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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Afghanistan,
Africa and the World,
Africom,
Alabama,
Ambassador Shirley Barnes,
America,
Australia,
Belgium,
Bill Clinton,
Break the Silence Week,
British governments,
Canada,
China’s growing influence,
Clinton,
coltan reserves,
Congo Week,
Costa Rica,
Darfur,
Doctors Without Borders,
Dr. Yvonne Seon,
Elombe Brath,
former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney,
Friends of the Congo,
George Bush,
George Washington Williams,
Ghana,
Hillary Clinton,
Hurricane Katrina,
Iraq,
Ireland,
ivory extraction,
Japan,
Jim Hope,
Kambale Musavuli,
King Leopold II,
Kosovo,
Maria Fearing,
mineral wealth,
Minister of Information JR,
multinational corporate and government,
New Orleans,
Obama,
one-hour global cell out,
Patrice Lumumba,
Paul Kagame,
POCC: Block Report Radio,
rape,
Romania,
rubber,
Rwanda,
Sean Bell,
sexual violence,
South Africa,
Sweden,
Talladega College,
the African Business Summit,
the Berlin Congo Conference,
the Democratic Republic of Congo,
the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University,
the Patrice Lumumba Coalition,
the SF Bay View newspaper,
the Tsunami in Asia,
the U.S.,
the United States,
Tshiluba,
Uganda,
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland,
United Kingdom,
William Henry Sheppard,
World War II,
“Break the Silence”
Ishmael Reed is one of the most read writers of his generation, along with Toni Morrison and Amiri Baraka, living in America. In 1962, Reed co-founded “East Village Other,” a well known underground publication at the time, and was a member of the Umbra Writers Workshop, which helped to give rise to the Black Arts Movement. He has published nine novels, four collections of poetry, six plays, four collections of essays and a libretto. He currently lives in Oakland, and I approached him one day while he was visiting KPFA’s studios to ask him what he thought about the state of affairs between the police and Oakland’s Black community, with the backdrop of the police murder of Oscar Grant and, in a separate incident, the police murder of Lovelle Mixon, after Mixon allegedly killed four Oakland police officers.
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African Americans,
Amiri Baraka,
anti-Chinese riots,
BART police officers,
California,
Chinese Exclusion Act,
Enoch Pardee,
Gaelic,
Gitmo,
Hispanics,
Japanese Exclusion Act,
Jerry Brown,
Lovelle Mixon,
Minister of Information JR,
non-violent crime,
Oakland,
Oscar Grant,
Police Chief Parker,
police state,
prison hospitals,
prisoners,
racial profiling,
Ramsey State Penitentiary,
rape,
Spanish,
Texas,
the Black Amazon Queen,
the Black Arts Movement,
the Bush administration,
the ghetto,
the Native American,
the Pell grants,
the public schools,
the Umbra Writers Workshop,
the Wall Street Journal,
Three Strikes,
Toni Morrison,
torture,
traffic profiling,
“Blues City: A Walk in Oakland”,
“Califia”,
“East Village Other”
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.
Tags:
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
“This is a Congolese sister, not the U.N., who is building a school with her own money and donors, to give back to her country,” says Kambale Musavuli, spokesman and student coordinator for Friends of the Congo, paying tribute to Noella Coursaris Musunka.
Tags:
Congolese diaspora,
Fatima Najm,
Georges Malaika Foundation (GMF),
Kalebuka,
Katanga,
Katanga's mining profits,
Katangaise,
Lubumbashi,
Moise Kutumbi,
Noella Coursaris,
Prosper Kabila,
rape,
warring factions
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.
Tags:
African World War,
Ann Garrison,
Barack Obama,
castration,
Congo,
Cynthia McKinney,
Friends of the Congo,
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
English