Kristof Discusses Darfur at SMU

Nicholas Kristof, a New York times columnist, came to SMU Tuesday to discuss genocide in Darfur. Although I wasn't able to make the speech, I hope I will be able to learn more from what he talked about.

Kristof has won 2 Pulizter Prizes on his columns. One on the trafficking in Cambodia, and the other for his coverage of Tiananmen square, a historical event in the world.

Apparently, Kristof uses tons of multimedia (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?query=Nicholas+Kristof&date_select=
full&srchst=m) in his search to fight for the rights for people that are being ignored. I feel that using multimedia tactics is a brilliant way to do so.

Yes, one may read a story on how some family was murdered right before one's eyes, but in this day and age, we humans are so immuned to "stories" of war and violence. We need to have a visual, we need to actually see that what is going on is not some bad dream, but a reality. With technology on such a rise, we should be utitilzing it in a way as to help people. Get messages across to people etc..

Kristof has traveled with a number of people to gain more knowledge of people less fortunate, such as with Jimmy Carter. They traveled to Etheopia to search for a cure for River Blindness and to gain a higher understanding of that the disease was and who was being effected.

We can talk about how we want to save the world all day long, until we are blue in the face. However, thats what we AMerican's are good at. We talk about making a difference, not so much get off our couch or stop watching reality t.v shows to actually make a difference.

I am not going to be a hypocrit, I talk about wanting to save the world all the time. But I am just "too busy" to actually do it. Its very sad to see such an amazing place fade away as it is.

I like how Kristof is trying to make a difference and I am thrilled to learn more about him and what he will do next.