. If you sign the pledge card at the museum, you can see it pop up on the large screen which dominates the last wall of the exhibit in your own handwriting! Plus seeing the pledges popping up continuously and reading others’ commitments to stand up to genocide is great way to reenergize yourself through the realization that with so many people pledging to end genocide, our end goal of eradicating it forever will surely one day be achieved.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.
Tags: Brian Steidle, Carl Wilkens, Committee on Conscience, Darfur, Exhibit, Jerry Fowler, Mark Hanis, Niemat Ahmadi, Omer Ismail, USHMM
