May 2010 Notes
Congo Action Now
Democratic Republic of Congo Committee
May 30, 2010
Present: Coleen Houlihan, Kelley Ready, Samba Halkose, Suzanne Bas Davis, Neema Mulindwa, Pat Aron
Congo Action Now met on May 30, 2010. The meeting began with check-ins. Kelley then discussed the PSR/BARCC screening of The Greatest Silence and panel on June 7 at the Coolidge Corner Cinema. Kelley reported that it is too late for Congo Action Now to sign on as a co-sponsor. The program looks excellent. Registration is required.
The group discussed plans for our barber shop event. The open house will be held at Manuel’s Barber Shop in Brookline on June 27 from 3:00 to 6:00. We finalized the program for the event. It will include an overview of the situation in the eastern DRC (Pat), poetry (Coleen and Deborah), a presentation about the DRC (Samba), a reading from Ruined (CAN), and live music. Suzanne will ask if the Raging Grannies want to sing. Samba will prepare Congolese food. Manuel will have a caterer provide wine and drinks. We will have a table for materials. Pat will revise our letters in support of conflict minerals legislation and will update the “What Can We Do” list. We will have Samba’s VICO flyers available. Pat will get name tags. Pat will ask a friend to take a professional photograph of the group that we can give to Manuel. Coleen will thank him on behalf of the group. Manuel has done outreach and Coleen put a notice in the Brookline Tab. Pat will send the flyer to the WILPF list. Everyone can’t attend so Coleen will send an email to requesting additional readers. We will meet at 1:30 before the event for a run-through of the Ruined reading. (NOTE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO THE UNAVAILABILITY OF THE LOCATION.)
We continued discussion of the design and vendor for Congo Action Now tee shirts to be used for visibility and fundraising. Kelley had gotten information from No Sweat about pricing. She will ask a friend about assistance with a design. Pat will ask Linde from Ensemble pour les femmes how much the woman who did their design would charge. We’d like to have tee shirts for the African Festival but probably won’t have enough time. Pat will look into the cost of a foamboard Congo Action Now sign.
The group considered possible collaborations for the future. Suzanne discussed the Antiviolence Project of Our Prisoner Neighbors. Samba had taken the training. Suzanne will let Zawadi Niluzi had know about CAN so we may meet if she returns to the Boston area. Kelley will contact Mama Muliri and Lynn Lawry – they’re in the DC area.
Pat provided updates on the status of legislation. Amnesty International has an email campaign urging representatives to support the Congo Conflict Minerals Trade Act. The House conflict minerals bill (HR. 4128) has 51 co-sponsors including Capuano, Frank, McGovern, Olver, and Tierney from Massachusets. Kelley urges us to call and send letters to Rep. Lynch calling for his support. The Senate bill (S. 891) has 22 co-sponsors. Sen. Kerry has not signed on as a co-sponsor – he has asked Sen. Brownback to adapt changes that will strengthen the bill. Kelley will write Brownback asking him to adopt these changes. The International Violence Against Women Act has 28 co-sponsors in the Senate (introduced by Kerry, Boxer, Snowe, and Collins). In the House, there are 94 co-sponsors (introduced by Delahunt and Poe). Four House co-sponsors are from Massachusetts (Tierney, Capuano, McGovern, and Olver). CAN will continue to distribute letters for people to send to their legislators in support of conflict minerals legislation and the IVAWA.
Samba had sent us the Friends of the Congo report of Congolese women’s prescriptions for ending sexual violence. The group discussed these recommendations – we want to be sure CAN’s work supports them. Samba felt that the call for an inter-Rwandan dialogue is important. The call for women’s greater involvement in decision-making is consistent with UN resolution 1325. We felt that the work we’re doing does support these recommendations.
The first Boston African Festival will be held on Saturday, July 17, at City Hall Plaza. This will be an exciting event. CAN has registered and will have a booth (thanks to Boston WILPF for offering to pay our $100 registration fee). We discussed the design of our booth. Kelley has a table and two chairs we can use and we’ll get fold-out display boards for pictures and information about CAN and WILPF. We don’t have a banner - Pat will look into the cost of a Congo Action Now sign. We will display the Congolese flag. Set-up will be at 7:00 AM and the festival ends at 9:00 PM. Pat will send an email asking when people can provide coverage.
The meeting closed with the distribution of copies of Adam Hochschild’s excellent article Blood and Treasure from the March/April Mother Jones.
The next meeting of Congo Action Now will be on Sunday, July 11, 2010, at 3:00 at Pat’s house in Jamaica Plain. Instead of meeting on the fourth Sunday of the month, we decided we needed to meet between the barbershop event and the Boston African Festival.
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Democratic Republic of Congo Committee
May 30, 2010
Present: Coleen Houlihan, Kelley Ready, Samba Halkose, Suzanne Bas Davis, Neema Mulindwa, Pat Aron
Congo Action Now met on May 30, 2010. The meeting began with check-ins. Kelley then discussed the PSR/BARCC screening of The Greatest Silence and panel on June 7 at the Coolidge Corner Cinema. Kelley reported that it is too late for Congo Action Now to sign on as a co-sponsor. The program looks excellent. Registration is required.
The group discussed plans for our barber shop event. The open house will be held at Manuel’s Barber Shop in Brookline on June 27 from 3:00 to 6:00. We finalized the program for the event. It will include an overview of the situation in the eastern DRC (Pat), poetry (Coleen and Deborah), a presentation about the DRC (Samba), a reading from Ruined (CAN), and live music. Suzanne will ask if the Raging Grannies want to sing. Samba will prepare Congolese food. Manuel will have a caterer provide wine and drinks. We will have a table for materials. Pat will revise our letters in support of conflict minerals legislation and will update the “What Can We Do” list. We will have Samba’s VICO flyers available. Pat will get name tags. Pat will ask a friend to take a professional photograph of the group that we can give to Manuel. Coleen will thank him on behalf of the group. Manuel has done outreach and Coleen put a notice in the Brookline Tab. Pat will send the flyer to the WILPF list. Everyone can’t attend so Coleen will send an email to requesting additional readers. We will meet at 1:30 before the event for a run-through of the Ruined reading. (NOTE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO THE UNAVAILABILITY OF THE LOCATION.)
We continued discussion of the design and vendor for Congo Action Now tee shirts to be used for visibility and fundraising. Kelley had gotten information from No Sweat about pricing. She will ask a friend about assistance with a design. Pat will ask Linde from Ensemble pour les femmes how much the woman who did their design would charge. We’d like to have tee shirts for the African Festival but probably won’t have enough time. Pat will look into the cost of a foamboard Congo Action Now sign.
The group considered possible collaborations for the future. Suzanne discussed the Antiviolence Project of Our Prisoner Neighbors. Samba had taken the training. Suzanne will let Zawadi Niluzi had know about CAN so we may meet if she returns to the Boston area. Kelley will contact Mama Muliri and Lynn Lawry – they’re in the DC area.
Pat provided updates on the status of legislation. Amnesty International has an email campaign urging representatives to support the Congo Conflict Minerals Trade Act. The House conflict minerals bill (HR. 4128) has 51 co-sponsors including Capuano, Frank, McGovern, Olver, and Tierney from Massachusets. Kelley urges us to call and send letters to Rep. Lynch calling for his support. The Senate bill (S. 891) has 22 co-sponsors. Sen. Kerry has not signed on as a co-sponsor – he has asked Sen. Brownback to adapt changes that will strengthen the bill. Kelley will write Brownback asking him to adopt these changes. The International Violence Against Women Act has 28 co-sponsors in the Senate (introduced by Kerry, Boxer, Snowe, and Collins). In the House, there are 94 co-sponsors (introduced by Delahunt and Poe). Four House co-sponsors are from Massachusetts (Tierney, Capuano, McGovern, and Olver). CAN will continue to distribute letters for people to send to their legislators in support of conflict minerals legislation and the IVAWA.
Samba had sent us the Friends of the Congo report of Congolese women’s prescriptions for ending sexual violence. The group discussed these recommendations – we want to be sure CAN’s work supports them. Samba felt that the call for an inter-Rwandan dialogue is important. The call for women’s greater involvement in decision-making is consistent with UN resolution 1325. We felt that the work we’re doing does support these recommendations.
The first Boston African Festival will be held on Saturday, July 17, at City Hall Plaza. This will be an exciting event. CAN has registered and will have a booth (thanks to Boston WILPF for offering to pay our $100 registration fee). We discussed the design of our booth. Kelley has a table and two chairs we can use and we’ll get fold-out display boards for pictures and information about CAN and WILPF. We don’t have a banner - Pat will look into the cost of a Congo Action Now sign. We will display the Congolese flag. Set-up will be at 7:00 AM and the festival ends at 9:00 PM. Pat will send an email asking when people can provide coverage.
The meeting closed with the distribution of copies of Adam Hochschild’s excellent article Blood and Treasure from the March/April Mother Jones.
The next meeting of Congo Action Now will be on Sunday, July 11, 2010, at 3:00 at Pat’s house in Jamaica Plain. Instead of meeting on the fourth Sunday of the month, we decided we needed to meet between the barbershop event and the Boston African Festival.
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom