“Avatar,” the highest-grossing film of all time, may be more real and current than the average person knows. The battle of Pandora is taking place right now in the Congo! The central question in the Congo, as in “Avatar,” is who is going to control the resources and for whose benefit? Congolese youth have initiated a worldwide mobilization campaign in partnership with young people around the world.

Immediately following the “earthquake” that hit Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, I started seeing reports that the earthquake was not a random occurrence or happenstance. These were the same rumblings I heard following Hurricane Katrina. After the devastation of Katrina I started seeing reports about HAARP, High Frequency Active Auroral Research.

In its comments on the Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard Environmental Impact Report, POWER focused on the carcinogens and radiological contamination at the Shipyard; the dangers of liquefaction; climate change and sea level rise; transportation impacts from the proposed development; the connection of the development to the existing community; and the preservation of historic Ohlone sites.
One hundred years ago, a global outrage surrounding the death of an estimated 10 million Congolese resulted in the end of King Leopold II of Belgium’s rule in the Congo. Ordinary people around the world from all walks of life stood at the side of the Congolese and demanded the end of the first recorded Congolese holocaust. A century later, the world finds itself facing the same issue, where the Congolese people are subjected to unimaginable suffering.

I recently received a phone call from an investigator for the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, and I shared my uncertainty about the ethics of collaborating with an “International Criminal Court” that was only indicting Black Africans.

Following “Break the Silence” Congo Week, Kambale Musavuli urges the global community, and African-Americans in particular, to revitalize international attention on the Congo as a means of shedding light on the ongoing conflict and harnessing the potential for strong advocacy relationships.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the green heart of Africa. The country has the second largest rainforest in the world. It is resource rich but plagued with humanitarian crises resulting from the plundering of the DRC’s mineral resources are severe.