Art for Darfur
THIS Saturday, April 12, 6-9 p.m.

As a result of the five-year armed conflict in Darfur, Sudan, more than 2.5 million Sudanese citizens have been displaced from their homes, fleeing to neighboring Chad, other villages in Darfur or, most commonly, to refugee camps. These chaotic and over-crowded environments lead to rapidly-spreading diseases and shortages of food and water. Art for Darfur is a collective of students and non-profit organizations, including Art for Peace & Justice, who strive to connect American citizens to the people of Darfur through the power of artist expression. On Saturday, April 12 from 6-9 p.m., in the Taubman Atrium of the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University, Art for Darfur will host a silent auction at an event to include food, live music and speakers in order to raise funds for the desperately needed humanitarian aid in Darfur, Sudan. Tickets for this “dressy casual” event are $10 and $5 for students. All proceeds benefit the International Rescue Committee’s humanitarian aid work in Darfur and Eastern Chad. For more information, please visit www.artfordarfurdallas.org.

“A View from the Underside: The Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer”
NEXT Sunday, April 20, 7 p.m.

Hope for Peace & Justice and Cathedral of Hope will present “A View from the Underside: The Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer,” starring former minister and hospital chaplain Al Staggs, on Sunday, April 20 at 7 p.m. at the Cathedral of Hope. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door. Staggs will present a selection from the play during the 9 and 11 a.m. services at Cathedral of Hope.

“A View from the Underside: The Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer,” a one-person play, brings the life of one of the great heroes of the 20th century to the stage. The audience is brought into the prison cell where Bonhoeffer awaits execution and listens to his struggles with evil, injustice and God. Bonhoeffer tells of the profound influence of fellow Union Theological student Frank Fisher, an African-American who introduced Bonhoeffer to the blight of racism in America. Bonhoeffer expresses moral outrage against the Nazi treatment of Jews and explains how that outrage led him to become involved in the German resistance movement, a commitment that would result in his execution by hanging on April 9, 1945. Respected journalist Bill Moyers said, “When I watch Al Staggs as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I am confronted by the deepest moral questions of what it means to be a witness and how I am using my life.”

H4PJ Night at the Theater Uptown Players presents “Bent,” Thursday, April 24, 8 p.m.

Hope for Peace & Justice once again is partnering with Uptown Players on a night at the theater. H4PJ will attend the Thursday, April 24 performance of “Bent,” the groundbreaking drama by Martin Sherman. Essentially a love story, “Bent” follows Max (played by H4PJ staff member David Plunkett) on his journey from the hedonistic Berlin of the early 1930s to his internment in Dachau concentration camp. It depicts the two great loves of his life: Rudy, a somewhat hapless dancer, and Horst, a fellow prisoner at the camp. Prior to the play’s off-Broadway premier in 1978, there had been almost no inclusion of gays in discussions about the Holocaust. With its message about tolerance, love and human dignity, this very successful play was nominated for both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony award in 1980. Tickets purchased through Hope for Peace & Justice for this performance are the regular price of $22, but half of the price benefits the programs of H4PJ.

Tickets may be ordered online by clicking HERE and will be available after both morning worship services at Cathedral of HopeTHIS Sunday, April 20, as well as at the performance of “A View from the Underside.” The underlying principles of hatred, whether fueling single outrageous events of violence or leading to a holocaust, are fundamentally the same then as now. This drama will remind us that we must be as vigilant against prejudice and hatred in 2007/2008 as the world should have been in 1937/1938.

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