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Born on November 29, 1964 in Kansas Missouri, Donald Frank Cheadle popularly known as Don Cheadle in Hollywood is the son of Donald and Betty Cheadle. He is a brother to Cindy and Colin. Because of his obsession in acting and music, he studied fine arts in California Institute of the Arts after graduating from East High School in Denver, Colorado. Immediately upon graduation, he landed a role in the movie, Moving Violations, which was followed by a number of fairly forgettable movies which he had small roles on. He finally got his big screen debut in the movie Hamburger Hill and in the 1995 film entitled Devil in a Blue Dress, he won his first best supporting actor award. This lead him to appear in several notable films like Boogie Nights, Colors, Mission to Mars, The Family Man, Rush Hour 2, Swordfish, Crash, Ocean's Eleven, Traffic and Hotel Rwanda where he got an Oscar nomination.

Being an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning actor only proves that Don Cheadle has big talent. But his heart is bigger because after filming Hotel Rwanda in 2004, a film based on a true story about the 1994 Rwandan civil genocide, he became an activist to raise awareness to stop genocide in Darfur (region of Sudan) and around the world. Genocide is defined as the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group and is what the United Nations considered the world's worst humanitarian crisis. In 2005, Don Cheadle was invited to join a fact-finding mission along with five members of Congress to see the refugees of the Rwandan genocide and to learn how genocide impacted their lives.

Needless to say, the mission has changed Don Cheadle's life forever. After the trip to Sudan in 2005, he partnered with John Prendergast, a human rights activist, to write a book to increase awareness and how to stop genocide not only in Sudan but around the globe. The book "Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond" was released in May 2007. He has also appeared on several TV programs and newspapers to talk about his mission and his experience in Darfur, Sudan.

Prior to the release of the book, "Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond", Cheadle has teamed up with Annie Duke (best female professional poker player in the world) to organize a poker tournament for a cause which many Hollywood actors has participated. Part of the winnings of the money finishers were donated to either The ENOUGH Project or The International Rescue Committee.

Quoting from one of his interview "There are many ways, and none of them can be overlooked when you are talking about trying to create a collective awareness. You never know where water is going to find its level and finally reach someone."

Indeed, Don Cheadle is a man of courage for embracing his mission with so much compassion, hoping to make a difference in the lives of the people around the world.

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