Two nerds from Chicago
A postcard featuring the artwork at left caught my eye at Tryst the other day.
The tagline read:
"What can two nerds from Chicago do about the crisis in Darfur?"
Ok, you have my attention.
Turns out these particular nerds are making a film about the crisis in Darfur and those who put their lives on the line to help. The film is called Christmas in Darfur, and the postcard was promoting an upcoming fundraising event at Bourbon in Adams Morgan.
The event, happening next Wednesday, Nov. 15, will feature "DJs Neville C. and D-Mac, plus a very special happy-hour set by Jason Mojica pitting two of the greatest crooners of our generation against each other: Frank Sinatra and Glen Danzig." Additional performances TBA. More info here.
At first I thought, What a creative way to help raise money for a good cause.
Then I thought, How odd to party down to raise money to document genocide.
And while the tag line above drew me in, the more I thought about it, the more the arty postcard pissed me off. This isn't a "cause," it's mass murder. It's about the people being murdered, not two guys from Chicago. Then again, the film these two guys are making could help mobilize Americans to do something. And they're certainly doing more than I am - so who am I to judge how they do it?
This whole inner debate is a familiar one for me. Over the years, I've struggled to balance my compulsion to create art with my sense of responsibility to help make the world a better place. Sometimes I feel like art is selfish, certainly compared to saving lives in Darfur; other times I convince myself that we all help the world in different ways, using our different gifts.
Tonight, I say a prayer for the people of Sudan, and for people suffering everywhere. Tonight, it's all I can do.
I encourage us all to contemplate the question,
What does your life do to remove the causes of war?
One thing we can do is vote tomorrow. Please do.
Also:
Learn more about the Darfur crisis.
posted by Amanda @ 9:35 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I couldn't help but get a chuckle out of the question, "What does your life do to remove the causes of war," since I'm on the flip side of things: that's my day gig. And so for me, the question is, "When are you taking time to create and try to make something beautiful?"
Long story short: while trying to understand and work to resolve violent, intractable conflict is good work, I hope you won't minimize the importance of good of art :-)
By the way, for what it's worth, I also ambivalent about their endeavor. Any help on a tough, destructive situation is a good thing. But these kinds of projects really (in my eyes) straddle a very thin line--often crossing it--of being the art equivalent of war profiteering. Yes, there's a net benefit. But considering all the labor, resources, and money that goes into the work--for the small payout--it's hard not to get cynical about it and skeptical of the motives.
That said, raising awareness about the conflict in the US isn't a bad thing. And I've worked with some US Institute for Peace folks who are doing work on that. It's just that the US isn't one of the lynchpins in the crisis. China is the superpower that needs persuading, as they're the county with the greatest strategic (oil) interest in the area, and not coincidentally also one of the chief arms dealers to the conflict.
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