Below are a collection of resources to help frame difficult discussions with students about the genocide and the response of leaders and ordinary people across the world.
Ideas and tools for the classroom
Lesson plan:
A Toolbox for Difference
Students build physical representations of the idea of “toolboxes for difference”.
Readings:
The Crime of Genocide [pdf]
Genocide is not just a word to describe massacres. It is an important legal term that many see as the foundation for international human rights law. Ms. Power writes about the man who coined the word, Raphael Lemkin, a legal scholar and a Jew who was forced to flee when the Nazis invaded Poland.
A Toolbox for Preventing Genocide [pdf]
On the influential Op-ed page of the New York Times, Samantha Power wrote a column titled “Remember Rwanda, but Take Action in Sudan.” After describing the situation on the ground, Ms. Power outlined three lessons from the Rwandan Genocide that she felt could guide responses to the crisis in Darfur.
Video:
Building a Permanent Anti-genocide Constituency
In this clip from our November 2005 two-day conference, Harvard student and Darfur Action Group co-founder Rebecca Hamilton discusses her experiences in building and expanding a campaign to help end the genocide in Sudan.
Additional Resources on Sudan:
Lesson Plan: Lost Boys of the Sudan (pdf)
Lesson plan follows boys who fled the country after losing their families in the ongoing crisis (part of recent POV documentary series, Lost Childhoods: Exploring the Consequences of Collective Violence).
Darfur Drawn: The Conflict in Darfur Through Children's Eyes
Human Rights Watch researchers visiting refugee camps along the Chad/Darfur border gave children notebooks and crayons while they interviewed their parents or guardians. The result is an extraordinary collection of powerful images of war and conflict.
Book: Francis Bok Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity and My Journey to Freedom in America
This book tells the story of Francis Bok who was kidnapped and enslaved in the Sudan when he was seven years old. After ten years of living in slavery, he was finally able to escape. Now a student and an antislavery activist, Francis Bok has made it his life mission to combat world slavery.
Background
The US Holocaust Museum’s Committee on Conscience
This site includes a Genocide Prevention Podcast that brings you a range of voices- from human rights defenders to experts to advocates to government officials. There is a Genocide Emergency Alerts sheet, which gives a basic overview of the conflict and what you can do to help. It also gives information on how to receive the DVD, Witnessing Darfur, to help explain what is happening in Darfur.
Genocide Intervention Network
Read up on the background of the conflict in Darfur and find out what's going on right now. Browse expert reports on the situation and take a look at Darfur-related multimedia.
Save Darfur
The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of over 100 diverse faith-based, humanitarian, and human rights organizations that was formed in response to the massive crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Sudanreeves.org
This site links to electronically published analytic briefs and advocacy writings on Sudan by Eric Reeves, a Smith College Professor and human rights activist and a frequent writer and commentator on the genocide in Sudan.
Choosing to Participate—A Range of Options
In the face of genocide many people struggle to find a way to respond. The following websites offer a range of ways for individuals, groups, and nations to make a difference.
A Million Voices for Darfur, a coordinated effort with the organization Save Darfur and over 100 advocacy, humanitarian aid, and faith-based organizations, has launched a campaign to begin collecting 1,000,000 signed postcards urging President Bush to take action in Darfur.
The International Crisis Group gives the option to write your elected representative and share your views on conflict.
Amnesty International urges people to call on members of the House Committee on International Relations to support the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act and to stop the forcible return of Sudanese refugees from Egypt.
Physicians for Human Rights lists four simple actions to get involved. This website suggests staying informed, spreading the word and urging elected officials to increase support for African Union troops.
Human Rights Watch suggests writing to your local paper, writing to members of the United Nations Security Council, writing to the Sudanese government and supporting Humanitarian Agencies.
Genocide Intervention Network lists ten things you can do right now to take action to help end genocide.
Human Rights First, an advocacy group that works to ensure that human rights laws are enforced in the Unites States and abroad.
Share your ideas
What have you done in your classroom and community?
Students have done presentations, community teachings and letter writing to elected officials. If you have a story you would like to share about your classroom or community, please contact us.
