Bingo
Quote Assignment
It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people –Martin Luther King
- Why did you choose this quote, why did it speak to you?
I liked how this quote doesn’t just say what it means, but forces you to think about what it means before you can understand the true meaning that is being presented within the quote.
2. How does this quote apply to social justice?
This quote is about bias and how you cannot choose who gets justice.
3. What year was it written?
1963
4. 3-5 significant events that may have been a contributing factor to the writing of this quote?
“I have a dream” was another famous speech in which Martin Luther King defined his hopes for freedom and equality in a land without slavery and hatred.
Martin Luther King advocated for nonviolent protest, the poor, and all victims of injustice.
Martin Luther King was a strong advocate for change, and he once said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
5. Who else has used this quote in their speeches?
American Government: Stories of a Nation by Scott F. Abemathy – 2017
6. What is the significance of this quote?
This quote explains how we frequently use our biased opinions to cloud our judgement in social justice, but in true justice, you cannot choose who gets equal treatment; it must be given equally.
Armenians Two Questions
What did individuals and groups do when they learned of the atrocities being committed against Armenians? What choices did they make?
In my article “Ringing in My Eras,” there was a couple from the USA who would give money to Armenians despite being warned that if they were found to be aiding Armenians, they could be killed. This couple helped fight against a cause they didn’t agree with and even went so far as to risk their own lives, even though they wouldn’t have been involved if they had stayed out of the fight. Reva, a government official for the Ottoman Empire, attempted to assist the Armenians as much as he could in the article attempting to make a difference, even going so far as to attempt to have the Ottoman Empire accept responsibility for the genocide but didn’t want to take any chances that might endanger his life or the lives of his family. When the French intervened and saved the Armenians by ships, they were “taking a stand.” Given that the French had not participated in the genocide, this was unexpected. Despite being unaffected, the French decide to help the Armenians.
What dilemmas do people face as they grapple with how to act in the face of mass violence?
People’s voices are silenced in the face of mass violence because if they speak out, they will be killed or the people they care about will be killed. They must hope that people who have nothing to lose will be their voice and speak up for them, and that people who will not be affected will come to their aid and save them from the violent conflict.
Final Activity for Hotel Rwanda
Video 1: 20 Years After the Rwandan Genocide | Journal Reporters
- What two different perspectives do the survivors present about their survival of the genocide in 2014 documentary? How has each moved forward?
One point of view is that despite the fact that the perpetrators of his family’s murder have been imprisoned, the perpetrators’ family continues to live around him, and it bothers him that no one has asked for his forgiveness.
Another point of view is that she was able to forgive her friend over time, whose husband was involved in the killings and had stolen her family’s cow, so the perpetrator gave her friend a baby cow as part of her apology.
2. Which part of this quick documentary impacted you the most? Your response should provide insight into why it impacted you. Answers that lack depth will not be considered.
I was most shocked by their belief that when the perpetrator’s husband returns, her forgiveness will still be valid, and the friendship will continue. When her husband stole the cow from her family and decided that an apology and a new cow would solve their problems shocked me the most because I’m not sure I’d be able to move past that.
3. What are your personal thoughts about this reconciliation process?
I think it’s admirable that some people are finding a way to forgive people they once knew after the genocide. But I also believe that many people aren’t trying to make things better and are simply going about their lives, just as the people who lived near the first victim’s house didn’t try to reach out at all, so I believe that unless you have or had a connection with a victim, you wouldn’t care to reach out.
Video 2: Rwanda – The Long Road to Reconciliation
- Describe Vanessa’s story and what happened to her.
When Vanessa was small, she sat close to her mother as she passed away. Although she survived, the experience was highly traumatic, and she still to this day is hesitant to share her story.
2. What is a reoccurring theme in Rwanda society? Why doesn’t genocide have no answers? What is Hope wishing for the young generation?
Genocide is a reoccurring theme in Rwanda. Genocide has no answers because it’s a unique evil and ideology that a person can just let their inner beast take them over. She hops the younger generation will be able to detect their inner beast and supress it.
3. Why is Rwanda a model state? What contradicts this statement (in the video and from the Human Rights Watch article)?
The RPF took control of Rwanda and turned it into a model state; economic growth is strong, the streets are clean, and corruption levels are low, but the RPF also set Strick limits on political riots because the country is still threatened by Hutu melic.
4. How is the UN attempting to stabilize the fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)? What role does this play in Rwandan society?
They are offering sanctuary to rebels who will agree to stop fighting. The rebels who want to surrender call a hot line to do so.
5. What fears are the militia playing on to recruit and retain their soldiers? How are the rebel militia terrorizing the locals and what ideology do they teach?
The militia uses the soldiers’ fear of being punished by Rwandan authorities as a means of keeping them under their control. The militia terrorizes the villagers, kidnaps women and young girls from the communities they claim to guard and steals their goats and cows. Boys from the villages are taken by the militia, who instruct them in the use of weapons.
6. What is Generation 25?
The generation born after the genocide (A play that tells the story about what happened to Vanessa and seven others who were born during the genocide)
7. How is Rwandan society dealing with the genocide?
They used art to express humanity and used churches to mourn the dead and bring people closer to each other. They also invented a program called Compulsory Clean-up Program that had the Hutus and Tutsi’s working together.
8. What is the Compulsory Clean-up Program and how could this be a place to unite a community?
Every month, this occurs, and all Rwandan society participate, Htut and titis to help clear the property of weeds, trees, grass, etc. The word “umogono,” which means “coming together in shared purpose,” is a way to re-establish unity because Hutu and Titis are collaborating to achieve the same objective.
9. What groups, set up across the country, play a role in reconciliation for those who were directly affected by the genocide?
Reconciliation villages played a role in the reconciliation by allowing rebels to escape from Generation 25 who had no part in the slaughtering but are terrorized by the militia to continue to fight.
Video 3 – When you shouldn’t follow the rules – Laura Lane
- Who is the speaker?
Laura Lane
2. How is her story connected to the film Hotel Rwanda?
The story lines in both her story and the film were similar: genocide killings occurred when the present was shot dead, and soldiers arrived to save their people but not the Rwandans.
3. What could the speaker have done differently? Was there anything within her power, at the time, she could have used to change her ‘story and responsibility’ in the genocide?
At the end of her TED talk, she expresses her wish that she had tried to stay and keep the UN there, as well as speak up more to have the UN strengthen their forces on the property and stand guard for longer. Because she knew that if she left, all of the staff who had assisted her with her stay would be killed for assisting her and the UN.
4. Give a personal (and meaningful) example about when you followed the rules but now reflect and feel you should not have followed the rules?
One time at work, a young girl couldn’t find her father and she was really scared and felt safe enough to ask me for help, but if I find a lost child, I have to give them to the front desk to page over to find the father and I had to go back to work, but I wish I had stayed and comforted the young girl because I could tell she felt more combatable with me than the front desk lady.
Video 4 – The power of forgiveness | Carine Kanimba | TEDxPortland
- Who is the speaker?
Carine Kanimba
2. How is her story connected to the film Hotel Rwanda?
She is the child we see in the beginning of the film skipping rope with her sister, aunt, uncle, mother, and father, and then throughout the film look for her while the genocide is going on, and then in the end, we find her at the last second and get saved and brought up by her aunt and uncle who were the main actors in the film Pual and Tatian her adopted parents and aunt and uncle
3. What are the 5 parts of healing Carine is talking about that has moved her along her journey?
Tragedy
Shock
Shame
Connection
Forgiveness
4. What part do you feel is most important for your journey of healing? Provide some depth to your answer and make connections to other topics, readings or personal life to support your answer.
I believe that the most important step in healing is to learn to forgive myself first, and then to try to understand the other people’s points of view and sides of the story, and to forgive them for their part in it, and to try to move forward while not forgetting but learning from the past. – forgiveness
5. What is her hope for those listening? Why is this important in one’s journey and the world today? Provide some depth to your answer and make connections to other topics, readings or personal life to support your answer.
Her hope is that those who have had past experiences that they are holding on to or are too afraid to share will try their hardest to open up and share because she believes that sharing what has happened is an important part of healing and not holding it in and dealing with it alone.
Video 5 – Rwanda is not “Hotel Rwanda” | Angel Uwamahoro | TEDxNyarugenge
- What part of this spoken word poem had an impact on you and why? Superficial answers (lack depth) are not acceptable.
I liked how she talks about the country with words like unity and the heart of Africa, even though she doesn’t want the genocide and all the death to define the country or to be seen as a place of death, but a place of life and groups of people who build each other up.
