A Journey to Darfur

George and his Father meant well when trying to cover the genocide in Darfur, but lacked a load of information crucial to comprehending how and why this area in Sudan is going through such. Not to mention, the footage is only 25 minutes long. Too short of a documentary in my opinion. Sent back for a refund. Needed more content.

I bought this video one week before traveling to Darfur. I have now returned and after speaking with the victims and the recently freed slaves, I learned a few things.

The problem with this video and most books on the subject that that they intentionally don't talk about the reasons for the killing. It is Arab Muslims killing and enslaving Black Muslims because once the blacks asked for some power for self-governance, the Arab muslums no longer looked at them as Muslims but sub-human. You see many of the same enemies in the War on Terror involved in Darfur (Which is really Western Sudan.) Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia financially supporting the government in Khartoum with China buying the oil and Russia supplying the planes and bombs.

The reason why George Clooney and others omit these facts is because if they did, they would have to admit George W. Bush was right about Iraq. Darfur is what Iraq WILL look like if we leave too early!

I thought this was an interesting insight into how a well-known personality (such as George Clooney) can do something under the radar and show up to greatly enhance awareness for an advocacy movement. In this documentary we realize that George Clooney and his father went unannounced to Darfur to "shine a light" (a camera's light)on the genocide. Moreover, they were trying to make it back to the USA with images from Darfur BEFORE a planned rally in Washington DC. Besides hearing refugees interviewed, I found myself wondering: What if George Clooney had never gone? What if he didn't make it back in time before the rally? What if he and his father hadn't done a ton of media interviews?

As is typical, we are skeptical of actors turned activists: visions of Angelina Jolie or Madonna in Africa promoting their careers by doing "Good" and so on. In "A Journey to Darfur" we see George Clooney and his father visiting the camps in Chad and Darfur and sharing the heart wrenching story of the camps with American viewers. This short, yet powerful film is well done and can easily be used in classrooms across America to help explain the problems facing this region. Clooney's star appeal is used to truly do go and shed light on the tragedy. It is my hope that because of Clooney's participation in this project many more will know, understand and then act to help the people in Darfur and end the Genocide.