Paul Rusesabagina @ UCHICAGO



I stayed in HP after work on Monday to hear Paul Rusesabagina speak at the University of Chicago's International House as part of the "World Beyond the Headlines" series. He was there to speak in support of his autobiography "An Ordinary Man", and his story should remind us that the power to do great good, evil, or to be complicit by inaction resides in the most ordinary among us.

I won't try to summarize the speech, particularly since the University of Chicago Human Rights Program will make the address available as audio later this week. (Note: I should say that I'm increasingly disappointed that the HR program didn't exist at UCHICAGO 10 years ago)

I will say that he was a dynamic speaker and that I'm glad I was able to attend. He alluded to the film "hotel rwanda" periodically for the benefit of those for whom that was their frame of reference, but did not diminish his story by telling it vis-a-vis the film. His story stands on its own.

I'm overly familiar with the Rwanda story at this point so I was most interested in the spirit of his commentary and the little details that he would share. So I'm going to write about those kinds of things. If that's unsatisfying to you, I recommend you listen to the audio and then feel free to email me about the topic more broadly.

Notes:

I was surprised that he talked about the retribution violence (after the genocide) as much as he did and that he wanted people to understand that the tension still exists and that everyone's hands are dirty to some extent now. Most talks about Rwanda leave you feeling like the violence is long past and that now the energy of the country is focused on dealing with the trauma and trying to pick up the pieces. While he talked about his own personal trauma after the genocide, he did not try to make any generalizations based on his experience. Often in Rwanda discussions you hear things like "the whole nation is in trauma and in need of counseling".

He now has a foundation that tries to help orphan children and shattered families financially.

When asked about Clinton, he said that the past is past but what bothers him the most today is that Clinton still supports Kigame -- whose hands (according to Rusesabagina) aren't clean in all this. "Disappointed" is the word he ended up using when describing the international community's inaction in Rwanda, but one could tell that's where he has ended up on that issue.

He had strong feelings against the West's coddling of the African Dictators. He said something to the effect of, "they steal from their people, their countries, and put that money in Western banks."

He shook his head at the last commemoration of Auschwitz and the world leaders solemn declaration of "never again", considering what happened in Rwanda 50 years later, and (he made this connection) what's happening in Darfur right now.

Hearing him say that what's going on in Darfur reminds him of what happened in Rwanda is sobering.

He generally agreed with Dallaire's assessment that a few more troops and some expanded mandate early could have short-circuited the Hutu power force's killing apparatus.

He reminded us to keep issues that are important to us visible. To march, to protest, to divest. He explicitly drew the parallel to the anti-apartheid movement and how the people (and civil society) kept that issue on the table even when government wasn't particularly interested in changing it's course.

He warned that relying on the media to keep issues in the light is a mistake, as the media is just a business at this point.

He closed on a sobering note, responding to a question about human nature, by saying that he has seen how far people can go when led down the wrong path and hat he finds himself less trustful and more private now.

His point that an ordinary individual can make a difference is fundamentally critical if you want to live in a hopeful world, and is undiminished evenif stated by a remarkable individual

Posted: Mon - April 17, 2006 at 11:57 PM      

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