On 22 May 2025, renowned NBA shooting coach Christopher Matthews, known globally as ‘Lethal Shooter’, visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial. In a moving reflection after his guided tour, he opened up about the emotional weight of the experience and the urgent relevance of its lessons for the world today.

“Growing up in the States, they teach you small things in school about what really happened,” Chris shared. “To come here and to hear about what truly happened… it’s heartbreaking. I feel like in the States we can do a better job of informing people about what took place here, because this has definitely changed my life.”

The Kigali Genocide Memorial testimonies, historical accounts, and personal stories of survivors made a deep impression on Matthews. “I feel like the whole museum was very informative,” he said. “You did a good job of full detail to explain what truly took place so it can never happen again. It makes people understand we have to be one family, one race, and one community.”

Emphasising the importance of learning from history to prevent future atrocities, he added, “I feel like this is the type of curriculum that should be taught around the world. This is real history”.

He didn’t just reflect on the past, but also shared a message of hope, healing, and responsibility for the future: “Even if you don’t have a big platform, if you’re doing something to change someone’s life, that’s what matters … We all have problems, we all have pain, but the only way we get through it is to love each other.”

In conclusion, he added: “I’m excited to be an ambassador, to continue telling the message of what happened here. The tour was powerful and very informative. Anyone who makes a trip here, it’s a destination that changes you.”

Matthews’ arrival as a visitor and departure as an ambassador illustrates the memorial’s power to inspire action. It’s not enough to simply remember, we must actively work to ensure such atrocities never happen again.