Heroes live among us at UCLA. Real, living, breathing heroes. I
write now of the kindred spirits who compose the Darfur Action
Committee.
Certain students have taken upon themselves burdens and
responsibilities far beyond the norm. They bounce like mad from
class to activity to event to meeting to activity and back again.
Their altruism and persistence knows no limits.
The UCLA DAC transcends lip service to community service; they
act with conviction, foresight, resolve and fiery passion. They are
a beacon to all campus groups that aspire to foster good.
Today, Sudan is atop the food chain of worthy causes. Over
300,000 people have been slaughtered in Darfur and some 2 million
displaced. Many a politician has said “never again,”
only to avert their gaze when it proves advantageous. Not so at
UCLA.
The DAC focuses their eyes with supreme intent upon acting at
every opportunity.
UCLA students are naturally preoccupied with midterms, finals,
Westwood Brewing Company, Maloney’s, friends, girlfriends,
parties, weekend promiscuity, sports and the like. It’s hard
enough for us to plan a day ahead, let alone a week.
To contemplate the political and economic future of a remote
population on a continent with no immediately recognizable benefit
is perhaps a ludicrous expectation. Africa is, after all,
forgotten, war-torn and impoverished. The black continent remains
totally irrelevant in the minds of most; color, culture and lack of
monetary incentives all play a part in our collective willful
blindness.
Yet Darfur, a city which not even one in 100 people could find
on a map, has driven a small sect of UCLA students to unrivaled
levels of compassion. They devote every waking minute to fighting
the good fight. When these students’ children ask them where
they were and what they did to stop the genocide, only they will
have a respectable answer.
From panels to vigils to letter writing to divestment, the DAC
projects a sense of well-deserved empowerment. They are rightfully
emboldened by the knowledge that they are contributing to greater
peace. They are preventing death.
They are not indifferent. They are radicals in a generation of
timidity.
Barry Goldwater famously stated that “extremism in defense
of liberty is no vice. … Moderation in defense of justice is no
virtue.” Praiseworthy is the extremism of our comrades and
colleagues who fight for action in Darfur.
For some, the stories of raped women and pillaged communities
are enough to immediately jettison them into action. Others are
selfish in their pursuit for that inevitable warm fuzzy feeling
that comes from helping. Perhaps others just want to meet cute
members of the opposite sex at meetings. In the end, however, their
intentions don’t matter. They are the unsung heroes of
UCLA.
There was a day when student activism was popular. It was called
the ’60s. Hippies and anti-war activists sat around smoking
pot, listening to rock ‘n’ roll, partaking in free
love, and oh yeah, holding an occasional poster. The student
activism of today is gritty, tough, unpopular and even belittled by
the reticent masses. Nevertheless, the DAC forges ahead.
Most recently they sponsored a talk by Samantha Power, a Harvard
professor and leading expert on genocide. Her book, “A
Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide,” is a
phenomenal achievement in and of itself. After Power’s
inspirational speech, the number of students at the weekly DAC
meeting tripled.
With enough support and continued determination, the DAC will
make a difference in the lives of Darfurians. It is an uphill
battle which will not be won easily. Then again, nothing worth
achieving ever was.
Keyes is a third-year Middle Eastern studies student. E-mail
him at dkeyes@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.