OUR WALLS BEAR WITNESS — DARFUR: WHO WILL SURVIVE TODAY?
November 20 — 26, 2006
5:30 p.m. to midnight
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum projected wall-sized images of the escalating genocide in Darfur onto its façade during Thanksgiving week, the first time use of the national memorial’s exterior to highlight contemporary genocide. The program, “Darfur: Who Will Survive Today?” -- a unique and highly symbolic Museum project produced in association with Darfur/Darfur -- drew attention to the continuing crisis in Darfur.
A public program on Monday, November 20 at 6:30 p.m. opened the weeklong project. The program included an address by Andrew Natsios, U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan. Other speakers included Holocaust survivor Nesse Godin; Omer Ismail, a member of the Darfurian expatriate community; and Clemantine Wamariya, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, who was recently featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show as a winner of Oprah’s nationwide high school essay contest on Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night.
“We can’t afford to be bystanders to genocide in Darfur,” said Fred S. Zeidman, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council Chairman. “This Museum is a harsh reminder of the consequences of inaction during the Holocaust. During Thanksgiving week, a time of reflection and gratitude, we are lending the Museum’s moral stature to alert the public to the urgency of stopping the human catastrophe in Darfur.”
The photographs of “Darfur: Who Will Survive Today?” were taken in Darfur and neighboring Chad by former U.S. Marine Brian Steidle and photojournalists Lynsey Addario, Mark Brecke, Helene Caux, Ron Haviv/VII, Paolo Pellegrin/Magnum, Ryan Spencer Reed/GroupM35, and Michal Safdie.
“Darfur: Who Will Survive Today?” comprises images from the exhibit Darfur/Darfur, which was conceived and curated by Leslie Thomas, a Chicago mother and architect who, with the support of her friends throughout the country, was motivated in July 2006 to provide national awareness of the ongoing humanitarian crisis. The exhibit is presented in association with Global Grassroots, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which invests in social entrepreneurship to advanced women’s wellbeing in poor countries. The show will be held in 24 cities over 24 months.
“Once you see photos of a murdered three-year-old little boy whose face has been smashed or the body of a one-year-old girl who has been shot you cannot honestly look at your own children without doing something to stop this killing,” says Thomas.
In July 2004, the Museum’s Committee on Conscience declared a “Genocide Emergency” for Darfur. Since then the Committee has been working to educate policy makers and the American public about the urgent need to take action to end the genocide there. The Museum has mounted a display on the emergency in Darfur; held educational programming on the topic featuring members of Congress and Holocaust survivors; hosted two national conferences for student leaders engaged on the issue; and more. The Committee recently launched a weekly podcast series and blog, “Voices on Genocide Prevention,” featuring leaders in government, media, and advocacy addressing how citizens can get involved in genocide prevention efforts.
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