Out of Exile

An important event notice for Tuesday, 10 February, in Washington, DC. If you're here or will be here, there might still be room for you; give a call or send an email (see below). Putting Darfur together with Southern Sudan, & other areas of the country that are in turmoil or on the verge, is essential to address the problem of the murderous regime in Khartoum. The various states of Sudan do not want to secede...some see it as their only chance to actually survive.

Every single person we've ever met from different states, always, always refer to themselves as "Sudanese." Below is the press release from Enough Project's website. Again, we are sorry for the slapdash nature of this post but it's the fastest way & they've already written it. Many of you admire (for good reason) Dave Eggers & he will be there, too.

We adore singer & musician Emmanual Jal; he wrote the afterword for the book Out of Exile: Narratives From the Abducted and Displaced People of Sudan. Much more on all of these folks & their art in coming weeks. (Emmanuel will be in NYC for a special performance on Thursday, 12 February & we think it's at Faison Firehouse Theatre but the website is a bit confusing between the first page & the schedule. See his website & assorted great videos, here.)

OK, here's the press release below (or go to Enough Project)

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Out of Exile: Narratives from the Abducted and Displaced People of Sudan

Featured Contributor:

Dave Eggers, author of the novels A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and What is the What

Featured Author:

Craig Walzer, editor, Out of Exile

With Special Guests:

Abuk Bak Macham, refugee from Southern Sudan and featured subject in Out of Exile.
Franco Majok, one of Sudan's "lost boys" who recently returned to Sudan to build a school in his native village with donated funds.

Moderated by:

John Prendergast, co-chair of the Enough Project, the Center for American Progress's initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity

Out of Exile brings the crisis in Darfur and other parts of Sudan out of the policy realm and into the lives of people who never meant to carry the label "refugees." Decades of conflicts and persecution have driven millions from their homes in all parts of Sudan. Many thousands more have been enslaved as human spoils of war. In their own words, the narrators of Out of Exile recount their lives before their displacement, the reasons for their flight, and their hopes of someday returning home.

Out of Exile includes the personal stories of 17 Sudanese people, as told to Craig Walzer, a former legal services adviser to Darfuri and other Sudanese refugees in Cairo. They describe life in the major stations on the "refugee railroads": in the desert camps of Khartoum, the underground communities of Cairo, the humanitarian metropolis of Kakuma refugee camp, and the still-growing internally displaced persons camps in Darfur.

Copies of Out of Exile: Narratives From the Abducted and Displaced People of Sudan will be available for purchase. The editor will be available to sign books following the discussion.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Program: 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Admission is free.

Light snacks will be served at 6:00 p.m.

Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

Nearest Metro: Blue/Orange Line to McPherson Square or Red Line to Metro Center

RSVP for this Event

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We hope to see some of GG & her editor's readers (including the poems) there. If so, please do come up & introduce yourself; we tend to be a bit shy at these functions. GG can't make it but will be there in spirit. (Even though she works hard on behalf of humanitarian causes, GG is too distracting & she tends to want things done her way...after all, her occupation is "an opinionated cat.")

bisou, xo GG Central Mgmt.

(book image via Enough Project website)