MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow: “Pressure Not Going Away” to End Darfur Conflict

UPDATE: Sister Schools Program coordinator Stella Kojo-Kenyi reports that since last night's airing of The Rachel Maddow Show, 31 U.S. schools have signed up to partner with Darfuri schools in the refugee camps in eastern Chad.

On her show last night, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow interviewed Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady and Enough’s John Prendergast about why they founded the Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools Program. Appearing in a primetime segment, McGrady and Prendergast discussed the challenges that persist in Darfur, where nearly 3 million people are displaced from their homes due to violence that began there in 2003 and continues today.

The segment aired as world leaders gather in New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly, where President Obama captured headlines with his first address to the Assembly. As Maddow explained, activists who were optimistic about President Obama’s leadership on the Darfur issue “so far have been disappointed.” But, she added, “the pressure is not going away,” in part because of celebrities “who won’t let it go away.”

Have a look:

To learn more about Darfur Dream Team and find out how you or your school can become part of the Sister Schools Program, check out the DarfurDreamTeam.org.

• Sudan Now
• Tracy McGrady
• Sudan and South Sudan
• Genocide
• Eastern Chad