This blog has been cross-posted from Citizens for Global Solutions

A booth at Bonnaroo

At music and art festivals you can strike up a conversation with virtually anyone. From a grassroots perspective, such an environment is perfect for discussing global issues because people are open to new ideas. It’s not uncommon for people to seek ways in which they can better the world and spread that peace, love, and happiness they experience at a festival like Bonnaroo.

Though I live only an hour away from Manchester, TN, where Bonnaroo is held, this was my first Bonnaroo experience. I have, however, years of experience with tabling and approaching people about political issues, especially genocide prevention, which was a central campaign talked about at the Citizens for Global Solutions’ (CGS) booth this year. As I expected, most people were hesitant to stop and give out their email to a non-profit organization. Yet, when they heard that Citizens for Global Solutions supports human rights and genocide prevention, they responded, “oh YEAH! Of course!” We found many festival-goers to be willing to give us their contact information, expressing a keen interest in our subject matter and a heartfelt thanks for our work. Only a few people had never heard of the term genocide at Bonnaroo; I was impressed to find that the majority of festival-goers were educated on the topic. I received plenty of specific questions from passersby about how Citizens for Global Solutions works to make genocide prevention effective.

From genocidal situations ranging from Armenian annihilation to deaths in Darfur, the United States has a history in which it is hesitant to take action. Part of the problem is the lack of constituents’ political will; many people think, “Aw, that’s terrible that those people across the world are being killed. But what does it matter to me, really? What can we really do?” Another component is the absence of mechanisms that exist in order to prevent crises and allow for the international community to respond quickly to mass atrocities. It is important for Americans to learn that there are a variety of tools that can be used, with military intervention as a last resort, for the prevention of genocide. This understanding is precisely what CGS sought to impart to Bonnaroo festival-goers. Some of my favorite conversations included discussions about different genocides and the role the United States can take to effectively protect civilians. I had one extensive conversation with a guy that started with the recent international intervention in Libya and ended with greater respect for each other’s ideas and the revelation that we were graduates of the same university. These were some of my favorite discussions at Bonnaroo: discussions that led to a greater sense of empowerment and forged connections between festival-goers.

The hardest part of genocide prevention activism is getting people to actually take tangible action beyond acknowledging the moral issues at stake. Fortunately, many passerbys were excited about CGS and spoke about how they would eagerly expect our action alert emails! Others, more skeptical about email inflow, may delete what we send. But the option is there, and the tools will be in their hands. From talking to people, I learned that festival-goers come from all over the United States and Canada. CGS is building a far-reaching constituency that supports human rights and decries atrocities; and thanks to Bonnaroo we were able to extend our constituency base.

What a rewarding first Bonnaroo experience! I had the opportunity to work with an intelligent and fun team of people, which festival-goers recognized and valued. They saw how we liked to joke and enjoy ourselves, and positively commented on our knowledge of the issues we were canvassing for, such as genocide prevention.  We represented a cause that I personally have a connection to, and enjoy discussing. The only true foes we faced included the heat and dust! Even that didn’t bring us down, however, as we whipped out the cold juice pops and spray bottles to entice people to stop by our booth and hear what we have to say. We were never forceful, but passionate.

Our passion was matched by that of our neighbors, be it our friends next door with the Gulf Restoration Network, who worked hard on a petition concerning the Gulf Coast BP oil spill, or our zealous neighbors at the mud hut with their hula hoops. Everyone at Bonnaroo brought a spirit of passion and open-mindedness to the festival, for both advocacy issues and music, making it a fantastic forum for the exchange of ideas.

Megan Wannee

Megan Wanee was the President of the STAND Chapter at the University of Tennessee and was a Citizens for Global Solutions volunteer at the Bonnaroo music festival.