When Martina Knee visits synagogues, schools and other community organizations to talk about the six-year-old genocide in Darfur, she starts with the numbers.
“It’s estimated that 500,000 people have been killed,” Knee said. “About 2.7 million have been displaced, and roughly 4 million are dependent on humanitarian aid for everything — that’s food, water and medical care.
Using these “numbing” statistics, plus visuals such as postcards and photos, Knee tries to create a human connection between her fellow Bay Area residents and Darfuris more than 8,500 miles away.
“It’s the most powerful thing I can do,” said Knee, a retired attorney in San Francisco.
For her efforts to help eradicate genocide in Darfur, Knee was named a 2009 Carl Wilkens Fellow by the Washington, D.C.-based Genocide Intervention Network. The fellowship will provide Knee and 19 others with advocacy training, access to experts and networking opportunities within the national anti-genocide campaign.
In addition, Knee will receive a $1,500 stipend for the year to use toward organizing events with the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition, of which she’s been a member since late 2005.
The fellowship “will greatly increase my knowledge and effectiveness as someone trying to organize our community on these causes,” said Knee, a member of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.
Knee recently returned from Washing-ton, D.C., where she had her first fellowship retreat and met its namesake, Carl Wilkens, the former head of an aid organization in Rwanda. (According to the Genocide Intervention Network, he was the only American to stay in the country during the 1994 genocide.)
She and a diverse group of fellows from across the country strive toward a common goal, Knee noted: to build an anti-genocide constituency. “All of us are so motivated and energized. The fact that we can all work on something that we’re passionate about is incredibly exciting.”
The formation of a constituency greatly appeals to Knee. “Ultimately, it’s where we want to get as a society,” she said.
For nearly four years, Knee has been actively involved in the local Darfur coalition, an alliance of organizations and individuals working to stop the genocide and halt the war in Sudan.
The coalition’s 24 executive committee members tap into a mailing list of nearly 2,000 names to draw support: weekly action alerts are sent out, advising people to call the White House and State Department to urge federal and local officials to address the violence in Darfur, and there are updates on local activities such as rallies and informational gatherings.
Knee also helps publicize Bay Area events that others organize about genocide.
Due to safety concerns, Knee and most other Americans are barred from traveling to Darfur. Except for a few prominent journalists and celebrities, no one gets in.
“I would love to go now, but that’s not realistic,” she said. “But when I hear the Darfuris in the camps receive word through satellite or by word of mouth that Americans care about them, that is the most motivating factor.”
Several local Jewish organizations have taken up the cause, including congregations Emanu-El in San Francisco and Rodef Sholom in San Rafael, the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Progressive Jewish Alliance.
Knee serves on Emanu-El’s social justice committee and works with b’nai mitzvah students who select the genocide in Darfur as their tzedakah project.
She said her work with the coalition and Emanu-El definitely overlaps, thanks in part to the support the coalition receives from the congregation’s clergy and staff.
“My Jewish values have a major effect on the work I do,” Knee said. “There’s definitely an element of tikkun olam here, and the teaching that we should endeavor to leave the world in a better place than we found it.”