10 Things You Can Do During Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month

Today, we continue to see evidence of crimes against humanity, including those that continue to occur in Ukraine, and we remain vigilant, as history has shown they are the foundations from which genocides have begun in the past.

1. Practice being an Upstander: Sociologists report that people who rescued during the Holocaust often reported that altruistic actions were normal to their everyday lives.  Build this habit into your life by doing something kind for someone else during the month.  An act of kindness each day would be a honorable goal!
2. Check with your local school or public library to discover what genocide resources are needed in its library and provide funding for one or two books.
3. Attend the William H. Donat Shoah Commemoration April 27th at 7:00 p.m. at Iona College which will include a lecture by Dan McMillan, author of The Holocaust: Explaining How This Could Happen. Information and registration will be available at William H. Donat Shoah Commemoration.
4. Learn more about the Rwandan Genocide. April 6 marks the 28^th anniversary of the start of this event.  The Kigali Memorial Center offers documentation and survivor testimony of the genocide (Kigali Memorial Centre), and BBC offers an excellent overview of the events of the genocide.  You can also learn how the country is commemorating the genocide from this current article.
5. Learn about the Genocide Prevention Task Force by visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum/Genocide Prevention
6. Visit the Genocide Watch website to learn about Dr. Gregory Stanton’s framework for examining genocide, the “10 Stages of Genocide”, and the recommended preventative steps you can take to stop genocide early.
7. Learn more about the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), a relatively new doctrine that informs much of genocide prevention today on their website.
8.  Find a legislative champion to support designating April as Genocide Awareness and Protection Month in New York. California, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Ohio have designated April as Genocide Awareness Month.
9. Listen to the personal histories of different genocides provided by the USC Shoah Foundation at Genocide Awareness Month.
10. Support the work of the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center by making a donation here.