As a former student activist, it’s been a surreal experience following the pro-Palestinian protests occurring at universities across the country. Almost 20 years ago, I helped lead national efforts across the country to divest universities, cities, and states from foreign companies aiding and abetting the genocide in Darfur, Sudan—the last effort that inspired massive divestiture action from institutions of higher education across the country. Despite our successful divestment efforts, the situation in Darfur is once again at a dire point, with a humanitarian disaster looming. This khbrknews, very few are sounding the alarm.
Looking back on our efforts to divest American entities from companies in Sudan, two critical lessons emerge: First, a targeted approach to divestment is crucial to any potential campaign victory. Secondly, divestment on its own, while potentially important, is ultimately an insufficient tool in materially changing the situation on the ground, especially without long-term, sustained activism and engagement.
In 2005, the genocide in Darfur captured the attention of thousands of college students across the country. Protesting a regime that massacred up to 400,000 of its own people through use of militia groups in the western region of Sudan, students organized massive protests in Washington, DC and their own campuses, pushed for congressional action, and engaged in acts of civil disobedience. Students also helped to lead a nationwide divestment movement, lobbying universities and states to pull their investments out of companies directly or indirectly aiding the government to carry out the atrocities. Ultimately, 35 states, including California and Texas, divested from Sudan, and over 50 universities participated in the effort.
I helped to lead national efforts as the Student Director for STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, and worked on successful campaigns to convince my alma-mater Brown University, the City of Providence, and the State…
