Archive for February, 2010

Posted on February 8, 2010 - by Kambale Musavuli

Congolese songwriter Simon Kashama releases his song “Yambi Yambi”

Congolese songwriter Simon Kashama and his dynamic 10-piece band deliver powerfully emotive sounds and transportive rhythms that evoke a sense of joy and hope that encourages positive global change.  See and hear Kashama’s musical composition “Yambi Yambi”.

Posted on February 3, 2010 - by Kambale Musavuli

University of Chicago has shattered the silence!

On January 17th, 2010, Friends of the Congo launched the  2010 Break The Silence Speakers Tour at The University of Chicago. Student leaders and community organizers organized a panel discussion called “Complicit Destruction: Money, Mines and Militarization in the Democratic Republic of Congo” with panelist Maurice Carney (Co-Founder and Executive Director of Friends of the Congo), Dr. Justine Nzeba (Former regional director for Central Africa, American Friends Service Committee and Editorial board member of The Great Lakes Research Journal), Emilie Ngo-Nguidjol Community activist and founder of AFRICaide, Gilbert Mulamba (Community activist and documentarian of “The Street Children of Kinshasa”, and myself.  The moderator was a Ugandan journalist in exile, Kisuule Magala Katende . Kisuule also reports regularly on Voice of “ear to the Ground” on Chicago Public Radio.

This event was sponsored by the Chicago Society and the African and Caribbean Students’ Association with Global Voices and the University of Chicago International House.

One special person to thank is sister Mackenzie. She is the lead Congo student organizer at the university of Chicago. I met her through a phone call back in the Fall 2009 as she wanted to engage us in the event she wanted to organize so she could educate her peers about the Congo. Little did I know at the time how excellent her organizational skill was.

I have been blessed to tour the United States and go to many communities to speak about Congo. All the organizers I have met have gone out of their comfort zone to have a successful event, but what has set Mackenzie apart to the point I am writing about her is her dedication, her follow-ups with speakers, her planning of the event and request for feedback along the way, and her engagement in bringing other student groups to help out with the event. I have never had an event where until I was flying out of the city after the event, the organizer was still texting me details of the ride back to the airport to make sure I was in without any problem. It seems as if she was working 24/7 on the event. All this stellar planning was done by an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago who, when she heard of Congo Week II, wanted to break the silence in a big way… and I know she has…

Mackenzie… YOU ARE A G! Thank you to you and your team on campus for putting together this wonderful event.

The trip to Chicago was an interesting one. Before I flew there, I was invited to speak at American University in DC by a sister from Uganda literally the night before, January 26. It was good to speak with her about the political state of her country and see her desire, just as any Congolese, to break the silence about the situation of women and the devastation taking place in Congo. In our conversation, we both agreed that in order for Africa to develop, Congo must be free. This only inspires me to reach out to all people of goodwill to join the global movement in support of the Congolese.

As I left American University, time was winding down for the 6 am flight to Chicago. Thoughts of my family start filling in. My uncle, Tonton Jean, just died on January 17 in Congo in circumstances that is still unclear to us. At the same time, my father was admitted to an hospital on January 24 as he fainted since he was feeling weak. He decided to start a hunger-strike the night of January 15 due to the fact he hasn’t been paid since 2008 by his office in Congo. He returned in Congo in 2005 hoping that he could make changes and help with the Congolese electoral commission. What he didn’t realize back then was that civil servants do not get regular remuneration of their work.

My father and I have a love and hate relationship. Unfortunately, my parents are divorced and hopefully some day I will be able to have a closure with that since this was painful for me growing up in America. When I received info about him doing a hunger-strike in Congo, too many things came to mind. His action was commendable but how could I share it with the world when I still haven’t let go of the pain of the past? Should I not share the info with people in the fear that the current government goes after him? Should I share it with my network and risk that people take it the wrong way as me promoting my father? Too many things came to mind… but I decided to share the info with key people in my network. I haven’t received update on his health. My brother did share with me before I flew to Chicago that he was being released from the hospital that day. I hope all is well with him… and may be my journey in breaking the silence will help me come to closure with my relationship with my father.

When we, Maurice Carney (Executive Director of Friends of the Congo) and I, flew to Chicago, I met a young lady who was moving to Puerto Rico. Kavi was her name. She was so happy and left everything behind spontaneously to move to Puerto Rico. She shared with me she was there a month ago and after looking at her life and seeing the cost of living there, she decided to move there in a two-bedroom house on the beach which cost her only $600. She spoke to me about her life and was very friendly. I actually did not speak much to her as I was still thinking about my mother coping with the death of her brother and me not being there.

When we landed in Atlanta for our connecting flight, for some strange reasons, we sat beside each other as she was a gate away from our departure gate. She smiled and we spoke some more. She wanted to know what I do for a living. That question has been asked to me many times. But what could I tell a young lady who decided to move to Puerto Rico to start a new life? Should I tell her about Congo? Of course I did… and just as many people I have met in buses, trains, and airplanes, she had no idea that 6 million people have died in the Congo unnecessarily. She pledged to break the silence when she settles in Puerto Rico and connect us with a university there. Let’s hope it happens and I will definitely blog about it more in the future if we make it to Puerto Rico to share that there is no such thing as coincidences.

Chicago was the next stop after my talk with Kavi. When I arrived, I could not believe how cold it was. My joke of the day was that “if hell had winter, Chicago will be the practice place for it!” What made the cold worse was that there was a cold wind flowing. I even wondered about who the first settlers of Chicago were because it would have felt centuries ago that Chicago was not livable with that weather. Thanks to Haitian architect Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, he was able to design the city in such a way that today I am able to come to the city… but he did not stop the cold for freezing me to death.

Now in Chicago, all we had to do is wait for the transportation to take us to the hotel and get ready for the event that evening. Snow start falling and I wondered if people will actually make it to the event. As soon as we arrived at the hotel, I crashed on the bed as I was very tired since I did not sleep the night before. When I woke up, it was about 4 hours before the event. Maurice informed me that Gilbert Mulamba, the Congolese filmmaker of “Street Children of Kinshasa” was also in the same hotel and wanted to meet before we left for the event. I was so happy to see him again. Last time we were in an event together was at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he had a great presentation about his film.

We talked for a while and shared some updates. He officially met Maurice even though they have been in contact virtually by phone and emails. It was great to just talk about actions and solutions to the problems our country face. At 5:30 pm, our transportation to the university arrived. It was still snowing and I was a bit worried about the attendance of the event. Will people in Chicago come out in the snow on a very cold Wednesday night to hear Congolese on a panel speak about solutions for peace in their country? The answer was the pleasant surprise of that evening.

Mackenzie, our superstar, was waiting for us at the door as we arrived. First time meeting her and I loved her energy. The other co-panelist, Maman Jusitne, was there too. We all got acquainted and moved to the room where the event was taking place. American musical artist, Janet Bean, who wrote a song for the Congolese women was there too. She bought me a charger for my camera as I lost it a few weeks ago in NYC. Every time I see her, I don’t know how to thank her for using her talent to break the silence. She is a strong supporter of Congo and always ready to lay a hand in helping get the word out. She worked with the students on the university of Chicago’s campus in planning the event and also helped us in getting on the Chicago Public Radio.

After all the panelists arrived, we started the event. In a room of 150 people, we broke the silence. I appreciated my co-panelists as we complemented each other in our presentations. The whole time during the event I was telling my self “The prophecy is happening. I am living it!” How can I share it with Congolese on the ground? People from many background took time in an inclement weather to hear what Congolese had to say is the best way to help them in their quest for peace in Congo.

During the audience questions segment of the event, I was so happy to see the Sullivans attend the event. Tom and Jan Sullivan are two other great supporters of the Congo. I met them about 2 years ago as they hosted me when I visited Chicago to meet then Senator Obama. It is through them that I learned about William Sheppard, Lucy Gantt Sheppard, and Maria Fearing, three Africans born in America usually called African-Americans who went to the Congo 100 years ago to help in the education sector and were strong advocate for Congo to denounce the oppression of Leopold II of Belgium on the Congolese back then. It has been quite a while since I have seen them but we have kept in touch via phone and emails the most. Also a few facebook friends attended the event. It was nice to see that the information on the Break the Silence tour launch did reach people in Chicago.

The most moving element of the event was when I realized that the president and vice president of the Congolese community of Chicago, including other Congolese from Chicago, also attended the event in support of the effort. For those who have interacted with Congolese, they know that once you have two of them in the room, the talks can go on and on… I was so happy to connect with the community, especially the youth of the Congo as I know now more than ever that we are the solution and the future of the Congo.

In sum, Chi’ town was lovely… the students were fantastic… the audience engaging… and the weather too cold for this Congolese who keeps breaking the silence.

I love Chicago…. most importantly… I love the students at the University of Chicago for putting together this historic event, which in fact fulfills Lumumba’s prophecy that millions around the world will always support the Congo. Stay tuned for more to come!

Chicago has shattered the silence… what will your city do?