Sunday, January 20, 2008

Don Cheadle Receives Peace Award

Actors Don Cheadle and George Clooney recently received peace awards for their efforts to raise awareness about the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region. Both actors were presented with bronze statues at a ceremony marking the opening of a yearly meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates organized by a foundation headed by former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Cheadle remarked, “these people need help and protection, but they do have hope”. He started in Hotel Rwando, a movie with similar circumstances as the situation in Darfur, as well as Crash and Talk to Me. He is also the executive producer of the recently released documentary Darfur Now.

Cheadle and Clooney, who co-starred in the movies Ocean’s 11, Ocean’s 12, and Ocean’s 13, co-founded the humanitarian organization Not On Our Watch (NOOW) together with other stars, to focus global attention on the plight of Darfur’s people. More than 200,000 have lost their lives and 2.5 million people have been uprooted from their homes since 2003.

This country has committed troops and resources all over the world in the fight against terrorism and helping people in need. Darfur seems to meet both of the conditions and I don’t see us lifting a finger. Sudan’s Arab-dominated government is systematically committing genocide against the people of the Darfur region.

NOOW has raised more than $9.3 million for humanitarian efforts in the region. However that is private money. We as a country spend more than that each day in Iraq. Maybe it’s because there is no oil in Darfur…just Black people.

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