July 2010 Notes
Congo Action Now
Democratic Republic of Congo Committee
July 11, 2010
Present: Coleen Houlihan, Kelley Ready, Samba Halkose, David Amis, Pat Aron
A meeting of Congo Action Now was held on July 11, 2010. The meeting began with check-ins. Kelley is about to leave for a 3-week trip to Guatemala with a UUSC group she organized. Pat recommended Eve Ensler’s recent essay and read a note she had sent to Eve on behalf of CAN. A number of women we met at the Coolidge Corner
PHR/BARCC event have expressed interest in joining CAN.
The group discussed possibilities for our next event to raise consciousness of the war and sexual violence in the DRC. We hope to organize a large event for October and we discussed officially registering for Congo Week III which will be October 17 – 23, 2010. At our next meeting, we will decide if we want to register. Heartfelt thanks were given to Coleen for her hard work organizing the barbershop event - we now have a program that we can present at a variety of venues. Out of the Blue gallery in Cambridge was suggested as a possible location (it has good indoor and outdoor space) but it will charge. Other possible locations are the YWCA, the YMCA, churches, and libraries (possibly in Mattapan or Brookline). We will all investigate locations where we might hold events. Coleen suggested that we get donations from area businesses and have a raffle or silent auction.
A variety of events were considered. Samba would like for CAN to organize a film screening in Manchester, NH and invite U.S.-Congolese for Unity, Peace, and Development. Pat suggested that we might want to have a table at farmers’ markets - she had looked into the farmers’ market in Jamaica Plain. We will consider them further once we have tee shirts or bags that we can sell. The JP Forums at the Unitarian Church in Jamaica Plain might host a CAN event - Kelley had gotten information from them. We might arrange an event there with the speaker from the Antiviolence Project Suzanne had identified. We would also like to have additional house parties, maybe at Peg’s in Dorchester.
The group discussed possibly having a stand-out at Best Buy or another retailer that sells electronics, however we’re still having difficulty tracing which electronics companies use conflict minerals from the eastern DRC. When implemented, the Congo conflict minerals amendment that was recently adopted in the Financial Services bill should enable us to identify and target those companies.
There has been a major legislative victory with the inclusion of Congo conflict minerals language in the just-passed Financial Services bill. MA Representative Barney Frank was instrumental in securing this amendment which requires electronics companies to identify conflict minerals used in their products. The next step in the conflict minerals campaign is unclear. Kelley is trying to contact the Enough Project to find out if we still need to distribute letters in support of the Congo Conflict Minerals Act in the Senate and the Congo Conflict Minerals Trade Act in the House. We will stop distributing letters until we get clarification.
Kelley has received an excellent conflict minerals video from the Enough Project that spoofs a Mac vs. PC commercial. She will send it to all of us and we will think about how we can effectively use it.
We continued to discuss the design and printing of Congo Action Now tee shirts to be used for visibility and fundraising. A number of vendors have been identified but we still need help in developing a design. Pat had ordered free tee shirts, business cards, a banner, and other products from VistaPrint, an on-line company. We may decide to use the design provided by that company.
Reports from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative on rape in the eastern DRC and on motives of the perpetrators have been distributed. The group will have a discussion of these powerful reports at our August meeting.
CAN continued to make plans for the first Boston African Festival that will be held on Saturday, July 17, at City Hall Plaza. We will display our new CAN banner, the WILPF banner, and the DRC flag. Pat will prepare a display board that will include our resolution that was passed by the Cambridge City Council. Coleen, Marie, and Pat will set-up our booth at 8:00 and Suzanne and Samba will provide coverage. Pat will send another email asking if other people can cover. We decided which CAN materials to have available – Coleen will make copies. Pat will get WILPF materials. We will collect signatures - since the next step in the conflict minerals campaign is unclear, we won’t use our current petition. Pat will draft wording for a petition to support the International Violence Against Women Act and Coleen will format it. We will collect email addresses of people who would like additional information about our work and we’ll have a basket for donations. We currently have two different lists of things people can do to help - Pat will consolidate the two lists.
At the end of the meeting, some CAN and WILPF members watched Pray the Devil Back to Hell, an inspiring film about how women in Liberia organized for peace. The next meeting of Congo Action Now will be on Sunday, August 15, 2010, at 1:00 at Samba’s house in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Democratic Republic of Congo Committee
July 11, 2010
Present: Coleen Houlihan, Kelley Ready, Samba Halkose, David Amis, Pat Aron
A meeting of Congo Action Now was held on July 11, 2010. The meeting began with check-ins. Kelley is about to leave for a 3-week trip to Guatemala with a UUSC group she organized. Pat recommended Eve Ensler’s recent essay and read a note she had sent to Eve on behalf of CAN. A number of women we met at the Coolidge Corner
PHR/BARCC event have expressed interest in joining CAN.
The group discussed possibilities for our next event to raise consciousness of the war and sexual violence in the DRC. We hope to organize a large event for October and we discussed officially registering for Congo Week III which will be October 17 – 23, 2010. At our next meeting, we will decide if we want to register. Heartfelt thanks were given to Coleen for her hard work organizing the barbershop event - we now have a program that we can present at a variety of venues. Out of the Blue gallery in Cambridge was suggested as a possible location (it has good indoor and outdoor space) but it will charge. Other possible locations are the YWCA, the YMCA, churches, and libraries (possibly in Mattapan or Brookline). We will all investigate locations where we might hold events. Coleen suggested that we get donations from area businesses and have a raffle or silent auction.
A variety of events were considered. Samba would like for CAN to organize a film screening in Manchester, NH and invite U.S.-Congolese for Unity, Peace, and Development. Pat suggested that we might want to have a table at farmers’ markets - she had looked into the farmers’ market in Jamaica Plain. We will consider them further once we have tee shirts or bags that we can sell. The JP Forums at the Unitarian Church in Jamaica Plain might host a CAN event - Kelley had gotten information from them. We might arrange an event there with the speaker from the Antiviolence Project Suzanne had identified. We would also like to have additional house parties, maybe at Peg’s in Dorchester.
The group discussed possibly having a stand-out at Best Buy or another retailer that sells electronics, however we’re still having difficulty tracing which electronics companies use conflict minerals from the eastern DRC. When implemented, the Congo conflict minerals amendment that was recently adopted in the Financial Services bill should enable us to identify and target those companies.
There has been a major legislative victory with the inclusion of Congo conflict minerals language in the just-passed Financial Services bill. MA Representative Barney Frank was instrumental in securing this amendment which requires electronics companies to identify conflict minerals used in their products. The next step in the conflict minerals campaign is unclear. Kelley is trying to contact the Enough Project to find out if we still need to distribute letters in support of the Congo Conflict Minerals Act in the Senate and the Congo Conflict Minerals Trade Act in the House. We will stop distributing letters until we get clarification.
Kelley has received an excellent conflict minerals video from the Enough Project that spoofs a Mac vs. PC commercial. She will send it to all of us and we will think about how we can effectively use it.
We continued to discuss the design and printing of Congo Action Now tee shirts to be used for visibility and fundraising. A number of vendors have been identified but we still need help in developing a design. Pat had ordered free tee shirts, business cards, a banner, and other products from VistaPrint, an on-line company. We may decide to use the design provided by that company.
Reports from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative on rape in the eastern DRC and on motives of the perpetrators have been distributed. The group will have a discussion of these powerful reports at our August meeting.
CAN continued to make plans for the first Boston African Festival that will be held on Saturday, July 17, at City Hall Plaza. We will display our new CAN banner, the WILPF banner, and the DRC flag. Pat will prepare a display board that will include our resolution that was passed by the Cambridge City Council. Coleen, Marie, and Pat will set-up our booth at 8:00 and Suzanne and Samba will provide coverage. Pat will send another email asking if other people can cover. We decided which CAN materials to have available – Coleen will make copies. Pat will get WILPF materials. We will collect signatures - since the next step in the conflict minerals campaign is unclear, we won’t use our current petition. Pat will draft wording for a petition to support the International Violence Against Women Act and Coleen will format it. We will collect email addresses of people who would like additional information about our work and we’ll have a basket for donations. We currently have two different lists of things people can do to help - Pat will consolidate the two lists.
At the end of the meeting, some CAN and WILPF members watched Pray the Devil Back to Hell, an inspiring film about how women in Liberia organized for peace. The next meeting of Congo Action Now will be on Sunday, August 15, 2010, at 1:00 at Samba’s house in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom