24518: McCalla (announce) Sometimes in April is a MUST-SEE film (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Jocelyn McCalla <info@nchr.org>

SOMETIMES IN APRIL WILL TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY

Impressed by Hotel Rwanda, the feature film on the Rwanda
genocide that garnered several Academy-award nominations this
year? You'll be blown away by Sometimes in April which premieres
this Saturday, March 19 on HBO at 8:00 PM Eastern time. It is a
feature-length film of magnificent beauty, written, produced and
directed by Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck whose previous credits
include Lumumba and Man by the Shore.

Sometimes in April is Peck's best work yet. He has achieved
nearly the impossible by dealing with much care and sensitivity
with a most horrific event that produced more than 800,000
deaths while the rest of the world stood silently by. In doing
so, he has paid homage to the victims of the genocide and
celebrates the human spirit that survived in spite of the
atrocities witnessed and suffered.

I urge you to see this film in the company of friends or
relatives and to spread the word. Why am I turning your
attention to Rwanda when Haiti needs all the care and attention
it can get? 1994.

The genocide was perpetrated in April 1994. The inaction of the
US and the UN back then led to action in Haiti in September 1994
when 20,000 US troops landed in Haiti to remove military power
and ease President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's return to the
National Palace. President Bill Clinton acted because Haiti's
political and humanitarian situation was fast deteriorating
causing thousands to flee the killings being perpetrated by
paramilitary thugs whose behavior resembled those of the Hutus
who used machetes, picks, stones and guns to kill the Tutsis.

So gather your friends and loved ones around the small screen on
Saturday night. Watch it together and discuss it afterwards. If
you miss the premiere showing on Saturday, check your local
listings for times when the film will be shown again. Watch it,
you should. I promise that you won't regret it.

NCHR ADDS TERRIFIC NEW BOARD MEMBERS

I am pleased to inform you of four new additions to the Board of
Directors of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights. They
are:

1. Carole Berotte Joseph, Ph.D., President of MassBay Community
College in Massachusetts. Her appointment to the presidency of a
college that serves over 5,000 students on three campuses is a
breakthrough for Haitian immigrants and a recognition of the
skills and talent she has developed over more than 20 years of
teaching and managing institutions of higher learning. Before
joining MassBay, Dr. Joseph served as the Chief Academic Officer
and Dean of Academic Affairs at Dutchess Community College/SUNY
in New York, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dean of Faculty
and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for four years at Eugenio
Maria de Hostos Community College/CUNY, and Principal
Investigator and first Director of the statewide HABETAC, the
Haitian Bilingual/ESL Technical Assistance Center.

2. Jacques Jiha, Ph.D. is the Chief Financial Officer of Black
Enterprise Magazine/Earl Gray Ltd. Prior to that, Mr. Jiha
served as Deputy Comptroller for Pension Investment and Public
Finance in the Office of the New York State Comptroller,
managing the assets of the $120 billion New York Common
Retirement Fund (the nation's second largest pension fund) and
oversaw the College Savings Program with assets of $2 billion.
He was also the Co-Executive Director of the New York State
Local Government Assistance Corporation, Deputy Comptroller for
Audits and Finances in the Nassau County Office of the
Comptroller and Deputy Comptroller for Budget and Chief
Economist for the New York City Office of the Comptroller. Mr.
Jiha was Executive Director of the New York State Legislative
Tax Study Commission and Principal Economist for the New York
Assembly Committee on Ways and Means.

3. William G. O'Neill, Esq, is a renowned attorney specializing
in international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law. He
chaired a UN Task Force on Developing Rule of Law Strategies in
Peace Operations and was Senior Advisor on Human Rights in the
UN Mission in Kosovo. O'Neill was Chief of the UN Human Rights
Field Operation in Rwanda and directed the Legal Department of
the UN/OAS International Civilian Mission in Haiti. He has
investigated mass killings in Afghanistan for the Office of the
High Commissioner for Human Rights and conducted assessments of
the High Commissioner's Office in Abkhazia/Georgia and of the
OSCE's Human Rights Department in Bosnia-Herzegovina. His work
in Sierra Leone focused on how the Special Court can contribute
to broad-based legal reform, and in Burundi, Nepal and
Mauritania on developing and implementing national human rights
action plans. In addition to designing and participating in
reforming the judiciaries, police forces and prison
administrations in a variety of post-conflict settings, O'Neill
has created and delivered training courses on peace operations
for military, police, humanitarian and human rights officers
from dozens of countries. The question of how to integrate human
rights in development work has become a recent focus of his
work. He has published widely on rule of law issues,
peacekeeping and human rights.
4. Daniel Wolff has been a published writer for over twenty-five
years. Nominated for a Grammy award in 2003, his most recent
books are: "Negro Leagues Baseball" with photographer Ernest
Withers (Harry Abrams, February 2005) and "Fourth of July,
Asbury Park" (Bloomsbury, forthcoming in July, 2005). His awards
include the Ralph Gleason Music Book Award in 1995 and two
nominations for the General Electric Younger Writer's Award. His
writing includes scientific articles, essays, profiles, feature
pieces, poetry and fiction. His articles have appeared in many
publications including Connoisseur, The Nation and Vogue. His
work has been anthologized in various publications and his work
has been featured on National Public Radio, in numerous
publications from the New York Times to the San Francisco
Chronicle.