With so many activists getting arrested at the Sudenese embassy at protests about events in the Dafur region of that country, now might be a good time to learn a little more about the cause that’s getting them so riled up. (One Christian news website characterizing the protests as “trendy”) Its gone so far that one notable District celebrity feels the need to explain his conspicious absence.

Fortunately, some of the city’s multitude of organizations are here to help. The Institute for Policy Studies will be featuring the Darfur genocide on Wednesday, August 11th at one of their biweekly “Defining the Issues” events. The featured guest will be Omar Ishmael, from something called the “Darfur Peace and Development Organization” and Adotei Akwei, the Advocacy Director at Amnesty Internationl. The talk will be from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 733 15th Street, NW, Ste. 1020. More information about the event is posted in the “read more” section.

Also, the TransAfrica Forum (1426 21st Street, NW, Second Floor) is sponsoring a “Writers’ Corner” with Howard French, author of “A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa” The talk is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. While the book doesn’t specifically discuss Sudan, it seems to be a good overview of contemporary African events and politics, and I imagine Sudan might come up:

“… A Continent for the Taking explores the legacy of colonization on contemporary African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Mali and Nigeria. The book also examines tragedies, such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Ebola outbreak, and the Rwandan Genocide. …”