WEEK ABOUT MASS KILLINGS
Benjamin Lo
The UCLA Daily Bruin
May 19 2008
CA
Today marks Mighty Mic’s first event for Genocide Awareness Week,
a week dedicated to educating students about historic as well as
ongoing mass killings around the world.
By providing students with interactive elements on campus during the
day and film screenings at night, Mighty Mic, a student organization
that collaborates with other campus groups to promote social justice
and human rights, hopes to provide a comprehensive education of five
different genocides, some of which are not officially recognized by
the United Nations.
The events will start today and conclude with Mighty Mic’s annual
Human Rights Awareness Concert on May 29.
"We want the student body to understand the roots of the issue and
have more of a scholarly understanding of the tragedies," said Flavia
de la Fuente, the director of outreach and fundraising for Mighty
Mic. "I think understanding the problem is a step toward having it
never happen again."
She said the organization realized that there has been a pattern of
genocide in human history and saw a need to learn from the past to
ensure that it is not repeated.
"We wanted to show that genocide is not something new, that it is
a pattern, and that we need to recognize where these problems are
coming from," she said.
Genocide Awareness Week will address mass killings that have impacted
Native Americans, Armenians and Jews as well as citizens of Rwanda,
Cambodia and Darfur.
"The events that have occurred in these nations are something that is
scary to people, so they block it out," said Nicole Agbayani, director
of awareness for the event. "We want students to feel empowered so
they can do something about the things that have happened during
these genocides, so they will not be forgotten."
Agbayani said she feels more people would care if they were informed
that their energies could help make a difference.
The events will provide students with an opportunity to participate in
letter-writing campaigns, the products of which will be delivered to
government officials to encourage the end of mass killings. Students
will also have the chance to donate money and volunteer for
organizations dedicated to ending genocide.
"Students may think that what they do is insignificant, but when a
lot of people do a little, it will make a difference," said Ashish
Sharma, the co-director for Cambodian Awareness Day.
Taylor Reno, a first-year undeclared life sciences student, said she
believes many students on campus are unaware of genocides and mass
killings that are currently going on.
"I think a lot of students don’t do anything about it because it
doesn’t affect their life," Reno said. "People don’t see it as a
personal issue just because it is not happening in the United States."
She said she sees the week’s events as a great way for students to
start educating themselves on the issues now, so they can make the
right decisions in the future.
Sharma said he wants to show people that this is something worth
caring about because he feels genocide is not really a mainstream
issue on campus.
"I want them to leave with an understanding that we often take what
we have here for granted," he said. "A lot of people dream about the
life we are living, and it is our duty as human beings to do whatever
we can to be the voice for the voiceless."