Coltan is a mineral necessary for making electronic things work – like cellphones, ipods, PS3s and laptops. Over 6 million Congolese have been murdered to assure that the corporations and governments involved have a corner on the market for the minerals that the Congo produces. This is “Break the Silence” Congo Week. Check out the events and get involved!
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“Break the Silence”
One is hard pressed to find media accounts of what the Congolese people want or how they believe that the United States could best play a constructive role in ending the suffering in the Congo. Considering that the United States has played a significant historical role in the stifling of the democratic aspirations of the Congolese people and the backing of the 1996 and 1998 invasions of the Congo by its allies, Rwanda and Uganda, which unleashed what the United Nations say is the deadliest conflict in the world since World War II, it is important to hear directly from the Congolese people regarding U.S. engagement in the Congo.
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American and Western firms trafficking in mineral resources,
Baraka,
Bibokoboko,
Bijombo,
bilateral cooperation,
Bosco Ntaganda,
Bukavu,
Bunyakiri,
Bwegera,
cassiterite,
Central Africa,
Congolese people,
diamonds,
disease,
evil destruction of property and infrastructure,
famine,
Fizi,
Friends of the Congo,
gold,
Hon. Bapolisi Bahuga Paulin,
Hon. Bashomberwa Martha,
Hon. Birindwa Chanikire Solide,
Hon. Bitakwira Hayi Bihona-Justin,
Hon. Buherwa Lupini Désiré,
Hon. Kanyegere Lwaboshi Samuel,
Hon. Marie-Jeanne Kika Zamud,
Hon. Masumbuko Bashomba Christophe,
Hon. Mpanano Ntamwenge Roger,
Hutus,
international justice (ICC),
Israel,
Kagabwe,
Kakungwe,
Kalambi,
Kalonge,
Kamituga,
Kaniola,
Kasika Katogota,
Katumba Kalehe,
Kaziba,
Kigulube,
Kiliba,
Kinshasa,
Kitutu,
large-scale movements of populations,
Laurent Nkundabatware,
Lemera,
looting of natural resources,
Lubuga,
Lugushwa,
Luhwindja,
Makobola,
Masango Tubimbi,
Minembwe,
MONUC (United Nations Organization Mission in DR Congo),
Mushago,
Mutambala,
Mwenga,
National Members of Parliament of South Kivu,
Ndola,
Ngando,
Nindja,
Palestine,
President Barack Obama,
President Paul Kagame,
rape,
Rwanda,
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
Shabunda,
Sun City in South Africa,
the Conference of Goma,
the DR Congo,
the geostrategic position,
the Marshall plan,
the National Parliament,
the Obama administration,
the United States of America,
theft and other degrading treatment,
Tutsis,
Uganda,
Uvira,
“blood” coltan
“We applaud your focus on the horrors of the conflict in the Congo by addressing sexual and gender based violence; however, such violence against women is a direct result of the resource war. The United States can play a key role in bringing an end to the conflict,” Friends of the Congo wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
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Canada,
Congo,
Friends of the Congo,
Kenya,
Nairobi,
OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) guidelines,
Rwanda,
Secretary Clinton,
sexual and gender based violence,
Sweden,
the Carter Center,
the Congo,
The Netherlands,
the U.S. Embassy,
the United States,
Uganda,
United Nations
“The basic cause of most of the trouble in the Congo right now is the intervention of outsiders — the fighting that is going on over the mineral wealth of the Congo and over the strategic position that the Congo represents on the African continent. And in order to justify it, they are doing it at the expense of the Congolese, by trying to make it appear that the people are savages. And I think, as one of the gentlemen mentioned earlier, if there are savages in the Congo, then there are worse savages in Mississippi, Alabama and New York City, and probably some in Washington, D.C., too.” – Malcolm X on radio station WMCA Nov. 28, 1964
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African unity,
Belgium,
Congo,
England,
France,
Freedom,
Friends of the Congo,
Joseph Desire Mobutu,
Malcolm X,
Moise Tshombe,
Patrice Lumumba,
the United Nations,
the United States
Kambale Musavuli, national spokesperson and student coordinator for Friends of the Congo, in this interview by POCC Minister of Information JR, challenges the people of the U.S. and President Obama to stop the resource wars in the Congo that have killed 6 million people, half of them children, for minerals like the coltan that powers our cell phones and almost everything electronic.
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Africa and the World,
Black Dot Café,
Blackberry,
cell phones,
coltan,
Congo,
Congo Independence Day,
Flashpoints,
Friends of the Congo,
Kambale Musavuli,
KPFA,
POCC Minister of Information JR,
President Obama,
Rwanda,
Uganda
Young Congolese journalist Chouchou Namegabe brought the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to tears when she testified May 13 that the rapes of a half million women and girls in the Congo are “meant to remove the people from their mineral-rich land.” Watch the video and read the transcript.
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"conflict-free" minerals,
advocate for women and families,
blood minerals,
Chouchou Namegabe,
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
end impunity for rape and sexual violence in war,
Eve Ensler,
Friends of the Congo,
International Criminal Court arrest warrants,
John Prendergast,
mineral-rich land,
Niemat Ahmadi,
rape and sexual violence used as weapon and tactic of war,
Robert Warwick,
Sen. Barbara Boxer,
South Kivu Women's Media Association,
U.N. peace-keepers,
U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer,
voiceless women
Be sure to listen to the archived Wanda’s Picks Radio for Feb. 11, when the guests are Cynthia McKinney in the first hour and Guy Patrice Lumumba and Lisa F. Jackson, director of the film, “The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo,” in the second. Extraordinary radio! Superb mix of arts and politics!
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Albert Woodfox,
Angela Davis,
Angola 3,
Athol Fugard,
August Wilson,
Ave Montague,
Black Repertory Group Theatre,
C Kelly Wright,
Cassandra Henderson,
city funded construction,
construction industry,
Cynthia McKinney,
Desley Brooks,
Donald Lacy,
Friends of the Congo,
Gerald Smith,
Guy Patrice Lumumba,
Harry Bridges,
Hosea L. Simmons,
Huey P. Newton,
ILWU Local 10,
Isaura Oliveira,
Jack Hirschman,
L. Peter Callendar,
Laura Morache,
Lloyd Roberson II,
Local Hire Ordinance,
Maafa or Black Holocaust,
Martina Davis-Correia,
Muadi Mukenge,
Mumia Abu Jamal,
Ntozake Shange,
Oakland Community School,
Paul Robeson,
Pierre Labossiere,
POCC Minister of Information JR,
Rev. Cecil Williams,
Richard Brown,
Rickey Vincent,
Robert R. Bryan,
Sean Vaughn Scott,
Tayo Aluko,
The Lumpen,
Tony Spires,
Troy Davis,
Wanda Sabir
Rwanda and Uganda invaded the Congo twice, first in 1996 and again in 1998. These invasions unleashed the mass deaths and suffering that we see in the Congo today. It is estimated that nearly 6 million people have died as a result of the invasions of Congo. In addition, hundreds of thousands of women have [...]
The New York Times piece, “Rwanda Stirs Deadly Brew of Trouble in the Congo,” laid the foundation for a more honest dialogue about the resource war in the Congo, which has resulted in dying and suffering of holocaust proportions.
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Congo,
Dan Rather,
FAIR,
Friends of the Congo,
Gen. Nkunda,
International Court of Justice,
Jan Egeland,
Jeffrey Gettleman,
Kambale Musavuli,
New York Times,
Omekongo,
Paul Kagame,
rainforest,
resource war in the Congo,
Rwanda,
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon,
Uganda,
Yoweri Museveni
Some of us remember the first elected prime minister of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, as he brought to the world the vision of a prosperous Congo where this beautiful land will benefit the Congolese people and not world corporations. A modern day holocaust is occurring in this picturesque land of abundance.
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"Break the Silence" movement,
Carter Center,
Democratic Republic of Congo,
Friends of the Congo,
International Crisis Group study "Consolidating the Peace",
Joseph Kabila,
Kambale Musavuli,
Patrice Lumumba,
President Paul Kagame,
President-elect Barack Obama,
Rumble in the Jungle,
Rwanda,
Zaire
I know no honest, informed Congo watchers who doubt that Gen. Laurent Nkunda and his ruthless militia are tools of the U.S. and its African proxy, Rwanda, in the imperial resource war now raging in Eastern Congo.
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Ann Garrison,
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Goma,
Joseph Kabila,
Kambale Musavuli,
Kivu Province,
Laurent Nkunda,
looting,
Maurice Carney,
mineral riches,
murder,
Pambazuka News,
rape,
Rwanda,
Rwandan Embassy,
San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper,
torture
Following “Break the Silence” Congo Week, Kambale Musavuli urges the global community, and African-Americans in particular, to revitalize international attention on the Congo as a means of shedding light on the ongoing conflict and harnessing the potential for strong advocacy relationships.
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"Break the Silence" Congo Week,
cobalt,
coltan,
Congo,
copper,
Cynthia McKinney,
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eastern Congo,
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gorillas,
Heart of Darkness,
Joseph Conrad,
Kambale Musavuli,
King Leopold II,
Muhammad Ali,
Pambazuka,
Patrice Lumumba,
Rumble in the Jungle,
Rwanda,
tin,
Tom Tancredo,
Uganda,
Zaire
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the green heart of Africa. The country has the second largest rainforest in the world. It is resource rich but plagued with humanitarian crises resulting from the plundering of the DRC’s mineral resources are severe.
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Ann Garrison,
bauxite,
Breaking the Silence on the Congo Week,
cadmium,
cassiterite,
child labor,
child soldiers,
coal,
cobalt,
coltan,
conflict diamonds,
Congo Friends,
consumer electronics,
copper,
De Beers,
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),
diamond,
diamond mines,
Dustin Blitchok,
Friends of the Congo,
germanium,
gold,
human rights,
industrial and gem diamonds,
International Rescue Committee,
iron ore,
Katanga Province,
manganese,
Mbjui Mayi,
mineral resources,
niobium,
radium,
rainforest,
Rwanda Metals,
safe drinking water,
Second Congo War,
Shinkolobwe uranium mine,
silver,
tantalum,
timber,
tin,
UNICEF,
uranium,
zinc
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