From October 18 – 24, 2009, students worldwide will join in solidarity with the people of the Congo, to bring attention to the tragedy that occurred and the enormous potential of the country and people, during Break The Silence week. 

Last year more than 150 universities and 35 countries participated in the first Congo Week and by doing so, urged their community to support Congolese in their quest for peace, justice, and human dignity. This year, we are urging all participants to support local institutions inside Congo in order to mobilize the world as we aim to bring an end to the conflict in the Congo and assure that the affairs of the Congo are finally determined and controlled by the people of the Congo.This global Congo movement would not have existed without the support of the students at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.  In March 2008, the Aggies organized the world’s first “cell out”—a boycott of cell phone usage to raise awareness about the devastating situation in the Congo. Following the “cell out,” the Aggies helped to create Break the Silence Week.  People from around the world hosted events to raise awareness about the situation in the Congo and provide support to Congolese people on the ground.Following the footsteps of the A&T Four, Aggies were outraged to know that the Congo, the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world today as stated by the United Nations, has suffered tremendously while the world is still watching silently. Nearly six million people have died since 1996 due to the exploitation of key minerals essential to the aerospace, military, technology, automobile and electronic industries. Half of the deaths are children under the age of five.

More than two hundred thousand women have been brutally raped and mutilated as a weapon of war and millions have been displaced from their home. If one added the death toll in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Tsunami in Asia, Darfur, the genocide in Rwanda and Kosovo, the total count of the dead would not equal the death in the Congo. This holocaust is happening in our lifetime due to the scramble for Congo’s mineral resources.Coltan, one of the mineral being exploited, has been at the center of the conflict in the Congo. This wonder-mineral is virtually in every electronic device such as cell phones, laptops, DVD players, pacemakers, and even night-vision goggles and jet fighters. 64 percent of the world’s reserve of coltan is found in the Congo.

The production of coltan is cheaper in the Congo than Australia, which industries exploit and even engage in illegal activities. The media has been silent, the governments of nations around the world have been silent, world leaders have been silent, but ordinary people have started breaking the silence around the injustices taking place in the Congo.There is a growing global grassroots movement around the Congo. Thanks to the Internet, the Congolese can speak to the world uncensored. Inside the Congo, the Congolese are organizing teach-ins and rallies. We are witnessing Congolese women staging sit-ins, Congolese artists using their talent to break the silence, and civil society rallying to reconstruct the Congo.

Though mainstream media does not cover this movement, there is an emerging youth movement.  Countries such as New Zealand and Japan have seen student protests that coincide with protests in Europe and North America. With their help, we have been able to connect with people around the world using social networking sites, utilizing video messages and podcasts to mobilize an otherwise unaware population.As Congo Week is rapidly approaching, Aggies can be proud of being one of the first catalysts of a worldwide movement to speak out for the voiceless in the Congo, following the school’s tradition of social justice activism.NC A&T State University, with the support of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Student Government Association, and Multicultural Student center, will host two events during Congo Week. On Wednesday October 21, there will be a film screening of the documentary “LUMO” speaking on the struggle of the women in the Congo. It will take place in the New Classroom Building at 7:30 pm. Thursday October 22 will have a poetry night featuring local poets and NY own Kahlil Almustafa. This will take place in the Stallings Ballroom at 7pm. Congo’s first elected Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, said “We are not alone. Africa, Asia, and free and liberated people from every corner of the world will always be found at the side of the Congolese.”  To learn more and join the global movement, visit www.friendsofthecongo.org or www.congoweek.orgKambale Musavuli is spokesperson and student coordinator for Friends of the Congo. He is pursuing his civil engineering degree at North Carolina A&T State University. He can be reached at [email protected] 

• Kambale Musavuli