For some time now, artists have been contacting Save Darfur, eager to tell us about the projects they’ve undertaken to express their feelings on the grave situation in Sudan and inform others about the crisis taking place. We were not only impressed by these individuals’ passion, but also by their many talents, and we knew that we needed to find a way to put their talents and passion to good use.  The question was, how? In many ways, the arts fell outside the realm of the more traditional activist activities that Save Darfur Coalition usually participated in and promoted, so we had to take a look at the larger meaning of activism.

At its root, activism is about educating and inspiring yourself and others to create the changes you desire to see in the world. There are no set guidelines on exactly what this entails, on who can be involved, or on how to accomplish it. It’s left up to each individual activist to examine the unique talents and tools they have at their disposal. So while some individuals focus on writing letters to the editor, or lobbying their representative, or even holding rallies, others have turned to visual, written and performing arts to get their message out

In order to provide a creative outlet for these artistic activist endeavors, we created a space where we can showcase artists’ abilities and their messages. Our Creative Community will serve as a forum to display the poetry, music, art, theater, dance, multimedia, and film projects that artists have created to raise awareness of or to educate others about the conflict in Sudan. It is our hope that these works of art will serve to inspire and engage not only our current activists, but also a new constituency that’s dedicated to utilizing art as a vehicle of change.

If you have a piece of art you would like to contribute or if you would like to receive e-mail updates on the Creative Community, please email creativecommunity@savedarfur.org. Be sure to include your project content and a few sentences about your background and what inspired you to create your work. Unfortunately, for space purposes, we will not be able to include all submissions. We hope to hear from you soon!

As a 2010 Carl Wilkens Fellow, I am excited for opportunity to introduce a new project to the anti-genocide community. I am thrilled to announce that yesterday on March 14, 2010, the One Million Bones project officially launched in Albuquerque, New Mexico

One Million Bones is a fundraising art installation designed to recognize the millions of victims who have been killed or displaced by ongoing genocides, creating a visual demand for solutions to this issue. Our mission is to increase global awareness of these atrocities while raising the critical funds needed to protect and aid displaced and vulnerable victims.

The goal of One Million Bones is for one million people to each create one bone to represent one victim of genocide. In the spring of 2013, each bone will be installed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.  Like a mass grave, the installation will recall the millions of victims of genocide, and demand action from the American people, our policy makers, and the worldwide community to end ongoing atrocities.

To raise funds, One Million Bones requests a sponsorship of $5 for each bone submitted in hopes of generating $5 million. Proceeds will be donated to our beneficiary organizations — Genocide Intervention Network, Enough!, and Women for Women International.

To open the project up to a larger audience of people and to raise further funds, the project offers a second way to participate. This option will allow individuals who would like to be a part of the project but who cannot create a bone to make a $15 contribution that will enable a bone to be manufactured and sponsored in their name. These manufactured bones will be constructed of biodegradable materials impregnated with seeds. When the installation is completed, One Million Bones will distribute these bones to be buried with a foreseeable future of growth. That way this project will not end with the installation; rather, it will renew itself the following year. Hopefully, this regeneration will celebrate the end of one or more outbreaks of genocide; if not, it will reinvigorate the movement calling for an end to the atrocities.

The importance of this project within the anti-genocide movement lies in its mission to create a visual movement that is based on civic engagement and participation. One Million Bones offers an open, creative and educational environment in which students can address the issue of genocide. The project also offers an opportunity for individuals to find their voices in this movement, while creating a visual space where that voice will be heard and understood in a tangible way. But the most important component of this project is to use the momentum and participation to change the behavior of the international community regarding genocide.

I am excited for the opportunity to introduce this project to the anti-genocide community and to ask for your support.   On behalf of the One Million Bones project, I invite all of you to be a part of it… to find your voice through your actions, your hands, your eyes and your vision.  For more information please visit our website at http://www.onemillionbones.org

In the meantime, I wanted to share one of the paintings we received during the 16 Days. By Lori Khan, an activist in Houston, TX, this work is titled “Listen!” She writes: “I want the viewer to see the painting and to listen, if you will, to the cries of the victim [of rape] and, perhaps most importantly, take action to prevent the further victimization of women.  I chose the name ‘Listen!’ because it is a proactive word and the person depicted in the painting is speaking to the viewer, her words painted into the background of the painting.”

We look forward to featuring more powerful work like Lori’s, which speaks to what is happening on the ground in Sudan and bring new kinds of attention to the issue. Stay tuned…and email melissa@savedarfur.org if you have any ideas or additions.

Despite this, I hadn’t really thought about how others might be using art to raise awareness until I found out about a choreographer in Philadelphia, Rebecca Davis. Rebecca had sent Save Darfur information about a ballet she’d created about the genocide in Darfur. I was immediately interested. Dancing has always been one my greatest passions, I studied ballet for years, and even taught it in for a period of time. I knew that dance had often been used to make statements about social issues but had no idea anyone had done a piece on Darfur.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a performance of excerpts from Rebecca’s Ballet Darfur. I was extremely impressed with what I saw. Not only was she able to put together a beautiful, technically exceptional piece of dance, but was also able to depict issues such as sexual violence and genocide on stage in a way that was very emotionally moving for an audience. The best part was of the evening was getting to talk to audience and the dancers about how this work of art had inspired them to learn more about the genocide and its effects on communities, families and the women in the Darfur.

I am so happy to see Rebecca Davis being honored today for both her talents as an artist and an activist. I encourage everyone to follow her example today and use their individual talents to help educate and inspire those around them. If creating art isn’t your thing, you can still learn about and enjoy the creative things others in your community are doing to help raise awareness.

Panelists: Rev. Gloria White-Hammond, MD; John Heffernan; Maria Bello; Niemat Ahmadi; Dr. Kelly Askin

Last night Americans joined together on one night, in one voice, calling for an end to violence against women in Darfur.

Here in Washington DC, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum hosted a premier of Save Darfur’s short documentary, Reclaiming Dignity, and a panel discussion on the topic.  You can watch the incredibly powerful video and panel by downloading them here.

The documentary is an important call to action to concerned citizens around the world.  Sexual violence in Darfur is a destructive and pervasive weapon of war and genocide.  However, the women who survive this violence and those who support them are pillars of strength and fonts of knowledge about how to stop these atrocities.  Only by hearing their stories can we begin to understand how to support these women in their quest for peace in Darfur.

Save Darfur president Jerry Fowler introduced the panel by reminding the audience that April, Genocide Prevention Month, is quickly coming up.  For this year’s Holocaust remembrance the Holocaust Museum will be highlighting the work of Raphael Lemkin, the man behind the Genocide Convention.  The theme is “what you do matters”.

“What you do matters” could’ve been the theme for last night’s event, as well.  It was an honor to hear from our colleague Niemat Ahmadi, who survived assasination attempts by the Sudanese government for her work to help women and girls in Darfur.  Niemat told the activsts watching, “you kept our people alive”.

You can take immediate action to help the women and girls of Darfur by sending them a message of support:

Call 1-888-473-7885. Express your moral support by leaving any message you feel comfortable with. Let the women of Darfur know that you care, are thinking of them and are acting to help them. We will play these messages over the radio to camps in Darfur so that they hear our collective voices as “One Voice.”

You can also urge Secretary of State Clinton to act to end violence against women in Darfur.

We urge you to direct the U.S. Department of State to create the necessary mechanisms to stop this type of violence and immediately address the continued targeting of women in Darfur, Sudan.

Maria Bello shared an inspiring quote from journalist Amy Goodman:

“People need to go where the silence is and say something.”

The best way to break the silence around sexual violence in Darfur is to literally say something – to the women and girls in Darfur, to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton, and to your members of Congress.  The women of Darfur have spoken up with strength and dignity.  We must stand with them and call on our leaders to do the same.

For more details on the event please see our press release.

For more photos of the event please check out my Flickr set.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ries/the-mysterious-original-hope-photo-6y

THE PRESIDENT: I have just had the distinct pleasure and honor of visiting with Dr. Halima Bashir, who wrote a book called “Tears of the Desert.” This good soul brings firsthand accounts to what life is like in Darfur. She has witnessed violence, deprivation, and she carries a message of a lot of people who want our help.

I assured her that, in spite of the economic difficulties, our aid will continue to flow. We will use our influence to make sure the aid gets to the people of Darfur.

I also made it clear that I am frustrated with the pace of activities; that the United Nations must expedite sending troops, peacekeepers, to provide security for the people — that’s what they want, they want to be able to have a secure life — and that we’ll help.

The United States continues to stand at the ready to provide airlift. The pace of action out of the United Nations is too slow. We support the mediation process by the A.U.-U.N. mediator. In other words, we recognize in order for there to be peace in Darfur that parties must come to the table in good faith and solve the problems.

And finally, it’s very important for President Bashir of Sudan to know that he cannot escape accountability; that if he so choose, he could change people’s lives, the condition of people’s lives very quickly.

I’ve appointed a special envoy to Sudan to help put pressure on the government. The United States must continue to rally the international community to put pressure on the government, as well. The urgency of the situation is never more apparent than when I had the honor of visiting with this brave soul.

And so I welcome you to the Oval Office. And I welcome any comments you want to make.

DR. BASHIR: Yes, of course. Thank you very much for the President to invite me to the White House. I think this is — I’m very happy because now Darfur victims’ voices is heard in the White House and to the American people and to the world. And I think the President, the message I send to him is going to — to do more work in Darfur to handle the situation, and to (inaudible) troops and the ICC ruling and just to stop the genocide and the crisis in Darfur, because now more than five years and we do not need to wait anymore. We need real action.

I thank you very much.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you all.

Amanpour interviewed Mukesh Kapila, a British doctor and former U.N. official, on the international community’s response to the Darfur crisis for the documentary.

“What happened in Darfur would be classified as obscene,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “It’s a combination of a horror movie and a snuff movie.”

However, Amanpour also notes the role that activists have played in bringing the crisis to the forefront and demanding action by elected officials.

But as conditions in Darfur became more widely known, a grass-roots movement began to grow, putting pressure on the White House and a spotlight on the U.N. Security Council. According to Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, “no other tragedy since 1945 has caught the imagination of so many people as Darfur has.”

Check out the documentary tomorrow and let us know what you think.

“Tears of the Desert” is that rarest of literary endeavors, not just a book you read but a book you experience. Halima Bashir’s story of growing up in the Zaghawa tribe of Darfur is vivid, poignant and brutally candid. It is also, simply, brutal. When she describes (with the expert help of her co-writer) the life of her remote desert village, readers will not want to put the book down. When she turns to the violence that shattered her village, her family and her own life, readers will have to steel themselves to go on.

I urge everyone to pick up a copy.  Let us know what you think.

The Humanitarian Club of Homer Junior High is a group of 8th grade students raising money for charities around the world. For the past two years they have focused on the Save Darfur Coalition.

Each year, before they begin fundraising, social studies teachers at Homer play the eight-minute video “The Promise” for their classes and discuss the situation in Darfur. The video touches many students and encourages them to help.

This year, the Humanitarian Club organized a school-wide Hat Day, when students can pay $1 to wear a hat in school (they are not allowed to normally). They also hosted a school dance, charging admission and donating all the money they collected. In addition to these events, the club sells green Save Darfur wristbands to raise awareness and funds.

The club plans to continue these activities throughout the year and is organizing a car wash for the spring. Its members work continuously to come up with new and unique ideas to raise money to help the people of Darfur.

Humanitarian Club members include:

• Evan Alexander
• Olivia Card
• Becca DeWitt
• Manseerat Dhami
• Kayla Fisher
• Addie Fox
• Cheyanne Gaffney
• Abbey Gray
• Molly Gray
• Meagan Hartquist
• Taryn Heath
• Danielle Howell
• Pat Kiernan
• Billy Luety
• Kevin McNeil
• LeeAnne Pedrick
• Max Randolph
• Katie Sinclair
• Michelle Spencer
• Tim Walsh
• Zach Williams
• Kim Butts (advisor)