No Cookie Cutter Activists Here.

by Michelle . · 2009-03-31 19:50:00 UTC
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As you may have noticed, the guys at Righteous Pictures --- "The Mikes" --- recently posted a series of blogs featuring clips from their upcoming documentary The Last Survivor, which chronicles the stories of four genocide survivors. I just returned from the launch event for Genocide Prevention Month, where The Mikes showed a 20 minute clip from the (incredible) film, and was particularly moved by a comment made by Michael Pertnoy.

Michael was asked what inspiration and advice he had for would-be anti-genocide activists, and his response was essentially this (paraphrasing here, not a direct quote):

There is no "one way" to be an activists --- no cookie cutter example, no mold, no rubric. Find whatever it is that you do, that you can contribute, that moves you --- whether you're an artist, a film maker, a person of faith, whatever --- and become your own brand of activist.

Indeed, we are all endowed with unique talents, and it is up to us to find a way to put them to use. We have great organizations to guide us and provide opportunities and examples, but as individuals, we must each find what moves us and make our own points of entry into the activist community. And just as activism rejects restrictive definition, so too should that community.

So what is it that moves you? What is it that you can contribute?

(PS - Congrats to The Mikes for a truly remarkable film.)

[Photo: A displaced Sudanese child walked behind the fence of a clinic at Zamzam refugee camp in Darfur. (Nasser Nasser/Associated Press)]

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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