Last week I viewed the film Hotel Rwanda staring DonCheadle. Cheadle plays Paul Rususabagina, a hotel manager that opens his armsand heart to house families that are seeking protection from the massacre ofover one million Africans in the country of Rwanda nearly ten years ago.Ultimately, his courage saves the lives of over one thousand people.
Democrats and Republicans, Catholics and Protestants,LSU and SU, Black and White: What would you do if someone came to your home andordered you to leave and could have easily taken your life or you captive,simply because of whom you are affiliated with?
This problem may not have happened in our backyards,but it does affect us in one way or another. To my surprise, whenever I askedmy fellow classmates and friends if they have seen the movie, their reply is”No,” or “Never heard of it.”
I know that when we go to the movie theater, we wantto be relaxed and entertained. Every once in a while however, we need to viewfilms that are going to put things into perspective. If Schindler’s List andThe Passion of the Christ can be sellouts and make millions, why can’t HotelRwanda? My brothers and sisters, please go to see this film. I cannot stressenough how important it is to know YOUR history.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have got to watch more thanBET, MTV and UPN. If you don’t catch the 5 or 10 o’clock nightly news, CNN ison 24/7 and will tell you everything you need to know. If you don’t have cable,then read the newspaper or log onto a news affiliated Web site to learn moreabout the world around you.
Think outside the box for a moment. Sometimes I don’tthink we realize exactly how blessed we are. As we worry about things that seemso “big,” other people are suffering. Slavery still exists in some parts of theworld today and as a people, some of us are still enslaved mentally. It is timeto rise up, and time out for games. This is serious business.
As we all know, it’s Black History Month. Please knowmore of your history than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman andFredrick Douglass. I am not taking anything away from these individuals, fortheir contributions were great.
I’m just implying that there are more individuals,many of them everyday and ordinary people who have influenced and helped toshape the black community.
Local individuals such as Sharon Weston Broome,Melvin “Kip” Holden, Martha White and the 16 Southern University sit-inprotestors, just to name a few. In addition, don’t forget about that special”rock’ of your family or the professor that has influenced your college career.
