Contributed by Dragana Vidovic, News and Legislation Associate, World Without Genocide

Individuals meet in unexpected situations and places. Those encounters are a reminder of how small our world is – that all humans are connected in some way. Strangers start conversations and discover that they have common friends or enemies in one or another part of the world.

Although the modern world is connected in unprecedented ways, people often choose to isolate each other, ignoring the suffering of their fellow humans. Almost 20 years ago, in a war-torn city of Banjaluka, Bosnia (officially known as Bosnia-Herzegovina), 14 newborn babies became victims and witnesses to human cruelty and isolation. While those in power debated their war tactics, 12 newborn babies died in a hospital from lack of oxygen. The troops surrounding the area around Banjaluka didn’t let oxygen be imported by land. The UN Security Council had established a no-fly zone over Bosnia and the airplane bringing the oxygen from Belgrade was not allowed to fly. Slađana Kobas, the 13th baby from this incident, died at the age of 13 and the last surviving baby, Marko Medaković, is still living in Banjaluka and struggling with horrific physical and mental consequences. The groups involved in the 1990s conflict are blaming each other and creating controversies around this event, only to vindicate their souls and prolong the pain of those who lost their loved ones. I remember watching the news and hoping naïvely that someone would save those babies and stop the war, but the violence continued for the next three years. I ask myself the same questions today as I did then; what motivates humans to hurt each other and what inspires us to protect each other? During trying war times, events like these happen over and over again due to lack of communication, trust, and empathy.

There is a one key emotion that those who isolate others lack: empathy. The ability to imagine someone else’s feelings and understand other people’s perspectives enables us to resolve our misunderstandings in a peaceful way. Yet the nature of empathy is such that we are most empathetic towards those who live close to us, are similar to us, or are our family members. A question often asked is “why should we care about people living thousands of miles away in another country?” While participating in the “Children of Genocide: Five Who Survived” film project, I met people who survived Nazi persecution, war in Darfur, and the killing fields of Cambodia, and I realized that they were affected by war violence in similar ways that my friends and neighbors were in Bosnia during the war. Millions of people around the world are forced to fight “someone else’s” war and that threatens the safety and security of every one of us. If we can understand our commonality and begin to feel and imagine the lives of other human beings, we will learn how to make our world better place.

American prison psychologist Gustav Gilbert said during the Nuremburg trials after interviewing several Nazi war crimes defendants in 1945, “I told you once that I was searching for the nature of evil. I think I’ve come close to defining it: a lack of empathy…A genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow man. Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy.” I have witnessed this kind of evil firsthand, and I believe that mass destruction is preventable if we will take the time to listen to and understand each other. It is our behavior toward others that produces either friends or enemies. The choice is yours to make.

Contributed by Brandon Gil, Advocacy Associate, World Without Genocide

We call people who stand up against injustice ‘upstanders,’ people who, despite personal risk, advocate for human rights with courage and conviction. In 1970, upstanders Jack Baker and James Michael McConnell defied social norms when they applied for a marriage license in Minneapolis. They were turned down because of their same-sex status.

Deciding that this was unfair and unconstitutional, the couple filed suit. This led to a now-infamous decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court affirming the denial of the marriage license to Baker and McConnell. Although the Court acknowledged that marriage is a fundamental right, the Court nevertheless denied this right to same sex-couples. Jack and James, a loving and committed couple, would not be able to have their marriage legally recognized.

On May 31, 2011, thirty years after this binding Minnesota Supreme Court decision, the Minnesota House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (7-62) to put LGBT equality in the hands of Minnesotans during the November 2012 election. The November ballot will ask whether the Minnesota constitution should be amended to define marriage as between one man and one woman. If a simple majority answers in the affirmative, same-sex couples will not only still be prevented from getting married, but discrimination will also have been successfully etched into the law of our state.

During the long debate on that night in May, four Republicans stood up for marriage equality: Tim Kelly (R-Red Wing), John Kriesel (R-Cottage Grove), Rich Murray (R-Albert Lea), and Steve Smith (R-Mound). Since then, other notable Minnesota Republicans have proven to be upstanders by speaking out against the marriage amendment, including former gubernatorial candidate Wheelock Whitney and Susan Kimberly, former deputy mayor of St. Paul with Mayor Norm Coleman.

This demonstrates that marriage equality is not simply a partisan issue. It is exactly what was expressed thirty years ago in Baker v. Nelson—marriage is a fundamental human right.

World Without Genocide, an organization committed to protecting innocent people from being targeted based solely on who they are, stands on the side of marriage equality. Between now and November 12, we encourage you–lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or straight — to be upstanders and to participate in a statewide dialogue on marriage equality. We must stand up against the amendment and preserve this fundamental right of marriage for all by voting NO in November 2012.

Contributed by Douglas Heidenreich, Professor, William Mitchell College of Law

William Mitchell College of Law is a venerable institution with a lot to be proud of.  I have taught here for nearly half a century; my subjects have for the most part been relatively technical ones—basic contract law and related courses—but I also teach Professional Responsibility, which is the modern version of the course that was, many years ago, called Legal Ethics.  When, a couple of years ago, I learned that William Mitchell was to welcome onto its campus an organization called World Without Genocide, I didn’t think a lot about it.

After the organization had officially moved here, my friend and colleague, Professor Phebe Haugen, visited one of the classes that Dr. Ellen Kennedy, the Executive Director of World Without Genocide, was teaching to a group of our students, and at her urging I attended as well.  Besides being impressed with the knowledge that Dr. Kennedy displayed and the skill with which she handled the class, I was struck by the significance of what she was doing and the importance of her work for all of us.

We here at William Mitchell talk a lot, as everyone does these days, about the shrinking world and the importance of a global society.  Some of our students have served in foreign lands in the military conflicts in which the country is involved.  Some of our alumni have served as judges in some of the special tribunals than have been established to deal with the horrors that have rent the social fabric of countries of whose existence we once were barely aware.  One of our faculty members is counsel for a defendant in a proceeding before one of those tribunals.  We all, faculty, staff, and students, are committed to the fundamental principles of justice and fairness and the rule of law.  What issue can be more important for future lawyers—for future citizens—in a global society than the problem of man’s inhumanity to man?

So, I do what I can to support this program and to encourage the wonderful person who is its guiding light.  As our students progress through law school, studying sometimes-arcane principles and theories, they need to think about more than how to start a lawsuit or draft a contract or negotiate a settlement of a legal dispute.  Important though those matters are, our students need the chance to think about, talk about, and study the fundamental issues of evil and its manifestations in this world that they are poised to enter.  I consider this to be one of the most important things that we do here at William Mitchell, and I am proud that we are giving our students and the other members of our community this opportunity.

An Enough Moment -
Have you ever had a moment when enough was enough, a moment when you realized that you couldn’t be a bystander any longer and you had to stand up for what’s right?

We were privileged to learn about young people’s ‘enough moments’ this summer.

World Without Genocide launched the country’s first summer institute for high school students in August 2011. Participants from ten Minnesota high schools spent three days learning about genocide, hearing from survivors, rescuers, and human rights advocates, and committing to rights action in their schools and communities.

Read some of our Summer Institute students’ own Enough moments below:

“What if I was a victim in the genocide?  Would people help me?  We’re all humans, where we were born or the color of our skin should not make us different.  I could have been the one dying, but I’m not; therefore, I should be the one making a difference.”

“My enough moment: I was in my high school speech class and looking for a topic.  I opened my mom’s fashion magazine and saw a story about Iman, the Somali-American super-model who does human rights work, and FGM, female genital mutilation.  From that story, her story, I knew it was more than a speech topic but an eye-opening experience from which I could not turn away.  Her experiences were not mine, but I knew I could make a difference in the world by raising awareness in the limited setting of my speech class.”

“I came to this institute because I wanted to know more about genocide and what to do about it. My “Enough Moment”  was learning about Rwanda in school and seeing how people turned away at what they didn’t want to see.”

“I didn’t really have an Enough Moment.  I didn’t know enough about genocide to even have an Enough Moment.  I came to the realization that it is unacceptable that so few people know much about genocide, and that so few people care.  I
decided I didn’t want to be one of those people.”

“I came to the World Without Genocide Summer Institute because… I wanted to learn more about genocide and how I could, someday, stop it. My Enough Moment was when … I saw the movie Ghosts of Rwanda.”

“I came here to learn about human rights issues and atrocities around the world and what I can do to create sustainable change. My Enough Moment came on the first day when I read Valentina’s story and saw her injuries growing up in Rwanda during the genocide.”

“Realizing that everyone has a story to tell and everyone should have the right to tell their story and be helped.  We are not so different than anyone around the world and we do have the power to change/improve their lives if we choose to be Upstanders.”

“I came to World Without Genocide’s Summer Institute because I want to make an impact on the world.”

“I decided to come here after I read Outcasts United for School. This was a chance for me to learn more and teach others.”

“My Enough Moment was going to Dachau and seeing the hatred and darkness in the flesh.  Also politicians and civilians that have been bystanding for decades.  I can’t see people in power abusing the power and do nothing.”

“I came because I wanted to become a better leader.  My Enough Moment was when I first learned how much could be done for oceanic and animal conservation.”

“Enough is enough…
When I first learned about Darfur from a documentary.  I knew if other people could stand up for what’s right, I could too.”

“My Enough Moment was at a Freedom Seder a few years ago. Victims of genocides spoke about their experiences and life after genocide.  It was really special to hear
their stories in person.  The connection formed from hearing their voices tell their stories drives me to action.”

“What made me decide to come here is the passion I have toward reaching a just world.  I feel as if I have been given so much, and for everyone in the world to have freedom and basic human rights is something that is important to me and that I strive to work towards.”

“What Made Me Interested: Knowing about the Nazi Holocaust and wondering why it happened.
Turning Point: Feeling angry and hopeless, then apathetic.  And wanting to change that feeling.”

“My Enough Moment was hearing about the horrors going on in Darfur for the first time.  I was so surprised that it had sort of been ignored or forgotten about.”

“Why I came: Learn about our world, about issues (genocide) in other countries, learn how to become an Upstander.
My “I’ve had it Moment”: This week during the World Without Genocide Summer Institute.  The things I saw and heard were atrocious and I want them to change.  Thank you, Ellen and all of the adult facilitators and students who have made this program possible.”

“My Enough Moment came when I was 13 and I read the Diary of Anne Frank.”

“When I learned about the Holocaust in my American History class, I cried and my classmates, my friends, seemed totally untouched.  I asked them later what they thought about the class, and they said that it was too horrible and they couldn’t listen.  They tuned out.  If we don’t even care to listen, how can we act when people need our help now? Enough!”

Thank you for reading our ENOUGH MOMENTS.

What’s yours?

For more about the Enough Project’s work, visit www.enoughmoment.org.

All photos taken by Brigitte Norby.