September 2010 Notes
Congo Action Now
Democratic Republic of Congo Committee
September 26, 2010
Present: Samba Halkose, Antonieta Gimeno, Peggy Barrett, Suzanne Bas-Davis, Bev Freeman, Mike Collons, Pat Aron
Congo Action Now met on September 26, 2010. The meeting began with check-ins. Bev joined us from the Harvard Congo Initiative – she reviewed the history and goals of the Initiative. Pat let people know that Jackie will be out of state for a while because of her mother’s illness. Linde has postponed her trip to the U.S.
Bev reported that the Harvard Congo Initiative is beginning to meet to plan Congo Week activities. They’re considering offering a series of panels over 2- 3 days and have decided not to hold a rally. Pat registered CAN with Congo Week – we will support the Initiative’s activities (we will be informed as plans progress). We discussed the possibility of media coverage – questioned if anyone at the Boston Globe might write an article (possibly Derrick Jackson or James Carroll). Bev will talk with someone at the Harvard Gazette. Marie-Ange is the main contact for Congo Week.
Pat reported on the status of the Dear Hillary for the Congo Campaign. CAN is a registered group and we have received The Greatest Silence video and 200 postcards to distribute. The postcards urge Secretary Clinton to try to make a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the DRC a priority of U.S. foreign policy. We will get the postcards signed and mail them on October 27 (the day after Secretary Clinton’s birthday). Kelley’s and Coleen’s postcards will be at Pat’s. Antonieta will email other people that Peggy has postcards.
The group next discussed legislative activities. It is still unclear if the House and Senate bills on Congo conflict minerals will proceed. Pat has emailed Rep. McDermott’s aide who had responsibility for the House bill to ask its status. Pat reported on the status of the International Violence Against Women Act. There are currently 33 co-sponsors in the Senate and 123 co-sponsors in the House. We are collecting signatures on a petition addressed to Sen. Brown asking him to sign on as a co-sponsor. We may try to meet with Sen. Brown to present the petition. Antonieta will contact Jane Doe to ask about their contact with Sen. Brown about the I-VAWA.
Jackie sent word to us that the play Ruined will be at the Huntington Theatre in Boston from January 7 through February 6. We considered the possibility of attending as a group - we may be able to get group rates. Peggy will ask if people at BARCC would like to join us. We discussed actions CAN might take to increase awareness, get people involved, and advertise Village Cobaye. Possibilities include having a table with information, handing out flyers, putting an insert in the program, and sponsoring a panel. The playwright Lynn Nottage is very supportive of anti-war and anti-violence work on the DRC. Peggy will locate contact information for the playwright so Samba can contact her. We’ll all think about possible activities and we’ll discuss them at our next meeting.
The group wants to re-focus on supporting women in the DRC. Samba has been communicating with VICO staff. The UN is working with VICO to establish an office in the village. CAN wants to support this work - we will identify places to hold events where Samba can do her presentation on VICO’s work. We discussed the possibility of having an event at the African Meetinghouse in Boston. Antonieta will contact the meetinghouse to discuss coordinating with them. Two marches will occur in the next month to raise awareness of the war and sexual violence in the Congo. On October 1, there will be a march at the UN in New York. The international World March of Women will end in Bukavu October 14 – 17. The Shalupe Foundation is sending a contingent - Maman Jeanne has sent information on how to make donations.
Coleen will be leaving the area for a while to have time with her baby and to focus on writing. She would like to continue to maintain the Congo Action Now website, but she’ll also train others on the website. Antonieta, Suzanne, and Pat will schedule a meeting with Coleen for the training – anyone who wants to join us is welcome.
We continued the discussion of outreach efforts that were suggested by Antonieta. Coleen is working on re-organizing our website. We’d like to develop a PowerPoint on the DRC that includes a positive cultural/artistic framework. – we may want to develop modules that can be combined to address different types of events. Samba wants to write about the situation in the DRC and her experiences – CAN wants to support her in this work.
Pat brought up the question of follow-up after meetings and asked if people would like to be reminded of actions to be taken. Everyone felt that a reminder would be helpful so that items will be addressed at the following meeting. Outstanding items include:
Possibility of introducing a resolution to the Boston City Council – Moni
Role of Somerville aldermen – Peggy
Contacting Congressional Black Caucus - Antonieta
The next meeting of Congo Action Now will be on Sunday, October 24, 2010, at 3:00 at Pat’s house in Jamaica Plain. The meeting will be followed at 5:00 by an exciting event (call Antonieta at 917-981-1625 or Pat at 617-983-2677 for details).
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Democratic Republic of Congo Committee
September 26, 2010
Present: Samba Halkose, Antonieta Gimeno, Peggy Barrett, Suzanne Bas-Davis, Bev Freeman, Mike Collons, Pat Aron
Congo Action Now met on September 26, 2010. The meeting began with check-ins. Bev joined us from the Harvard Congo Initiative – she reviewed the history and goals of the Initiative. Pat let people know that Jackie will be out of state for a while because of her mother’s illness. Linde has postponed her trip to the U.S.
Bev reported that the Harvard Congo Initiative is beginning to meet to plan Congo Week activities. They’re considering offering a series of panels over 2- 3 days and have decided not to hold a rally. Pat registered CAN with Congo Week – we will support the Initiative’s activities (we will be informed as plans progress). We discussed the possibility of media coverage – questioned if anyone at the Boston Globe might write an article (possibly Derrick Jackson or James Carroll). Bev will talk with someone at the Harvard Gazette. Marie-Ange is the main contact for Congo Week.
Pat reported on the status of the Dear Hillary for the Congo Campaign. CAN is a registered group and we have received The Greatest Silence video and 200 postcards to distribute. The postcards urge Secretary Clinton to try to make a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the DRC a priority of U.S. foreign policy. We will get the postcards signed and mail them on October 27 (the day after Secretary Clinton’s birthday). Kelley’s and Coleen’s postcards will be at Pat’s. Antonieta will email other people that Peggy has postcards.
The group next discussed legislative activities. It is still unclear if the House and Senate bills on Congo conflict minerals will proceed. Pat has emailed Rep. McDermott’s aide who had responsibility for the House bill to ask its status. Pat reported on the status of the International Violence Against Women Act. There are currently 33 co-sponsors in the Senate and 123 co-sponsors in the House. We are collecting signatures on a petition addressed to Sen. Brown asking him to sign on as a co-sponsor. We may try to meet with Sen. Brown to present the petition. Antonieta will contact Jane Doe to ask about their contact with Sen. Brown about the I-VAWA.
Jackie sent word to us that the play Ruined will be at the Huntington Theatre in Boston from January 7 through February 6. We considered the possibility of attending as a group - we may be able to get group rates. Peggy will ask if people at BARCC would like to join us. We discussed actions CAN might take to increase awareness, get people involved, and advertise Village Cobaye. Possibilities include having a table with information, handing out flyers, putting an insert in the program, and sponsoring a panel. The playwright Lynn Nottage is very supportive of anti-war and anti-violence work on the DRC. Peggy will locate contact information for the playwright so Samba can contact her. We’ll all think about possible activities and we’ll discuss them at our next meeting.
The group wants to re-focus on supporting women in the DRC. Samba has been communicating with VICO staff. The UN is working with VICO to establish an office in the village. CAN wants to support this work - we will identify places to hold events where Samba can do her presentation on VICO’s work. We discussed the possibility of having an event at the African Meetinghouse in Boston. Antonieta will contact the meetinghouse to discuss coordinating with them. Two marches will occur in the next month to raise awareness of the war and sexual violence in the Congo. On October 1, there will be a march at the UN in New York. The international World March of Women will end in Bukavu October 14 – 17. The Shalupe Foundation is sending a contingent - Maman Jeanne has sent information on how to make donations.
Coleen will be leaving the area for a while to have time with her baby and to focus on writing. She would like to continue to maintain the Congo Action Now website, but she’ll also train others on the website. Antonieta, Suzanne, and Pat will schedule a meeting with Coleen for the training – anyone who wants to join us is welcome.
We continued the discussion of outreach efforts that were suggested by Antonieta. Coleen is working on re-organizing our website. We’d like to develop a PowerPoint on the DRC that includes a positive cultural/artistic framework. – we may want to develop modules that can be combined to address different types of events. Samba wants to write about the situation in the DRC and her experiences – CAN wants to support her in this work.
Pat brought up the question of follow-up after meetings and asked if people would like to be reminded of actions to be taken. Everyone felt that a reminder would be helpful so that items will be addressed at the following meeting. Outstanding items include:
Possibility of introducing a resolution to the Boston City Council – Moni
Role of Somerville aldermen – Peggy
Contacting Congressional Black Caucus - Antonieta
The next meeting of Congo Action Now will be on Sunday, October 24, 2010, at 3:00 at Pat’s house in Jamaica Plain. The meeting will be followed at 5:00 by an exciting event (call Antonieta at 917-981-1625 or Pat at 617-983-2677 for details).
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom