Written by Lauryn King
On April 4th, Omekongo Dibinga came to speak at the Allen D. Nease High School Chapter of STAND. He shared with us many of his touching poems that captured the audience’s attention quickly. Once he had their attention, he explained in words that we could understand what exactly was happening in Eastern Congo with rebel groups and conflict minerals, a very complicated situation which can become tedious and hard to understand. He even included a question and answer portion where many students asked further questions about the topic. It was amazing to see how many people Omekongo had touched with his poems and his presentation. The best part was that the presentation was not depressing, it was motivating. People were certainly shaken but Omekongo motivated them to go out and create effective change, doing everything they could. The assembly was in no way about guilt or depression, but empathy and motivation. It was a truly inspiring event.