Music and Bone Making for Incredible Impact

Our NYC coordinator, Monic Cohen, created an event in NY in late February that was, by all accounts, a most marvelous evening. Here's a video for you, and Monica shared a little about her feelings about the night below.

A Night of Bones and Music from Monica Cohen on Vimeo.

On February 28, 2013, One Million Bones partnered with 29Salon to offer a night of art activism and music. The event intended to create an community atmosphere of consciousness, connection, and deep meaning through art. While listening to music, participants were asked to make bones with clay and reflect on several survivor testimonies read before each performance.

29Salon is a monthly music and reading series that takes place at Sweet 180 in New York City, where artists perform, share and collaborate in an intimate setting. I curated the event and put together two incredible bands: Lisa Jaeggi <http://lisajaeggi.com/>  and T.H.E.M <https://twitter.com/THEMladies>.  We were happy to see 40 people attend this event, and were impacted and changed by the experience. I realized that night that sometimes it is not about the number of bones we craft that makes an experience successful, but it is the ability to transmit the message that the bones can convey. 

The outcome was a wonderful combination of two profound experiences: watching a live performance of beautiful music while taking part in a physical and mindful act of humanitarianism. 

 

One Million Bones Speaker Announcement

We couldn't be more excited to share the news that Neema Namadamu will be joining us from the Democratic Republic of Congo and will be speaking at the One Million Bones installation.  

We first heard about Neema by way of an organization called Maman Shujaa of Congo, but as we read about her, we learned that was just the very tip of her story.  This link will take you to her bio on the WorldPulse site, and this is a link to an interview with her.

Interestingly, Neema has many connections in Santa Fe (right in One Million Bones' backyard), and this is a link to a radio interview she did with SantaFeRadioCafe. You'll want to scroll down to September 12, 2012.

We hope, hope, hope you can join Neema and all the rest of us on the National Mall, on Saturday, June 8th. It's really not too early (or too late) to make travel plans.  We even have a webpage to help with that!

Where did last week go?

Well dear blog readers,

I missed an entire week. But there were reasons.  I was traveling on One Million Bones business. We were filming for a documentary. We were hosting workshops in the last run up to the National Mall.

Forgive me, and rest assured I have an amazing bit of information to share with you today.  I hope that makes up...

You know, we are 75 days out from the event.  Every day a little bit more of the programming gets put in place and confirmed.  Last week, the activities we've been talking about for Monday, June 10th -- the closing of the event, as it were-- were officially announced.

Act Aaginst Atrocities: an advocacy day.

It's going to be amazing!  It's organized in partnership with Enough! There is training and support to make it super successful.  You have to sign up ahead of time.  Do it here!  Do it now!

Syria. Two years on.

From the ICRtoP email newsletter:

Widespread calls for an urgent response to end the two-year crisis in Syria

 

On 15 March, Syrian activists and opposition groups marked the two-year anniversary of the country’s deadly crisis with protests in several towns, including Deraa and Aleppo. Rebel forces called for increased attacks on the government, with the leader of the Free Syrian Army vowing to continue fighting until the Assad regime is gone. As a result, Syrian government forces have strengthened security measures in Damascus in anticipation of violence.

 

The crisis in Syria erupted on 15 March 2011 when civilian protesters took to the streets in widespread demonstrations calling on the government to initiate reforms. The government responded brutally, reportedly subjecting civilians to arbitrary detention, torture, and the deployment and use of heavy artillery. With the militarization of opposition groups, the conflict has evolved into a de facto civil war, and violence has become increasingly sectarian in nature. To date, the international community has been unable to negotiate an end to the conflict. On 1 March, the European Union amendedsanctions imposed on Syria to allow for increased support, including non-lethal military equipment and armoured vehicles, to opposition forces on the ground.

 

The toll of the conflict on the population in and around Syria has been devastating. The United Nations (UN) Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Radhouane Nouicer stated on 15 March that, “the civilian space is eroding as there is almost no place deemed to be safe. Syrians have no idea when, or if, they will have a normal life again.” According to the UN, over 70,000 people have been killed, 1.1 million refugees have fled to neighbouring states such as Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey and 2.5 million people have been internally displaced. "It is deplorable that high numbers of civilian casualties are now a daily occurrence to which people are unfortunately getting accustomed," said Robert Mardini, Head of Operations for the Near and Middle East at the International Committee of the Red Cross.

 

International civil society organizations have issued reports and statements to mark the two-year anniversary, with some describing the humanitarian situation on the ground and others calling for international action to end the violence. TheInternational Federation for Human Rights organized a global moment on 15 March for activists to join together and demand an end to the massacres in Syria. In a recent report, Medecins Sans Frontieres described the many obstacles faced by health care workers, hospitals and aid organizations in the country as well as the insufficient assistance to refugees in neighboring states. Meanwhile, Amnesty International reiterated its call to the UN Security Council to uphold accountability for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Syria and refer the situation to the International Criminal Court. The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect echoed Amnesty’s message, and then called specifically on the BRICS community (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to take the opportunity of its upcoming summit in South Africa to call for humanitarian access in Syria and an end to the conflict. Save the Children< /a> joined the United Nations Children’s Fund in calling for resources, and asked international donors to “turn pledges into funding and deliver assistance on the ground in a way that is needs-based, sustained, flexible, and coordinated”.Below, you will find excerpts from and access to recent publications from these organizations.

Guess where we have people working on the project!

Sierra Leone!

Somaliland!

Romania!

Pakistan!

Japan!

And that's only some of the countries around the world!  Want us to share more?  Let us know in the comments.