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Fredric is a web developer based in Chicago who hopes to one day start a foundation to support young, Black males in programming and computer science.

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see darfur. save darfur.

April 11th, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

when i first came across shaquanda cotton, the story and pictures moved me. i saw the pain in her eyes. i identified with her having two young sisters who could have the same fate in racist america. well, i’ve come across something else that is even more powerful.

i’ll go ahead and warn you now that the pics contained in this post are very gripping.Young Black Professional Guide Darfur

every ybp probably knows about darfur already. we know about the genocide. we’ve seen on news stations the images of black on black mutilation. acknowledging that even that premise is just the craziest shite ever, google has connected us personally with our family on the other side of the pond.

google earth has teamed up with the holocaust museum to bring the realest pictures, video, and first hand accounts of this slaughter. i found the article on cnn and admittedly mulled over whether i wanted to download it. google earth is free and is currently being used by millions of people to see famous architecture, get tips on hotels when traveling, and follow other adventurers through photos they’ve shared on their journeys.

Young Black Professional Guide Darfuronce installed, the software is eerily smooth and easy. the crystal clear satellite imagery that flies overhead from the destination you type in almost shows you how real ‘big brother’ is. if you check the ‘layers’ box in the bottom-left, you’ll see an option for darfur. double-click it and you’ll be transported.

the most powerful thing that stuck out to me was the legend box that appeared highlighting villages that have been burned and those that have been destroyed. at first, it seems like a ’small’ amount. then you zoom-in with the gauge in the upper-right.

(i had to pause from typing. the awesomeness of that image is very humbling. homes, villages, families, land…gone. taken.)

you’ll see icons for pictures and videos. i clicked one on a village.

Young Black Professional Guide Darfur

Young Black Professional Guide Darfur

Young Black Professional Guide Darfur

immediately images of lynchings and mutilation popped in my mind when i saw these from the 1920’s and 30’s. cats talk and talk and jabber on about ‘what they did to us’ back in the day, but none of us had to see it firsthand.

now, i’m alive and healthy and blessed and this is happening. remember how when you thought about racism and hatred in the past and wondered how people could just ‘let that kind of thing happen’. some days, it makes me kind of mad at old, white people (which is bogus, but more on that later). well, i refuse to be that statistic.

i went to savedarfur.org and put my money where my mouth and heart is.

Young Black Professional Guide Darfur

i challenge you all to put your money up. i put in $25 monthly. what is that? a pizza? a couple drinks in chicago? a gap shirt?

you are a young, black professional. put up a fraction of your 35k+ a year and help save the world.

don’t have your kids asking you: “why didn’t you do anything?“

Viewing 6 Comments

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    Thank you so much for posting this!
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    It's really sad to see what's going on there. Thank You very much for posting this.
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    It took about six years before America woke up and holla at Hitler. Why is Bush still sleep on this issues(thats rhetorical of course!) ?
    I would have never thought to witness a genocide in my lifetime. No offense to Jew,Christians and all others Hitler wiped out, but this seems wrost because we know what is going on and no one(refering to troops )is really getting up and stopping it I mean Google has these crimes against humanity on Google earth ,and we still are not taken action!
    Why can't we find the guys who are humanity criminals? Oh WMD search is still going on right? Right!This rogue army is not being stopped because Dafur has nothing to offer the world . So they must continue to suffer.
    Great to see that you are standing up for this cause.
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    I agree. The crazy thing is this hasn't just started. Over the 2-3 years at least I've seen various save Darfur campaigns that have gained little to no momentum. It's sickening if you ask me. We (in the general sense) rally around tsunami victims and are charitable towards refugees but we turn a blind eye to something this atrocious? I would question what kind of world do we really live in that this isn't a priority. But I already know the color...I mean answer.
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    The situation in Darfur is quite complex. even if troops go in there to try and make changes the real issues are on the ground level. Like the Hutsis and Tutsi had in Rwanda the tribal/cultural differences between the Arabic/Muslim and black populace runs deep and has done so for many years.

    Why is the US/UK not as involved. Well let's be honest China has the oil reserves already sown up. So there is no real economic to drive a political incursion.

    I admire your financial comittment but mine is tied up elsewhere on the continent. I just hope on the ground the Janjaweed can sort their heads out and stop this nonsense
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    This is such an important post. Thank you so much for leading us to the Darfur website.

    I've signed up and plan to balance my account right now and give something -- I pray.

    Thank you for caring about people in danger. You are so right -- we must all do something now.
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