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.

Cross-posted from act.mtv.com.  

Stephanie Figgins is a 21 year-old senior at the George Washington University. After learning about the atrocities happening in Darfur, she started a STAND chapter at her high school with a few friends, and went on to serve for two years as their Washington, D.C. college outreach coordinator. She continues to advocate and lobby for genocide prevention, most recently from her phone.

Last week, I picked up a call from an unknown number; to my surprise, it was my newly elected Congressman from Arizona’s 5th district, David Schweikert.

The day before, I had called Schweikert’s office via 1-800-GENOCIDE, a hotline developed to make lobbying your elected officials on Sudan and genocide prevention a less intimidating experience. I left a message about my opposition to across-the-board cuts to the foreign aid budget (already less than 1% of our national budget)—including slashes to funding for disaster assistance, migration and refugee assistance, and crises. I hadn’t expected a call back.

I told him I understood the need to scale back the budget, but that attacking foreign aid funding was not the way to do it. Schweikert said that while he was not on the committee that proposed the cuts, he was researching them, and really appreciated my call. He later sent a handwritten note to thank me for our conversation.

I hope David Schweikert heeds the call that I (and many others) are making to maintain funding for the international affairs budget, especially because drastic cuts would harm Sudan at a critical time. In a January 2011 referendum, the historically marginalized people of southern Sudan voted for independence from the north; it’s a great step forward, but preparations for the July 9th split are behind schedule, and civilians are at risk of escalating violence and war. The two sides must still agree on the border and divide Sudan’s oil wealth, while nearly three million civilians are living in camps in Darfur, facing violence, rape, and resource shortages and Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, is wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges.

What I love about the hotline is that you don’t have to be a super-activist in order to make a huge difference in terms of influencing our elected officials—you just need a phone and a couple of minutes.

DC STAND students organized a march outside of the State Department today encouraging Secretary Clinton to implement a no-fly zone in Libya immediately to prevent further violence against citizens in Libya. The students’ actions today attest to the vital importance of a permanent anti-genocide constituency that can rapidly respond to violent targeting of civilians and mass murder. Twenty students from George Washington University, Georgetown, Catholic University and American University converged at the State Department today carrying signs that called for immediate civilian protection under the Responsibility to Protect doctrine and the State Department’s own condemnation of the violence they have referred to as ‘bloodshed.’

Check out some of the photos below and for more, visit STAND’s Facebook Page.

REFUGEE CAMPus 2010

What: Educational / engagement event with student activists and faculty from Queens College sleep in make shift tents to generate consciousness and peaceful action with refugees throughout the globe

When: August 30, 2010 – Sept 3, 2010

Where: Queen College (65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, NY 11367)

The supplies being used during the week will be purchased from a group that supports girls’ education in India, so we will be helping in that regard, as well. Educational and open-mic events, freestyle Peace Jam, calling campaigns, letter campaigns, artistic expression events, and more will mark our REFUGEE CAMPus as an effective advocacy, awareness-raising, and empowering event.

REFUGEE CAMPus is going NATIONAL; Don’t Attend Queens College! Send a message our way and we can help you set up REFUGEE CAMPus at YOUR school!

For a schedule of events, email standqc13@gmail.com or visit http://www.standnow.org/event/refugee-campus-0

Click to printout or share flier



Photo by STAND at Queens College

The Darfur Heroes honors individuals and groups who have done inspiring and important work in an effort to end the violence in Sudan. This August, Save Darfur Coalition is proud to honor Jenn Polish and the STAND Chapter at Queens College. Ms. Polish and the Queens College STAND group have engaged activists, the U.S and the International community to focus on the ongoing lack of security for Darfuris and the escalation of violence in all of Sudan. Here are some of Jenn’s thoughts on STAND at Queens College service towards the people of Sudan.

Students in the chapter of STAND at Queens College have various reasons for being involved in the anti-genocide movement: we have all had unique moments of clarity in which we decided to devote many of our lives to the cause. The vision that connects us, however, is unified and strong: a vision of a World without genocide, a common life of humanity that supersedes everything.

Every year, we host a week-long event called REFUGEE CAMPus, during which we sleep out on our campus quad and spend five days and four nights educating and empowering students and community members to take action on issues such as the genocide in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and our own refugee problems here in the US. This year, we are excited to host REFUGEE CAMPus between August 30th and September 3rd, our first full week of school. Any and all are welcome.

This past week, we also hosted a die-in and vigil at Union Square. It was very moving to see students from Queens College outnumbered by other members of our community that we have formed connections with: a mark of effective activism is how well we connect with and empower others to bring the movement beyond ourselves. The most inspiring thing about this event, however, was the fact that it was coordinated nationally in 12 other locations across the country: STANDers rose up for Sudan on 36-hour notice, and we did it with the support of our local Sudanese partners. Ahmat Nour, president of the Darfur People’s Association of New York, attended our vigil, even though it meant he would be home late for iftar (breaking fast for Ramadan). His presence gave our group so much awe and hope.

I can only speak for myself, but I think it’s safe to say that the rest of the chapter feels this way, too: it is a privilege to be able to STAND for Peace and against genocide whenever, wherever, and however we can.

Jenn Polish is a STAND student at Queens College in Flushing, New York.

STAND, the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network, envisions a world in which the international community protects civilians from genocidal violence. At its core, our mission is to empower individuals and communities with the tools to prevent and stop genocide.

Sudan365 Logo

Sudan365 is a yearlong global effort to raise awareness about preventing the catastrophe of a return to widespread violence in Sudan. Activists from around the world and in DC, San Francisco and New York on the eve of the elections Saturday, April 10 called for Sudanese parties to uphold their responsibilities to the people of Sudan.

On April 11th, Sudan held its first multi party elections for over 20 years. It was an important part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement – which formally marked the end of Sudan’s twenty-two year civil war. However, there are still fears the elections will bring an increase in human rights violations and violence against civilians.

See below the film footage for the Saturday, April 10, Sudan365: “A beat for peace” from DC, San Francisco and New York.

San Francisco – On Saturday, April 10, The SF Bay Area Darfur Coalition and award-winning filmmaker Jared Callahan released a short film, “Sudan 365: A Beat for Peace in San Francisco,”.  The film, features local citizens and artists “drumming for peace” in well-known locations throughout San Francisco.

Sudan365.org presents Beat for Peace – San Francisco from Jared Callahan on Vimeo.

New York – New York City Coalition for Darfur, STAND, UBUNTU: Students for a World without Genocide, the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, the Darfur People’s Association of New York City and the International Refugee Rights Initiative organized the drumbeat for peace at Union Square, South Plaza, by the George Washington Statue. Percussionist Gary Fritz and members of New York area drumming circles led the drum beat.

Washington, DC - Save Darfur Coalition helped organize a gathering of activists and members of the Rhythm Workers Union drumming group in drumming up a “beat for peace” for Sudan. The drum beat took place in front of the Capitol.

Sudan365: A Beat for Peace in Washington, DC

With the G-20 summit in our backyard last week, we, members of the University of Pittsburgh’s STAND chapter, knew that we had a unique opportunity to deliver our message to the world’s most powerful leaders. This message was that we, as members of developed economies, hold links to all genocides that make us complicit in their implementation and maintenance. These links also provide us with crucial opportunities to debilitate these genocidal regimes

We kicked-off our campaign on Thursday by joining with PDEC, the Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition, to put up an art installation directly in front of the delegates’ Thursday night dinner. The installation, which represented villages destroyed by genocide, caught the attention of many local news sources and was featured the next day on the cover of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It certainly caught the gaze of delegates Thursday night as well.

On Wednesday, we participated in the United Steelworkers Conference on Human Rights along with the Save Darfur Coalition. There, we had the opportunity to rekindled discussions that had begun with Sudan Divestment campaign years ago about the capacity for unions and other institutions to draw on their economic investments to leverage their influence on the governments of genocidal regimes. We found the Steelworkers to be very receptive, and some attendees expressed a serious interest in starting up socially responsible investment campaigns.

Later that day, we attended Save Darfur Coalition’s press conference. There, we had the opportunity to pass out press packets to attending members of the press. These press packets detailed how the countries of the G20 are connected the conflicts in Sudan, Burma, and the D.R.C.

On Thursday, we passed our message off to a most impressive ear—that of President Obama. With hands filled with flyers and signs and dressed in neon yellow Save Darfur shirts, the University of Pittsburgh’s STAND members crowded every possible entrance to the venue of the delegates’ dinner. At these entrances we paced backed and forth, awaiting the delegates’ arrival. As we traversed the sidewalks, we passed out flyers and spoke to onlookers and officials about our conflicts and how they relate to the G20. Around 6:00 pm, the delegates passed through the Boulevard of the Allies, a contingent of STAND students waved and cheered. There, they were undoubtedly seen and heard. Obama looked directly at one STAND member holding a sign and waved and passed of a firm nod of affirmation! Hopefully, equally firm policies will affirm our asks in the days to come.

Anna Siegel is STAND’s National Programming Coordinator and a student at the University of Pittsburgh.