That Spring in 1994: What I Remember--Recollections of the Rwandan Genocide

     In the spring and summer of 1994, I was 15 years old and a freshman at Bedford High School in Massachusetts.   Searching my memory of that period, I can't recall even a quick polaroid recollection concerning almost a million people's murder.  

That spring

I remember working as a bagger at the grocery store on Hanscomb Air Force Base.  

I remember fleeing the base theatre with my friend CJ after we lit up cigars during a movie. 

I remember the field where I would play soccer by my school.

What I can recall

I close my eyes and I can smell the dusty paper of the grocery bags.

I close my eyes and I can feel my heart racing as we were chased out of the theatre.

I close my eyes and I can see the long and overgrown green grass of the soccer field.

That same spring

Nearly a million people's last breath and smell was rotten and rife with sweat, urine, and blood.

Murderers crushed and ripped apart nearly a million hearts.

Murderers smashed shut nearly a million sets of eyes.  

That same spring

Millions of people 

knew.

And millions of people did

Nothing.

Today

Today

Today

Today

and everyday

I trudge with the grief of my own ignorance like a iron yoke on the shoulders of my soul.  

Featured here:

http://paper.li/OppressorsOrg/1307905046

The Guilt of the Silent: An Analysis of Raoul Peck's "Sometimes in April"

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2012/02/guilt-of-silent-analysis-of-raoul-pecks.html