Advocating anti-genocide movement in Darfur Essay Example for Free

Advocating anti-genocide movement in Darfur Essay The United Nations defines genocide as â€Å"acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. † In Darfur the Arab janjaweed militias have killed an estimated 100,000 non- Arab people, burned their villages, and sought to destroy their way of life. On September 9, 2004 U. S. Secretary of State Collin Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that â€Å"genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the Government of Sudan and the [janjaweed] bear responsibility – and that genocide may still be occurring. (DiPiazza) People sometimes get the wrong idea of what genocide means. It is assumed that it is a hopeless case, impossible to stop for it is driven by millenniums of racial or ethnic conflicts. But looking back at history, genocide has mostly been created through calculated, intended decision by national leaders used as the most convenient way to solve a problem or to keep their power and destroy a person or group. And Darfur is not an exception to this. Mr. Bashir and Musa Hilal are not motivated by ancient hatred but of greed to power and influence. They are not extremists but rather coldblooded, amoral opportunists (Kristof). Drought, famine and civil war represent the interactive array of ecological, socio-economic, and political factors at play. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) were created from 2003 through 2005 (Arsdale). Competition over scarce resources – such as water and fertile land – had long challenged Darfur. The beginning of an oil industry in Durfur added to the tension. Claiming to represent non-Arab Africans in Darfur, rebel protested decades of government neglect. They demanded full economic, political, and social rights for Darfur. They also wanted oil wealth from the region to be shared equally. To combat the rebels, the government armed local Arab militias called janjaweeds. The Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) arose in response to grievances bring expressed by citizens of Darfur. The SLA’s founding manifesto included its vehement protests against the central government’s â€Å"policies of marginalization, racial discrimination, exclusion, exploitation, and divisiveness. The Janjaweeds, on the other hand, traced their origin with raiders and bandits of various types in Sudan for centuries. In recent decades, so-called Arab cattle raiders occasionally would sweep into a non-Arab village and abscond with a few head (Arsdale). Since 2003, the government of Sudan and its Janjaweed militias has executed a systematic campaign of mass murder, rape, and starvation against the black African tribes of Darfur. As of today, more than 500,000 Darfuris have died, and more than 2. 5 million have been driven from their homes. It goes without saying that other measures have to be undertaken simultaneously to reach a sustainable peace in Darfur. So, the international community should strongly support the Abuja talks between the Sudan government and the main insurgent groups to help them reach a peace agreement, which could be a foundation for equity and good governance in Darfur. And since the negotiation of a lasting peace in Darfur unfortunately could take months, if not years, humanitarian assistance should be provided. Democracy is a first step in the struggle against totalitarian forces that resort to inhuman practices to impose their whim on others, including ethnocide and genocide (Hoeven et al. ). It is important to create the conditions of security that will allow for a safe and voluntary return. A political solution reached in the Abuja talks is a priority to help bring peace to the region. At the same time, there is a strong sense in Darfur that an inclusive, credible and grass roots process of inter-communal dialogue is needed to re-establish peaceful inter-communal relations and re-weave the social fabric of the region. Specific measures to address property and land usage rights will be indispensable to achieve peace and restore relationships between nomadic herders and sedentary agriculturalist tribes (Hoeven et al. ). The African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) evolved as the African Union has authorized the incremental deployment of thousands of personnel to carry out its responsibilities in Darfur. The African Union Peace and Security Council provided AMIS II with the following specific mandate for its peace support efforts: (1) to monitor and observe compliance with the 2004 humanitarian cease-fire agreement; (2) to assist in the process of confidence building; and (3) to contribute to a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian relief and, beyond that, the return of IDPs and refugees to their homes, and to contribute to the improvement of the security situation throughout Darfur (Darfur Crisis: Progress in Aid Peace Monitoring Threatened by Ongoing Violence and Operational Challenges). President Bush had made his statement regarding the issue at the Diplomatic Reception Room, White Palace: Americas commitment is clear. Since this conflict began we have provided more than $1. 7 billion in humanitarian and peacekeeping assistance for Darfur. We are the worlds largest single donor to the people of Darfur. Were working for the day when the families of this troubled region are allowed to return safely to their homes and rebuild their lives in peace. The people of Darfur are crying out for help, and they deserve it. I urge the United Nations Security Council, the African Union, and all members of the international community to reject any efforts to obstruct implementation of the agreements that would bring peace to Darfur and Sudan. I call on President Bashir to stop his obstruction, and to allow the peacekeepers in, and to end the campaign of violence that continues to target innocent men, women and children. And I promise this to the people of Darfur: The United States will not avert our eyes from a crisis that challenges the conscience of the world (Bush). Today, there are a lot of anti-genocide movements, recruiting thousands of people around the world advocating justice and human rights for the casualties and victims of this national turmoil. Politicians, Hollywood stars and even fellow citizens have been voicing out their concern and extending their help over the matter. Works Cited Arsdale, Peter W. Van. Forced to Flee: Human Rights and Human Wrongs in Refugee Homelands. Lexington Books, 2006. Bush, President George. President Bush Discusses Genocide in Darfur, Implements Sanctions 29 May 2007 The White House. 2 December 2007. http://www. whitehouse. gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070529. html Darfur Crisis: Progress in Aid Peace Monitoring Threatened by Ongoing Violence and Operational Challenges. Ed. United States Government Accountability Office: DIANE Publishing, 2006. DiPiazza, Francesca Davis. Sudan in Pictures. Twenty-First Century Books, 2006. Hoeven, Agnes van Ardenne-van der, et al. Explaining Darfur: Four Lectures on the Ongoing Genocide. Amsterdam University Press, 2006. Kristof, Nick. Darfur: Driving up the Price of Blood. Coalition for Darfur, 2007.

A Bruised Way of Life :: essays research papers

A Bruised Way of Life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"BONG!† is the one and only word that anyone in my family has to say to bring back the memories of an incident that happened at the age of eight. Oh, but this horrifying happening couldn’t have happened in my home, it had to have happened in the middle of my favorite place in the world. None other than the original Downtown Disney, on the most beautiful day there has ever been at the beginning of December. The day was sunny, cloudless, and warm. Or at least warm to me after my accident.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, let me take you back in time. To the day that changed the way my family would make fun of me for the rest of my natural life. On the second day of our vacation to Walt Disney World, my parents, brother, and I decided that we all wanted to get some early shopping into our schedule before actually â€Å"hitting† all of the major parks that Disney World is known for. The usual routine for this area of vacationing was usually left up to the women in our family since it is the shopping area. Everything was going fine, going through the shops and looking at all of the merchandise we wished we were able to afford, when my brother, Brandon, spotted the water fountains that came up from the ground to play in. Before long, Brandon was begging and pleading my parents to go play in the water with the other kids. Even though they were strangers. My parents, of course, said yes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the first few minutes of Brandon’s fun in the water, I just had to join in. There was no way that I was going to let my brother have all of the fun, then decide to shove it in my face. No way was I going to let that happen to me. By the time a couple of minutes had passed, both my brother and I, were completely soaked from head to toe. That didn’t stop the fun though! The two of us were having such a great time that it had become a chore for our parents to get us to stop. Although, it seemed like a game for Brandon and me! Brandon was the first to finally give in to my parents and stop playing so we could do some more shopping. But getting me out was a totally different story.

Literacy Plan Essay

As I am starting to learn the basics of how to become an effective teacher, I am learning what type of teacher I am and what type of teacher I want to be. Growing up, aspiring to be a teacher, I never thought teachers had to learn how to do some methods I have seen. For example, teachers always knew how to capture the students’ attention again after the children would get off task. I thought this skill came naturally to teachers and I would obtain it with time. On my adventure of this learning process of becoming a teacher, I have learned this skill is something you learn how to do and there are many other skills to learn along the way. These skills and methods come from multiple studies and research done by theorists over the decades. Learning all these theories at first was overwhelming, but over time I got a grasp on the basics of just a few theorists and their theories. There are so many researchers that have put their opinions out in the open for teachers to take into account and work from. There is Vygotsky, Cambourne, Holdaway, Piaget, Skinner, and Dewey just to name a few! After acquiring this basic knowledge of some theories, I have come to realize that there is one theorist’s methods I agree with the most when it comes to teaching literacy. This theorist is Brian Cambourne. Cambourne is an educational anthropologist from Australia who has emphasized his research in literacy learning. He has come up with many conditions pertaining to literacy learning. His theory compliments my beliefs the best, compared to the other theories I have learned about. I believe in having students experience different types of literature. This process allows students to become familiar with different ways of writing, and how to say things in many different ways. This also gives them a chance to figure out what style of language they like best and grasp an idea of what type of literacy come easiest to them. When students understand more types of literacy, it vastly opens up their range of vocabulary that can only benefit them in the future. This condition of students exploring all types of literacy is what Cambourne calls immersion and I find it to be a step that does not seem to be obvious to children. I feel students do not know when they are looking at different types of literacy. I believe in making an effort in explaining what type of material the students are reading from, rather than just handing them something and telling them to read it. This is the reason why I believe demonstration is the next big important process. Demonstration is a very important step in my eyes for literacy learning. Demonstration is modeling literate behaviors, formally and informally (Cambourne). I personally am a visual learner and prefer to have the teacher model what I am going to do before I have to employ it on my own. When a model was not available to me, I would become stressed and overwhelmed with this feeling of not knowing what I am doing. I do not want my students to become frustrated when they are reading and writing; I want them to enjoy it and be excited about it. Therefore, when I become a teacher, I especially want to practice Cambourne’s condition of demonstration by having a whole group lesson in order to formally demonstrate for my students. This can be done while the students are at their desks, but I believe having this process done in a carpet area reminds students that what I, the teacher, am about to say is important to hear. Also, I believe in the saying, â€Å"monkey see, monkey do. † Therefore, I believe a teacher should always speak proper grammar, self-correct, and demonstrate reading strategies at all times in front of the children because they are going to mimic what they hear and see the most by the adults in their lives. After a demonstration is complete, I believe an expectation of what the students should know is built. Cambourne believes this condition of expectation is that the students â€Å"get the message†. I believe that if a teacher’s demonstration was done correctly, the students will know that information and the teacher can expect them to know it. Not only does expectation build, but I believe the responsibility the student has for knowing what him/herself can accomplish grows. This process of being responsible for their own learning, I believe, does not come naturally. I think the teacher must allow these students to take on these responsibilities themselves. For example, if a teacher never lets a student choose their own book, that student will never gain the responsibility of knowing what books are right for him or her or learn how to pick the right kind of book for him or her. Learners will choose what they will explore intellectually as they go through literate behaviors (Cambourne). Once students have become aware of the skills that are being demonstrated to them, I believe the next important step is allowing students time to practice what they have learned. Cambourne calls this condition employment. I am a strong believer in â€Å"practice makes perfect†. I understand that nothing is perfect and there is always room for improvement. So maybe â€Å"practice provides improvement† is a better quote to go by. A learner will never become better at what they are learning if it is not practiced. With students practicing what they have learned, mistakes happen. This condition is what Cambourne calls approximation. I believe it is a good thing to let the learners make mistakes as they are exploring literacy because they will only learn from it! I know that when I become a teacher, I want to stress that making mistakes is okay and will benefit anyone because they will only learn from it. I could even purposely make mistakes in order to model self-correction as well. But learners will only understand their mistake when feedback is given in a timely fashion. Coming to Alverno, I have probably received the most feedback I ever have here compared to the rest of my educational career. I have come to firmly believe that feedback provides new knowledge for learners because it brings another perspective into their personal work. My feelings about feedback correspond with Cambourne’s condition called response. He believes this feedback should come from someone with more knowledge, such as a teacher. I want to make sure I conference with each of my students, individually, in order to look over what they have been working with and provide timely, appropriate feedback. I feel these conferences build a student’s confidence by being told what they are doing well, and they get to understand what kind of mistakes they are making in order to fix them and grow. After reading over Cambourne’s theory, there was nothing I could not agree with. I remember while I was reading it, all I could say was, â€Å"yes, yes, and yes! † I do have to say developing my philosophy about literacy learning was a challenge. I feel like I am still developing my philosophy, but I have a grasp on my basic beliefs for my future teaching career. I know what kind of teacher I would like to be and when reading Cambourne’s theory I could picture myself doing each condition and feeling proud by teaching literacy in such a way.

Hamlet and the Psychological Approach - 1798 Words

Hamlet and the Psychological approach After enveloping myself in the world of Shakespeare’s tragic play/story of Hamlet, I without a doubt believe that the best way for me to critically analyze the literature is to approach it in a psychological critic mindset. In relations to Hamlet a question keeps intriguing my mind, in which, why does one man choose to carryout revenge, how a lust for power can bend one’s own flesh and blood? Another question that I have is whether or not Hamlet is indeed crazy? If so, how would friendship function? Does he have a true friend? If so, who? Does he exhibit the behavior of a real friend? The first quote that centers itself on the discussion between Polonius and Ophelia in regards to Hamlet’s†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Hamlet does not fulfill this duty until absolutely forced to do so by physical circumstances† this quote I got from the article proves that the way in which Hamlet went into seeking revenge for his father’s murder became enlar ged by the social interference that was occurring. The ghost for example, it kept creeping up on Hamlet giving him clues, turning him into someone he wasn’t by making him do things that were inappropriate for Hamlets lifestyle. The killing of his uncle Claudius was an example of what happened by the ghost. Hamlets view of Claudius represents Hamlet’s repressed hostility towards his father as a rival for his mother’s affection. This new king- father is the symbolic perpetrator of the very deeds towards which the son is impelled by his own unconscious motives: murder of his father and incest with his mother. Hamlet cannot bring himself to kill Claudius because to do so he must, in a psychological sense, commit suicide. The main idea in the Hamlet: The Oedipus Complex article was that Oedipus complex approach that Hamlet gave in this play. Oedipus is a group of largely dynamically repressed ideas and feelings which concentrate on the desire to possess the par ent of the opposite sex and eliminate the parent of the same sex. In this case that would be Ophelia. Hamlet and Ophelia were madly in love.Show MoreRelatedA Traditional Revenge Tragedy Approach To Hamlet759 Words   |  4 PagesRevenge Tragedy approach involves the drama of a character seeking revenge for an injury or caused by another character (Reedy). In the play of Hamlet, this approach can easily be seen in the character Hamlet’s plot to â€Å"remember† his father. After his father’s death, Hamlet spends the whole play concocting a plan to avenge his father. 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