Generation Change

When I came to the United States in 1994, change for me as a nine-year-old child was simply relief from the uncertainty of whether I was going to live or going to die that existed in my country of residence in Burundi and in my native country of Rwanda. The opportunity to grow up in an environment in which my life was not in perpetual jeopardy was a welcome change, but I quickly learned that the privilege of a secure environment is not to be idle but rather to actively work at being the change that one desires to see in the world. I began to speak up on issues related to the continent of Africa and to share with students my age at such universities as Harvard, Yale and Stanford about what our generation should learn from the Rwanda experience.

While working to give a voice to the people of Africa, I have met various people along the journey that were unforgettable, one being Senator Barack Obama. I met him at a conference at Saddleback Church as he spoke along side Senator Sam Brownback on the bi-partisan efforts of the Senate in helping the continent of Africa in the fight against HIV/Aids.

After that first meeting, I thought that Senator Obama would be a great candidate for the presidency if he ever ran. And, as you can imagine, I was delighted when I saw on the news a couple of months later that he was launching his bid for the presidency. I intend to cast my vote for Senator Barack Obama if he wins the nomination for the Democratic party and my reasons have less to do with his eloquence on the campaign trail or his African heritage, than with his willingness not simply to talk the talk, but walk the walk when it comes to ensuring the human rights of Africans. Historically, African human rights is an issue that western leaders have been unconscionably reluctant to back up with real action. But Barack Obama, has demonstrated tremendous leadership time and time again by backing up his great speeches with even greater actions.

There is no country in the world that has had to endure a more gruesome aftermath of a total breakdown in leadership than Rwanda. In 1994, Rwanda suffered a tragedy unimaginable in both scope and brutality. It was the fastest genocide in recorded history. An estimated 800,000 to one million innocent civilians were killed in a span of one hundred days, and hundreds of thousands fell victim to displacement and starvation in the following weeks and months. The international community’s failure to act, in spite of the fact that the whole world was aware of the atrocities taking place, is one of the most shameful facts of the twentieth century.

Yet, we have once again witnessed failure of leadership to act in regards to genocide in Darfur—with the exception of Senator Obama, who has been on the forefront not just with his words but with his actions. He has co-sponsored six bills to help fight the genocide in Darfur, including the Darfur Accountability Act, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, and the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act.

Obama’s demonstrated commitment to ending genocide in Darfur is an example of what we, the foot soldiers of Obama’s historic march to the presidency, call the politics of change. Our generation is calling for an end to the status quo, not just in the way we view politics, but also in the way that we conceive of poverty, disease, genocide, climate change and how these complex issues are woven together. We see the evidence of this in how our generation is embracing the fight against AIDS and poverty with Bono, climate change with Al Gore, and demanding an end to the divisive and stagnant politics that made us unwilling to act against genocide in Rwanda in 1994 or in Darfur today.

An astonishing number of young people are coming out in support of the junior Senator of Illinois as he has spoken for the need to change the trajectory of the country and begin moving in a new direction. Something rare is happening in America where young people are not merely looking to one person to initiate change, but more and more they are looking at one another as change agents who have a mutual responsibility to make this world a better place. The strength of the Obama movement among young people even has ripple effects among their parents. Two examples are of influential women, Caroline Kennedy and Senator Claire McCaskill, who have spoken about the enthusiasm of their children as the motivating factor that caused them to get behind Senator Obama’s bid for the presidency.

This is in no small part thanks to Senator Obama’s inclusive rhetoric on the campaign trail that employs phrases like “Yes we can,” which lend a strong sense of community to a movement that is gearing itself towards change. Obama has brought together a diverse coalition of people from different backgrounds with the promise of reaching across partisan divides and barriers of race.

Obama’s contagious enthusiasm for political change has empowered our generation not to settle for business as usual, but rather to be the change that we desire to see in our world.







Paul N. Rudatsikira, the founder of Africa Global Partnership Inc., travels the country advocating on behalf of the people of Africa.