STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition
Script to Accompany St. Paul STAND Slideshow
by Kelley Terlip
April 01, 2008
Script to Accompany St. Paul STAND Slide Show
When I was thinking of a way to start today off I had a lot of difficulty. Then I came across a speech that was made by Nelson Mandela and thought he put it perfectly. “We thank you for coming here today. Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom. Of course the task will not be easy. But not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity now to rise up.” We have said over and over again never again will we let these crimes against humanity take place, never again will we let genocide happen, and never again will we stand idly by while humans are slaughtered. Yet here we are in 2008 almost 70 years after the Holocaust and never again is happening again. It is our generation's turn to take a stand against genocide; it is our time to speak out and to change history. Hi, my name is Kelley Terlip and hopefully when tonight is over I will have sparked a flame inside of you and you will have the desire to join the millions of people over the world today fighting for the people of Darfur.
Some of you may be wondering what "genocide" is. The
Jewish lawyer Ralph Lemkin formed the term "genocide" by combining
the word "geno" from the Greek word for race or tribe and the word
"cide" from the Latin word for killing. The term was also
used in the indictment for the Nazi war criminals but only as a
descriptive term. On December 9th, 1948, the United Nations
in light of the Holocaust approved the Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of genocide. It also developed an
official definition for genocide which goes as follows:
Any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in
whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group,
as such:
Killing members of the group
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated
to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group and
forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
One important factor in fighting genocide is to know about and learn for the genocides that have claimed many innocent lives in the past. We must realize that during WWII it wasn’t just millions of Jewish people being killed; it was specific minority groups being intentionally targeted to be destroyed due to ethnic hatred.
Illinois State Senator Jacqueline Collins stated “By studying these tragic lessons from history we can help our children understand the importance of freedom…When they recognize the crimes of genocide continue in some corners of the world, even in the 21st century, it will raise their awareness and help them understand what can happen when you judge people by their race, their homeland or their beliefs.”
The first genocide of the 20th century was the Armenian
genocide, which claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians.
The Holocaust claimed the lives of 6 million Jews when the National
Socialist Regimen led by Adolf Hitler systematically murdered the
European Jews because he claimed they were “racially inferior.”
Saloth Sar took the lives of 1.5 million Cambodian people with the
intent to create “New People.” They killed anyone who was believed
to be an “enemy of the state”.
The genocide in Rwanda which claimed the lives of 500,000 Tutsis
and thousands of moderate Hutus
The Ukraine famine led by Joseph Stalin claimed the lives of 7
million.
In a New York Times blog someone wrote “The violence is too innate, situations such as Darfur too hopeless, and the work too depressing so why bother?”
The first reason is the 400,000 innocent civilians that are dead
in the Darfur region of Sudan.
That is like killing everyone in St. Paul, Parsons, Pittsburg,
Lawrence, Manhattan, Girard, Frontenac, Topeka, and Fort Scott.
What if people were getting killed in these towns where our family
and friends live? Would you take a stand then? Would you finally
feel the need to say something? Would I be wrong in saying we would
want someone to stand up for us?
Another reason is that Government militias known as the Janjaweed
ride on horseback and raid and kill many innocent civilians and 2.5
million people have been displaced.
That is like the United States bombing, looting, and burning every
city in Kansas. Think of our whole state having nowhere safe to go.
Every person in our state wondering what the next day will bring.
Wondering whether it will bring hope or bring us even further in to
destitute.
The last reason is our government has said never again and it is our responsibility to keep that promise. I feel that it is our duty, not only as citizens of a free country but also as human beings to give voice to the voiceless, to instill hope in the hopeless, and to stand up and take action against the injustices being carried out against the innocent people. We would all like to believe that if we would have been around during the Holocaust we would have done something to help all of the people who were killed. This is our chance. Your voice can make a difference. Ghandi once said, “Be the change you would like to see in the world.” It is our time to stand up and make a change. It is our time to help the innocent victims of the Darfur crisis.
The Darfur Crisis region has been the home to many ethnic groups
for hundreds of years. They face many challenges because they live
in the desert. To adapt to these challenges the groups
generally split into two types of lifestyles, the herders and the
agriculturist. When Darfur became part of Sudan in 1917 the
power went to a small group of ethnic groups. The government,
which is known as Khartoum, has consistently provided little in the
way of agriculture.
The Darfur conflict broke out when two non-Arab groups (The Sudan
Liberation Army and the Justice Equality Movement) took up arms
against the Arab dominated government because of economic and
political neglect.
The Sudanese government began to arm militia known as the
Janjaweed, translated as Devil on Horseback. These militias
were told to destroy and kill those who did not support the
Khatorum government. Whoever has not been killed in Darfur
has been left hungry and homeless.
You may be asking what you can do to help the people in Darfur.
First off you can educate
The only way to stop genocide is to educate those around you
and to inform people about what is happening and how they can
help.
You can also Advocating Politically
You need to make sure that our representatives in the senate
are doing all they can to take action against the genocide in
Darfur. There is a website called Darfur Report Cards and you can
check up your representatives.
You can also fund raise.
You can holds campaigns and fundraisers to help provide food,
shelter, healthcare, and protection to the needy people of the
Darfur region.
Generating Publicity is also an important part of helping
people.
By involving the local media, STAND helps to inform the community
about what is happening in Darfur and what they can do to help.
There are also many campaigns Against Genocide you can get
involved in:
The Amnesty International campaign Instant Karma
The Amnesty International campaign has rose awareness of the
Darfur crisis worldwide. Some of today’s top artists have remade
the songs of John Lennon and a CD is now being sold to help provide
for the victims and displaced. Yoko Ono has said, "John's music set
out to inspire change, and in standing up for human rights, we
really can make the world a better place..."
Dollars for Darfur
Dollars for Darfur challenges high school and middle school
students across the U.S. to raise money to bring much-needed relief
to the millions that continue to suffer in Darfur.
Darfur Fast is an annual day where you do not spend any money on things like snacks and drinks. The money you would normally spend you donate to Darfur.
Divest for Darfur
Divest for Darfur is a national campaign to encourage
investment firms, especially JP Morgan, Franklin Templeton,
Fidelity Investments, Capital Group (American Funds), and Vanguard,
to withdraw investments from companies that help fund genocide in
Darfur. More information about Divestment will be available after
the presentation.
Dream for Darfur
China holds the main influence in with the genocidal regimine
in Sudan. As Beijing prepares to host the 2008 Olympics, they are
urging China to use its leverage to persuade the Sudanese
government to consent to protection for the innocent civilians.
Eyes on Darfur
With Eyes on Darfur you can explore the satellite evidence and
detailed on-the-ground information and see with your own eyes
what is happening in Darfur.
Darfur Report Cards
The Making the Grade: Darfur Report Cards campaign centers on
Darfur report cards to pressure our members of Congress into taking
action. Each report card has the elected official's name, his or
her grade, and a complete listing of all key legislation s/he has
and has not supported. The report cards show whether or not your
members of Congress are doing their homework on ending genocide in
Darfur. Report cards and a sample letter will be available after
the presentation.
Never again, is happening again.
John Lennon once said, “A dream you dream alone is only a dream.
A dream you dream together is a reality.”
Together we can take a stand. Together we can stop genocide.
Do not contribute to our country one day looking back and
regretting the Darfur crisis as we have regretted so many genocides
in the past. Do not let yourself one-day regret not taking
any action against the Sudanese government’s systematic killing of
its own people. After all, wouldn’t you want somebody to help
if it was you? What if you had to watch your children or
parents be killed right before your eyes? What if you had to
watch your brother be burned alive? They say ignorance is
bliss. We would like to believe that nothing like this is
going on in the world around us. We would like to turn our
heads the other way, not think about the innocent lives being taken
day after day. We would like to push disturbing images out of
our minds. By shutting out the international conflicts in the
world around us, we are shutting out people just like ourselves.
We are all human beings and as humans it is not only our
right but also our responsibility to help those in need. To
speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and most
importantly do everything we are capable of to help these
people.
Thank you all for listening to our talk, by showing concern about the genocide you have already began to help prevent it.
