Courtesy of The Root
A poll conducted just before the 2012 presidential election found that issues related to foreign affairs rank among the lowest priorities for Americans. For this reason it is not entirely surprising that media outlets rarely cover international stories, particularly conflicts and tragedies, with the enthusiasm and intensity increasingly reserved for stories about Kate Middleton‘s and Kim Kardashian‘s pregnancies.
Those international stories that do generate high-profile attention usually do so only briefly, and often because of the involvement of a Hollywood celebrity, such as when George Clooney shamed the media into covering the crisis in Sudan. Now another actor is trying to bring media attention, and the attention of Americans, to the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Isaiah Washington, famous for his role in the TV series “Grey’s Anatomy” and a host of films, is taking time out from promoting current projects, like the critically acclaimed Blue Caprice, to try to draw some of the media spotlight back onto the Congo crisis. On Saturday he will join others in Atlanta for the Million Woman Walk for Congo, sponsored by Dunia magazine, which has dubbed the walk an effort to remind Americans of “Africa’s Forgotten War.”
