The Devil Came on Horseback

Last night a friend and I attended the Windrider Forum to see documentary film, The Devil Came on Horseback.

Former US Marine Captain Brian Steidle was hired to monitor a ceasefire in the Darfur region of Western Sudan.

Communicating to loved ones back home in 2004, he wrote:

"I'm afraid that we will be hearing about Sudan for a long time to come."

While the tragedy continues (it’s already claimed 400,000 lives and displaced 2.5 million people over the past few years), it’s surprising how little it’s being talked about, and how many people don’t know what’s going on there. I confess I’d been ignorant about it until now.

The stunning documentary follows Steidle, armed only with a camera, pen and paper, as he joins the African Union as a military observer in the heart of the conflicts—an area inaccessible to journalists. There he directly witnesses and documents the brutal, systematic annihilation of black African Sudanese by the Arab militia group, the Janjaweed. Certain that if only the West knew of these atrocities they would be compelled to act, Steidle returns home to America with over a thousand explicit photographs and begins an impassioned awareness campaign.

The Devil Came on Horseback is a deeply affecting story of one man's life-changing transition from witness to activist and comes as a pressing reminder that the Darfur genocide continues to this day—and something must be done to stop it.

It’s hard to know what to do with such a huge crisis. I’d suggest first seeing the film and learning more about the situation. Click here for more.

Then, decide what your role is in preventing this genocide from continuing.