Looking for a Miracle in Darfur
“If we can unite the people who are willing to take a stand, miracles can happen.”
Although similar words have been spoken thousands of times before, something is different now. Something is different about the way the way in which they’re used and the one who’s using them.
Does it take an American legend to give credence to what should be commonplace for anyone with even the most remote connection to international news? Apparently, yes it does.
Enter Kobe Bryant.
Enter the American legend.
Fact check: Estimates suggests up to 450,000 humans have been killed in one region of one country in the past five years. That’s what Darfur is - in case you’re wondering - a region in Sudan, and it’s just half the size of the province of Ontario.
That’s enough killing for President George Bush to officially declare the conflict a full-fledged genocide. But on top of all that - the death, the raids and the torture - over 2.5 million more non-Arab Sudanese have been forced to flee their homes to neighbouring Chad, directly East of Sudan.
As drought, desertification and overpopulation have made Central Africa an onerous place to live, a growing group of Janjaweed militia backed by Sudan’s own government have spent the past five years making it all but impossible.
In laymen’s terms, a group of primarily Arabic-speaking African nomads have encroached on the sedentary region of Darfur killing anyone of different ethnicity with whom they come across.
Fact check: Kobe Bryant has scored over 20,000 points in his 12-year career. If Bryant were to somehow restore one life for every point he scores, it would take him 235 years at a similar pace to negate all the needless murders that have taken place in Darfur.
Let’s hope Bryant’s a better activist than he is a scorer.
The Darfur movement, as it pertains to the NBA world at least, was initiated by then-Cleveland Cavalier Ira Newble. Last summer Newble wrote a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao requesting that he use his considerable influence over Sudan.
Since the letter, most of the Cavaliers have joined the effort to use their celebrity to make a difference. A number of other NBA greats have followed suit.
Steve Nash, Tracy McGrady, Baron Davis. No, this isn’t the Western Conference All-Star team (although it should have been), it’s a handful of the professional basketball players uniting in hopes of making the miracle that Kobe Bryant was talking about.
Throw in an impressive collection of Los Angeles Lakers and some up and coming youngsters like Emeka Okafor and Luol Deng, and you’ve got yourself the start of something that could hopefully start something.
“Collectively we have the means to stop the violence and to restore their lives,” said Hunter Payne, founder of the not-for-profit Aid Still Required, devoted to giving those in need a representative voice on this side of the ocean. “Who are we if we stand idly by and watch yet another genocide take place? We must act and we must act now before more unspeakable atrocities take place.”
Aid Still Required is one of many grassroots organizations devoted to making change through global awareness, but unlike many of their peers whose admirable efforts fly under the radar, ASR has stumbled upon the use of hallowed celebrity as a means of getting their word across.
And what better celebrity to break from the reigns of philanthropic anonymity and reach the athlete-loving demographic than perhaps the most iconographic, modern day, 81-point-scorin’, basketball legend himself.
Photo Credit: ICON SMI
This article was written by:
Austin Kent - who has written 45 posts on Hoops Addict.
As both contributing writer and assistant editor of HoopsAddict.com, Austin Kent has enjoyed covering the NBA game from behind the scenes since 2006. Additionally, he is currently the sports editor of The Brock Press and has written for a number of basketball websites and newspapers throughout Ontario.
Comments
By Brittany on April 16th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I think its so amazing that these men are willing to take time out of their busy schedules to speak out for a great cause. Its about time these athletes begin using their status to shed light on the atrocities going on over there in Africa.
Americans want heros. We need people we can look up to– not just athletes, musicians, celebrities- but people who are willing to help others, to bring awareness, to speak out on issues that must be fixed.
These men are now stepping up to the level of the great athletes in the past who have taken part in this social consciousness… Ali, Walton…to make the world a little bit better than how they found it.
These men have all my respect with the work they are doing— Speaking out and raising awareness is the first step to making a change.