A feature of Cleveland State Community College’s Multicultural Fair this year will be a double screening of the Academy Award-nominated movie “Hotel Rwanda” at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Tuesday in the George R. Johnson Cultural Heritage Center Theater.
The movie screenings will be followed by a speaking engagement at 7 p.m. in the Cultural Center by Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of the “Hotel Rwanda” story.
Rusesabagina character was portrayed in the film by American actor Don Cheadle.
The Rwandan was a hotel manager about 10 years ago when almost 1 million people were killed over a 100-day period of terror and death in Rwanda. Rusesabagina is credited with saving more than 1,000 refugees by sheltering them from almost certain death in the hotel.
He has become a worldwide hero from the movie’s message of “hope, peace and never again.”
He has founded the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation which provides support, care and assistance to children orphaned by the genocide in Rwanda. The Foundation also supports the women who were abused during those days of terror.
Rusesabagina is the recipient of numerous and prestigious humanitarian awards. He was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Civil Rights Museum’s Freedom Award and the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award.
Rusesabagina emphasizes he has become a humanitarian “without wanting to become one.” He added that he wants to take his message on a wider scale to raise awareness around the world.
Tracey Wright, Cleveland State’s director of special programs and community relations, said, “It is a tremendous gift to our community to have him present at Cleveland State as part of the Multicultural Week activities.”
A reception in Rusesabagina’s honor will be held immediately following his talk. The college’s bookstore will have copies of his autobiography “An Ordinary Man,” with a book signing. Admission is free to each of the events.
n CSCC is host for the fifth annual Multicultural Fair from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday, April 21, in the courtyard outside L. Quentin Lane Gymnasium. Admission to the fair is also free. The event, celebrates all the different cultures living in Cleveland and Bradley County.
