Take a Kurdistand!!

As some of you may know, I have spent time in Washington D.C. the past few years volunteering time at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker house. A passion for human rights has arisen in me because of these experiences, and it was during one of those visits that I met a man named Kani.

Kani is a Turkish Kurd, and he lobbies Congress through his organization, the American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN). Currently, the Kurdish people are the largest ethnic group in the world without a country. Kurdish areas exist in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, and, in Turkey especially, Kurdish people are greatly persecuted, unable to speak the Kurdish language, practice Kurdish cultural traditions, or even say that they are Kurds.

Kani visited Minnesota a couple of weeks ago for speaking engagements in Minneapolis, and he drove north with another mutual friend to visit me. He brought a film with him called Good Kurds, Bad Kurds
(http://www.kevinmckiernan.com/doc.html ) which is a) excellent viewing and b) a powerful depiction of the Kurdish struggle. If you've heard about the Kurds before, or haven't until now, I suggest seeking out this film and watching it. Check out AKIN's website, too, at http://www.kurdistan.org .