By Kimberly Chin
Aside from linking friends, new and old, affecting people’s relationships and expanding musicians’ fan base, MySpace is using its influence to inspire its users, as well as non-users, to take a stand for the crisis in Darfur.
With the U.N. peacekeepers prohibited from intervening, people have organized from all around the world to aid the crisis. MySpace, in its most “ambitious campaign to date,” has rounded up musicians to perform concerts all over the U.S. on Oct. 21. The networking site has asked its members to “help the people of Darfur-and to send a strong message to the world that the crisis can, and must, end now.
Darfur is a remote western region in Sudan, which has been affected by violence for the past three years. The United States has labeled the crisis as genocide as the violence takes the lives of 2,500 people each week.
The violence that has plagued Sudan has resulted from the ongoing fights between tribal militias, which have devastated villages and crops, leaving over 400,000, mostly innocent, people dead from homicide, starvation and the poor conditions with which they are forced to exist. Even more so, 2.5 million people have been displaced in temporary camps that are not equipped with the adequate resources to sustain their lives. According to the United Nations, it is “the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis.”
A portion of MySpace’s ticket proceeds go to Oxfam’s Sudan Crisis Relief and Rehabilitation Fund. This international organization provides relief to stricken places like Darfur, “working to end poverty, hunger and injustice.” The Oxfam organization is providing the victims of the Darfur crisis with clean water and bug sprays, and engaging in relief efforts to save lives.
University organizations have made strides for the cause as well. On Sept. 17, 43 students went to the city for a rally for Darfur. Kimberly Rhyan, the assistant director of student activities, led the trip and speaks passionately about the University’s involvement in aiding the crisis.
“I believe that students should reach out to others aside from classes in order to become a well-rounded student,” Rhyan said.
FONT magazine is one of the active organizations for the cause. On Nov. 17, FONT will run a Coffeehouse at the Netherland’s café with Joseph Esposito, a senior music merchandise major, as a charity event to promote awareness.
“FONT is trying to inform the student body of what’s going on in the world around them,” says Ashley Gray, the publication’s editor-in-chief.
“Silence is what’s haunting Darfur the most so if we can get the word out about it, some sort of change is bound to happen,” she added.
Tracey Katof, head of philanthropy for DanceWorks, first became aware of the crisis in Darfur when the club went to the rally in the city.
“We need to take this a step further,” Katof said. “People care and will do something if they care. However, if they don’t know then there’s nothing they can do to help. Raising awareness is what needs to happen.”