Quotessence
Home / Authors / Rebecca Hamilton

Rebecca Hamilton Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllSudanPeopleThinkingCountryDifferentGovernmentStillsWayBelieveDarfurHappensHas BeensIdeasInformationKnowsParticularSouthSouthernAgreementAmerica

Famous Rebecca Hamilton Quotes

“Southern Kordofan is not a disputed territory. It is, and will remain, in the north, where the Nuba Mountains are. People believe there was a genocide there in 1990s. The Nuba, who are northerners, fought with the south in the north-south war. But they have their own individual interests, and they will remain in the north after the south splits.”

PeopleBelieveWarIndividualInterestMountainSouthTerritorySouthernGenocideSplitsNortherners
Author:Rebecca Hamilton
Create image

“What's really interesting, though, is that some people in the Messirya are starting to see Darfuri rebels - so non-Arab, [from the] Justice and Equality Movement - have moved over into Southern Kordofan, which is supposed to be a Messirya stronghold, and started recruiting Messirya to go and fight against the Khartoum government in Darfur. Just another example of how everything in Sudan is interlinked.”

PeopleGovernmentFightingJusticeInterestingExampleMovementMovedStartingSupposed To BeSouthernRebelReally InterestingEquality And JusticeSudanStrongholdsDarfur
Author:Rebecca Hamilton
Create image

“I think people felt like they did everything they had been told they should do to fix the problem, and it still wasn't fixed. Then you have these other parts of Sudan, [which] in actual fact have been left on the back burner for way too long, so there was this scramble, probably a year ago now, to focus on the fact that this peace agreement was basically falling apart.”

PeopleThinkingWayShouldYearsLongHas BeensStillsFactsProblemFallLeftFeltFocusYears AgoFixedAgreementFalling ApartSudanBack Burner
Author:Rebecca Hamilton
Create image

“Something I've learned over time, and trying to remind myself this week as I am back in New York and feeling pretty anxious, is that things always seem less dire when you're in the country than when you're outside. I don't exactly know why it is, except that people just have to get on with their life, so they do. And you don't have time to do anything other than keep going.”

PeopleKnowsTryingCountryFeelingsSeemsWeekNew YorkI've LearnedKeep GoingAnxiousFeeling Pretty
Author:Rebecca Hamilton
Create image

“I try not to cover Sudan from afar. I feel really uncomfortable writing about Sudan when I'm not there. It always looks different. When you're outside Sudan it's easy to lose sight of how much of what happens is driven by local politics. And when you're in America in particular, there's this sense that what D.C. has to say is the only thing that counts. Unsurprisingly people in Sudan don't feel the same way.”

PeopleWayFeelsWritingTryingLooksDifferentHappensAmericaEasyLosesParticularSightDrivenLocalsUncomfortableAfarSudan
Author:Rebecca Hamilton
Create image

“When you are dealing with a mass movement, as opposed to a quote-unquote "elite," you are talking to people who don't have time to read long research papers. You have to communicate with them in sound bites, around every other thing they are doing. So it takes a long time to shift people from one message to the next, especially if your foundational narrative was, "The only one thing in the entire world you should be paying attention to is Darfur."”

PeopleIfsWorldShouldLongNextSoundAttentionTalkingOne ThingMovementPaperMessagesMassLong TimeResearchCommunicatePay AttentionNarrativeBitesElitesPapersSound BitesDarfur
Author:Rebecca Hamilton
Create image

“For sure I see so much in Sudan that is wonderful, normal life - young entrepreneurs starting up NGO projects, kids mucking around and being kids. Everything else that happens in normal life in any part of the world, and we never get that in our media coverage. We only talk about Sudan once it's in crisis, so we end up with a distorted sense of what daily life is like for a lot of people.”

PeopleWorldEndsHappensKidsYoungLife IsWonderfulMediaNormalProjectsCrisisEntrepreneurStartingDaily LifeLife Is LikeCoverageNormal LifeSudanBeing A KidYoung EntrepreneursStarting UpMedia Coverage
Author:Rebecca Hamilton
Create image