Congo Stories: Battling Five Centuries of Exploitation and Greed

by John Prendergast, Fidel Bafilemba, Ryan Gosling (Photographer), Soraya Aziz Souleymane (Foreword by), Chouchou Namegabe (Afterword)

Overview

From the author of the New York Times bestselling and award-winning Not on Our Watch, John Prendergast co-writes a compelling book with Fidel Bafilemba—with stunning photographs by Ryan Gosling—revealing the way in which the people and resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been used throughout the last five centuries to build, develop, advance, and safeguard the United States and Europe. The book highlights the devastating price Congo has paid for that support. However, the way the world deals with Congo is finally changing, and the book tells the remarkable stories of those in Congo and the United States leading that transformation.

The people of Congo are fighting back against a tidal wave of international exploitation and governmental oppression to make things better for their nation, their neighborhoods, and their families. They are risking their lives to resist and alter the deadly status quo. And now, finally, there are human rights movements led by young people in the United States and Europe building solidarity with Congolese change-makers in support of dignity, justice, and equality for the Congolese people. As a result, the way the world deal with Congo is finally changing.

Fidel Bafilemba, Ryan Gosling, and John Prendergast traveled to Congo to document some of the stories not only of the Congolese upstanders who are building a better future for their country but also of young Congolese people overcoming enormous odds just to go to school and help take care of their families.

Through Gosling's photographs of Congolese daily life, Bafilemba's profiles of heroic Congolese activists, and Prendergast's narratives of the extraordinary history and evolving social movements that directly link Congo with the United States and Europe, Congo Stories provides windows into the history, the people, the challenges, the possibilities, and the movements that could change the course of Congo's destiny.

Chosen by Amazon as the Best Book of the Month for December 2018 in Biographies & Memoirs, History, and Nonfiction.

Featuring the life story of Dr. Denis Mukwege, winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455584642
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	12/04/2018
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	1,075,777
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 9.60(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Ryan Gosling is an actor and filmmaker.

John Prendergast is a New York Times bestselling author who founded and runs both the Enough Project and The Sentry.

Fidel Bafilemba is a Congolese field researcher who coordinates a civil society network called GATT-RN.

Table of Contents

Foreword Soraya Aziz Souleymane xi

Chapter 1 Why Congo? 1

Honorata's Story 1

Chapter 2 The Story of the Kongo Kingdom: Before and After the Europeans Landed 11

Chapter 3 How Congo Helped Build America and Europe: Following the Money and Greed for Five Centuries 19

Upstander Story Dominique Bikaba 60

Upstander Story Petna Ndaliko 70

Chapter 4 A Den of Highly Armed Thieves 77

Upstander Story Rebecca Kabugho 80

Chapter 5 Africa's First World War: Reverberations from Rwanda's Genocide 87

Phoebe's Story 93

Chapter 6 Road to Congo Ryan Gosling 99

Upstander Story Justine Masika 102

Chapter 7 Crimes Against Humanity: Ground Zero 105

Chouchou Namegabe on Mass Rape 109

Huguette's Story 112

Upstander Story Dr Denis Mukwege 126

Dr. Namegabe Murhabazi on Child Soldiers 133

Claude's Story 137

Fidel's Own Story 141

Chapter 8 Life Today in One Part of Congo 149

Goma's Story 149

Jonathan's Story 184

Mane's Story 200

Chapter 9 Congo Responds to the Onslaught: The Whistle for Change 211

Upstander Story Douce Namwezi 218

Chapter 10 Davids and Goliaths: Global Rights Activists vs. the War Profiteers 225

Upstander Story Neema Namadamu 245

Chapter 11 Steve Jobs and Conflict Minerals: Apple and Corporate-Driven Change 249

Chapter 12 War Crimes Shouldn't Pay: Lessons from AI Capone to al-Qaeda 255

Chapter 13 Vanquishing the Vampires: What You Can Do 265

Conclusion: Countering Myths and Stereotypes 271

Josephine's Story 271

Postscript Dave Eggers 281

Afterword Chouchou Namegabe 287

Acknowledgments 293

"A Geological Scandal" Results in a Governing Disaster 295

Notes 301

Index 321

About the Contributors 331

Final Thought from John 333

Editorial Reviews

01/14/2019

Prendergast (Not on Our Watch), the founder of Enough Project, and Bafilemba, the coordinator of the Congolese civil society network GATT-RN, narrate how “the plundering of Congo has been engineered and maintained to benefit a few people for more than 500 years.” Accompanied by photographs by actor Ryan Gosling, the text provides a broad historical overview of the central African nation, particularly the economic exploitation that has benefited Europe, the U.S., and armed groups. Congo has been used as a source of slaves, ivory, rubber, copper, uranium, diamonds, cobalt, and most recently gold and “the 3Ts” (tin, tantalum, and tungsten) indispensable in the manufacturing of electronic devices. In the stated hope that the book will inspire readers to engage in advocacy in solidarity with the Congolese people, the authors highlight local initiatives and success stories from activists—whom they call “upstanders” (as opposed to “bystanders”)—striving to put an end to the present-day conflict; one example is a collaboration between D.R.C. and U.S. activists that pushed Congress to enact legislation requiring American companies to report on their supply chains with regard to conflict minerals, which “dramatically reduced... the number of Congolese armed groups and the money that sustains them.” Idealists and activists new to the D.R.C. will find this call to arms illuminating. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"In this well-organized, vigorously informative, polyphonic, unnerving, and conscience-rousing presentation, [Prendergast] and researcher and activist Bafilemba trace 'the connection between natural resources exploitation and the violent conflicts' destroying the lives of millions in the Democratic Republic of Congo ... A thoughtfully assembled resource and a clarion call for readers to seek out ethically sourced goods and support efforts to bring justice and peace to this cruelly pillaged land."—Booklist

"Eye-opening reportage from an African nation that has been robbed and despoiled for centuries-but that is now finding paths of resistance ... No thoughtful reader of this book will look at his or her computer or cellphone the same way again."—Kirkus

From the Publisher

2018-10-28

Eye-opening reportage from an African nation that has been robbed and despoiled for centuries—but that is now finding paths of resistance.

Human-rights activists Prendergast (co-author: The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa's Worst Human Rights Crimes, 2010, etc.) and Bafilemba, the latter a Congolese field researcher, begin with the story of a woman who was abducted by a local militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo, held captive for 15 months, and repeatedly raped as "the wife of everyone." She managed to escape, only to be brutalized again by invading Rwandan soldiers, and finally became a teacher and mentor "to countless Congolese women who have experienced physical and emotional trauma." Hers is a story that has been repeated again and again for centuries as Congolese rulers, for a price, have allowed outside powers to loot its resources, by which the nation should rightfully be one of the richest in the world. Instead, in recent history, it has been ruled by kleptocrats—currently Joseph Kabila, who "has subverted democratic processes and violently repressed independent and opposition voices in order to retain power indefinitely"—even as those outside interests remove astonishing quantities of what the authors enumerate as four "conflict minerals." These include tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold, as well as cobalt and diamonds, all things that enrich the developed world and make many of its modern technologies possible. Change is possible: The authors hold that Congo offers a case study not just in inequality and postcolonial exploitation but also in what can be done about them, including being sure that jewelers source their supplies responsibly and use "conflict-free artisanal gold from Congo in their jewelry lines." Gosling provides excellent images of daily life in Congo, while, in a postscript, Dave Eggers urges readers to find ways to support small-scale "local projects conceived and run by local residents," funding the people who most need help.

No thoughtful reader of this book will look at his or her computer or cellphone the same way again.

Kirkus Reviews