Guest post: ENOUGH, YouTube, and Propelling Sudan to Center Stage

Enough Project — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:13:46 -0800

Co-authored by Zack Brisson & Laura Heaton

Four years ago, asking the President of the United States a meaningful question would have required serious power, uncommon access, or a lot of luck combined with being in the right place at the right time. Not anymore.

Thanks to CitizenTube and the connective power of the internet, any one of us can reach the president. Yesterday, we did. Following up on last week's State of the Union address, YouTube hosted a community driven "Your State of the Union." Steve Grove, YouTube's head of news & politics, asked President Obama a wide variety of questions, submitted and selected by citizens around the country, if not the world.

At the Enough Project, the challenges in Sudan right now are incredibly important to us. Recognizing that President Obama didn't address the crisis in Sudan at his State of the Union, we were eager to take advantage of the opportunity YouTube offered to engage directly with the president. Seeing the chance to get our concerns about an issue that we feel is underappreciated,we mobilized to get our question to President Obama.

Late last week, we videotaped our question, eloquently delivered by our intern Alison Grady. Then we asked our supporters, fans, partners, and others who care about the message to vote and pass the word.

Thanks to support of grassroots activists, partners like Genocide Intervention Network, Save Darfur Coalition, Invisible Children, and Change.org, our question was the most popular question in the foreign policy category. In response, President Obama gave his lengthiest remarks on Sudan since announcing his special envoy for Sudan last March. (Granted, we were disappointed with the substance, but for this post at least we're staying focused on the positive.)

All of us at Enough are deeply thankful to YouTube for increasing access to the president, to Mr. Obama for thoughtfully responding to our question, and to all of the passionate Sudan advocates who took action and made their voices heard. Sudan advocates, let's keep the momentum going:

Sign our petition and tell President Obama that we need increased pressures and a full-time field based presence in Sudan.

Guest post: College Basketball Powerhouses Come Together for Darfur

Enough Project — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:59:52 -0800

College Basketball Powerhouses Come Together for Darfur

Stella Kenyi

This Saturday US college basketball powerhouses Georgetown and Duke will face off in one of the most anticipated games of the season. While the two teams battle on the court, students and alumni from both universities will put aside their rivalry and come together to support the Darfur Dream Team’s Sister Schools Program, an initiative which links American middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities with sister schools in 12 refugee camps in eastern Chad.

The Darfur Dream Team was conceptualized following NBA star Tracy McGrady’s trip to Darfuri refugee camps in Chad with John Prendergast and Omer Ismail of the Enough Project. Their journey is chronicled in the documentary film 3 Points: Peace, Protection and Punishment. McGrady and Prendergast will attend the upcoming game to unveil a video announcing the Darfur Dream Team’s partnership with Georgetown and Duke. Students and alumni from the two universities have pledged to raise funds to support two Darfuri refugee camp schools.

Over 350 U.S. schools have already signed up to support this initiative. Click here to learn how you can support the Sister Schools Program, and for more details visit www.darfurdreamteam.org.

If you're not going to be at the game, see a sneak peak photo of what the video looks like on the jumbotron:

Stella Kenyi is the coordinator for the Darfur Dream Team’s Sister Schools Program.

The halftime video was directed and produced by Robert Padavick. Animation and Editing by Jeff Trussell.

Enough Project's Content

Guest post: ENOUGH, YouTube, and Propelling Sudan to Center Stage

Guest post: College Basketball Powerhouses Come Together for Darfur

College Basketball Powerhouses Come Together for Darfur

Stella Kenyi