Aung San Suu Kyi: Burma will hold elections “in my lifetime”

Aung San Suu Kyi said she trusted the Burmese president (BBC)

From the BBC earlier today.

Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she believes Burma will hold democratic elections “in my lifetime”.

Of President Thein Sein, a former top general who stepped down to contest elections as a civilian, Ms Suu Kyi said: “I trust the president, but I can’t yet trust the government for the simple reason that I don’t yet know all the members of government.  The most important thing about the president is that he is an honest man… He is a man capable of taking risks if he thinks they are worthwhile.”

BBC News – Suu Kyi: Burma democracy in my lifetime.

Screening of “In My Country” on Saturday, December 3

Hi everyone,

Last June, a few of you were at my house for a screening of “In My Country”.  This film is based on the true life accounts of journalists covering the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in post-Apartheid South Africa.  One reason I have always liked the film is that it does a great job of illustrating what Ubuntu really means.

Among those in attendance that night were, Isaac, Wai and Simon, friends from the Sudanese-American community living in San Diego.  Also with us that evening, Awichu, a new friend originally from Uganda.  As I looked around the room that night, I realized there were only a couple of us that had been born in the U.S.  With life stories based in many different countries, the conversation after the film that night spontaneously took on some of the toughest issues we face in this life:

  • What does it take to heal?
  • How do we manage to genuinely forgive?
  • Is reconciliation always possible?
  • How do those themes get applied when entire countries have been torn apart for decades?

After the great experience of exploring “Ubuntu” together, it was Simon that was the first to suggest we screen the film for their community down in San Diego. We are going to do that on Saturday, December 3rd, and we would really like for you to come join us that night.  All details are below and on the website.

Warmly,

Barbara English
Living Ubuntu
http://livingubuntu.org
(949) 891-2005

 

Screening of “In My Country”

Screening of "In My Country"

What does it take to heal deep wounds and get to genuine peace and reconciliation?

Watch the trailer »

South Africa 1996.  The government has established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate abuses of human rights during the Apartheid regime.  These hearings serve as a forum for those accused of murder and torture to be confronted by their victims…

Saturday, December 3
4p Potluck
5p Screening and discussion

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
3725 30th St.
San Diego, CA

Cost: 
Free
Join us for an evening of food, conversation and contemplation.
We will have homemade Sudanese food at the potluck. Feel free to bring a dish :)

For more information, visit
http://livingubuntu.org/events

Any questions? Please contact us at info@livingubuntu.org or (949) 891-2005.


“A beautiful and important film about South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It will engage and influence not only South Africans, but people all over the world concerned with the great questions of human reconciliation, forgiveness, and tolerance.”
– Nelson Mandela

* * *

South Sudan becomes world’s newest nation [video]‬‏

From Al Jazeera:

South Sudan Independence Celebration this Sunday, July 10th

Hi everyone,

South Sudan Independence Celebration in San Diego this Sunday, July 10th. Click for more details.

A mere five days after our own 4th of July celebration of Independence Day in the U.S., the world’s newest country will arrive.  This Saturday, July 9th, South Sudan will officially be a new, independent nation.  To mark this historic occasion, the Sudanese community in San Diego is planning a massive celebration this Sunday, July 10th.

Here are the details:

South Sudan Independence Celebration: FREE!!
Sunday, July 10th
1:00p – 8:00p

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
3725 30th Street, San Diego, CA

Program includes: Music, traditional Sudanese dances, speeches from community leaders, performances by the Sudanese youth, home-cooked Sudanese food and more… Over 400+ people are expected at this event.  Click here for more information.

Independence comes with a mixture of sentiments.  Cause for celebration is inter-mingled with knowing that these remain times of tragic suffering and great uncertainty for many in various parts of Sudan. This weekend we come together in support of the Sudanese people and hold hope for peace and healing.  One way to demonstrate that support is to attend one or more of the events (see below) they have planned in San Diego.  We hope you will join us at the festivities this weekend.

Unfortunately, we’re double-booked on Sunday and will be the late-arrivers in San Diego after our Summer Body Group: Finding Your ‘No’ in the afternoon.  There are a few from Orange County who will be driving down for the celebration.  If you’d like to carpool, please get in touch with us. 

Hope you can make it.

Barbara & Anshul
Orange County for Darfur, a project of Living Ubuntu
(949) 891-2005
ocfordarfur.org
| blog | facebook

PS:  We are extremely grateful to GI-Net / Save Darfur for their support of this event.  Thank you :)

::: EVENTS PLANNED IN SAN DIEGO THIS WEEKEND :::

Friday July 8, South Sudan Independence Live Broadcast
9p-12a.  Sudanese American Youth Center in San Diego
Click here for more info »

Saturday July 9, South Sudan Independence Day Party
9p-2a.  World Beat Center, San Diego, CA
Come and enjoy the Biggest African Party of the Year and lets kick off the summer with an event that screams Africa, at the one and only World Beat Center.  Find out more »

Sunday July 10th, South Sudan Independence Day Celebration: FREE!
1p-8p.  St Luke’s Episcopal Church, San Diego, CA
The Sudanese Community would like to invite you to this family-friendly event to celebrate the new South Sudan’s Republic.  Click here for more info »

* * *

Good books and films about Genocide

Photograph by Rev. Wilfredo Benitez for Orange County for Darfur.

April was Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month. In honor of this, we compiled a Resource List of books and films themed around each of the past genocides that have commemorative dates in April, plus the areas that we cover.  We hope you will make use of this list as a way to both remember these genocides, and learn more about them.

In April we featured books and films associated with the genocides that have commemorative dates in April, and in May, the regions of our present day efforts.  In June, as a final point of focus, we are including books and films about genocide that are not tied to any particular geographical region.  This is the tenth post in this series, Genocide.

Recommended Books:

A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, by Samantha Power
From 1993-1996 Samantha Power covered the grisly events in Bosnia and Srebrenica, becoming increasingly frustrated with the United States and their inability to counteract the genocide.  “The United States had never in its history intervened to stop genocide and had in fact rarely even made a point of condemning it as it occurred.”

Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing, by James E. Waller
From the Turks’ massacre of Armenians in 1915 through the Serbians’ slaughter of Bosnian and Albanian Muslims during the 1990s, the 20th century was an era of mass killing.  Social psychologist Waller develops a four-layered theory of how everyday citizens became involved.

Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide from Sparta to Darfur, by Ben Kiernan
Humans have been slaughtering each other for thousands of years, but only now is the field of genocide studies blooming.  This grim account of history notes remarkable parallels in the patterns of mass slaughter, from Carthage to Darfur.

Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond
The book asks and attempts to answer the question, once human kind spread throughout the world, why did differ populations in different locations have such different histories?  The modern world ha been shaped by conquest, epidemics and genocide, the ingredients of which rose first in Eurasia.  The book’s premise is that those ingredients required the development of agriculture.

Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership to Prevent Mass Atrocities, by Frank Chalk, Romeo Dallaire, Kyle Matthews, Karla Barqueiro, and Simon Doyle
The recurrences of genocide and crimes against humanity around the world demonstrate that the international community has been largely ineffective in stopping mass atrocities.  Drawing on interviews with 80 key figures involved in American and Canadian responses to the Rwandan genocide and the Kosovo crisis, the book explains why and provides a roadmap for change.

Preventing Genocide: Practical Steps toward Early Detection and Effective Action, by David A. Hamburg
Analyzes the problem of mass violence, describes pillars of prevention, and concludes that focal points of knowledge and skill in prevention are essential to identify warnings and to prepare and propose appropriate responses before a genocide begins.  It recommends the establishment of international genocide prevention centers in strong institutions and outlines their tasks.

Read more of this post

Get-together at Barbara’s house (Saturday, June 18th)

Hi everyone,

While we have done several events this year, we didn’t get a chance to talk with many of you the way we wish we could have.  As we head into summer, we have decided to have a casual get-together at Barbara’s house on Saturday, June 18th.  Hopefully this will give us a chance to sit, talk and relate around what it has been like to be a part of this campaign against genocide.

The theme will be Ubuntu.  Desmond Tutu says part of Ubuntu is, “You share what you have”.  In keeping with that, it will be a vegetarian potluck.  We will also be screening the film, In My Country (trailer) based on a journalist’s account of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation hearings after apartheid, which were based on Ubuntu.  Given the name of the organization, we are always looking to keep in touch with the true meaning of the word.

Anyway, here are the details.

Get-together at Barbara’s house
Aliso Viejo, CA
Saturday, June 18th 
5p vegetarian potluck
7p screening of “In My Country”

Note:
In order to not broadcast the address on the internet, please RSVP to info@livingubuntu.org or 949.891.2005 and we will send it to you :)

We would really like a chance to get to know you better and sincerely hope you will join us.

Warmly,

Barbara & Anshul
Orange County for Darfur, a project of Living Ubuntu
ocfordarfur.org | blog | facebook

Who killed Laurent Kabila, the president of DR Congo?

In January 2001, Laurent Kabila, the then president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, was murdered.  Over 50 alleged conspirators remain jailed in Kinshasa’s Makala Prison, but even Kabila’s own ministers do not believe they are guilty.

So who killed Laurent Kabila, and why?

(via Al Jazeera)

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