Femicide

The civil war that has been happening for the past twelve years in the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken over six million lives. Thirty times more than the earthquake in Haiti. But it constantly escapes the media's attention.

Why? Is it a matter of race? Another sad story about Africa? What is it about the civil war in Congo that makes no one want to report about it?

I am an avid believer in the idea that the more people know about a situation, the more people will try and do something to alleviate it. Sure, there's always the opportunity for compassion fatigue to set in, for the desire to see some happy headlines on the front page of the paper. But isn't risking compassion fatigue worth it?

What's going on in Congo is, according to Nicholas Kristof, the most lethal conflict since World War II. And the main target of aggression this time is women. What's going on in Congo is femicide. The United States government cannot act like it did during World War II, ignoring pleas for help until it was almost too late. The United States has to overlook its need for the minerals in Congo's land to save the women living on the land.



This weekend, at the productions of The Vagina Monologues, IC Human Rights will have a fact table set up outside the entrance. It's been absolutely amazing seeing the members of the club get together to make this table happen. We've made posters, fliers, fact sheets, and have written letters to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ask the United States keep up the promise of "never again."

If you're in the Ithaca area, please come to the productions of the show and sign our petitions. A few signatures can really go a long way.

Also, here's a January 15, 2009 article from The Nation about other things you can do about the war in Congo. Eve Ensler, the playwright of The Vagina Monologues and the creator of the V-Day movement, helped compile the list.

Theater, pubic hair and human rights

So I've been back at school for three weeks. And to say things have been hectic is...kind of an understatement. It's my final semester! I'm supposed to just be applying for jobs and lolling about. Preferably lolling about drunk.

Instead, I'm just beginning to crawl out of an awfully draining cold, and lots of fun other things. After four years, I still get surprised when college isn't what the movies make it out to be.

But on the bright side. My first theatrical performance since high school is this coming weekend!

I will be enacting a monologue from Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues." Basically, in the 90s Ensler interviewed hundreds of women about their vaginas. What they look like, how they smell, what they would wear, what they would say, y más. Lots of thoughtful, insightful stories. A lot of people consider the show to be kind of a "She woman, man hater," experience, but personally I love it. It's fun, it's enlightening, and all of the money earned through ticket sales goes towards good causes.


Now, people keep asking me: "Briana, what vagina are you supposed to be?" Like the different characters in the show are the Spice Girls. There's the angry vagina, the sad vagina, introspective vagina...well I'm hairy vagina.

Sexy, I know.

I get to read a monologue about how a woman's husband said that he screwed around, because she wouldn't shave down there.

So it's not that deep of a story. Pubic hair. Woo hoo. At least it's fun.

But some of the monologues in the show are absolutely earth shattering. One in particular, this year's Spotlight Monologue, is about teenage sex slaves in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. During the past few years, rebel Hutus have been traveling across the border between Rwanda and Congo. Everywhere they go they leave a trail of fire, destruction, death and pain. Almost 6 million people have been killed, and over 200,000 women are known to have been raped. Some as young as 14 months old.

A portion of this year's proceeds from "The Vagina Monologues" is going to help the survivors of Congo's femicide.

Here's Nicholas Kristof's amazing January 30 column about rape in Congo. Like many of the human rights stories that Kristof consistenly covers, I am often left feeling like he is the only reporter on the scene. Which absolutely should not be.

I'm a bad, bad blogger.

For as much time that I spend on the computer, I never seem to have the time to write for this thing. Sharpening my mad procrastinating skills.

My apologies to people that actually follow!

Anyway, now that my digital journalism workshop has been put to rest, I'll start posting again. Pinky swear.

Digital journalism, for all the time that it sucked from my schedule and all the joy that it sucked from my soul, was a wonderful experience. Learning how to shoot and edit packages for the Internet was so amazing that I've actually started to look for jobs that include it. I think it could be a lot of fun to be a digital journalist. It means that I could do more than write every day. And as much as I love writing, I like to switch it up a bit sometimes. You know? Of course you do.

Here's some samples of my stuff, if you're bored and looking for ways to learn and be entertained. Watch out for the dailies! Those were the ones that my partner and I had less than 24-hours to make...and sometimes it really shows.

I'm going to try and keep up with a post every other day, so bear with me and push me around if I start to procrastinate again!

Sarah Silverman's plan to end world hunger.

Take note, Amnesty International. This is how you do it.



Silverman has made a very interesting and valid point here...without having to make a poop joke. Kudos.

When the Gallery Owner is the Artist...

Another weekly digital journalism project is in the can!

Check it out here. I don't know if it's going to make The Ithacan yet, but I like it. And it was really fun to make.

I basically want to be Daphne Solá when I grow up. She's really a strong woman with a point of view and and the strength to follow her passions. I hope that as I grow older, I'll be able to retain that kind of power and passion within myself.

One part of my interview with her that I didn't include was about how she came to learn how to make paper at a conference in Japan. In the span of a day, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., she made the decision to go to Japan for a month and booked her flight. Needless to say, it was kind of surprise to her husband when he got home from work.

Adios, Mercedes Sosa

Just noticed in the New York Times that Mercedes Sosa, one of the most famous folk singers of Argentina, passed away this morning.

Sosa's face was everywhere when I was living in Buenos Aires. She released a new album not too long ago, and it was recently nominated for a few Latin Grammy Awards. Even though she was 74 she would record songs with some of the most popular musicians of 2009, including Shakira, Fito Paez and Calle 13. The only artist I can really think to compare her to, that a lot of people would recognize, is Joan Baez.

We read her lyrics and dissected them in my classes to better learn about the Dirty War and human rights in Latin America. They've always moved me. Sosa was a true icon for a generation, and one of the greatest examples of the ability to merge human rights and art.

Here's a live performance of Sosa singing the politically-charged song "La Canción es Urgente," or "The Song is Urgent."

Happy Jew Year!

Sorry for the delay. Life just seems to take over sometimes.

The past two weeks saw the coming and going of two major holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This was the first time since high school I've been home for the new year, and it was AMAZING. Even though I was only home for one day, it was fantastic just to relax and spend time with my family. And eat the five pounds of mashed potatoes my mom made.

As I learn more Spanish, I think more about the context and meanings of the vocabulary I study. For instance, the word "esperar" has two meanings: to hope, and to wait.

And during the high holy days this year, the relationship between those two words kept coming back to me, and how amazing it is that in Spanish they are one. As the new year comes we are waiting and hoping for a better year than the last. We are waiting and hoping for this year to be the one we are in Jerusalem. We are waiting and hoping for the Messiah to arrive and usher in a new era. Esperar.

To combine the two words, to wait and to hope, somehow makes the word "wait" all the more fragile. When you're hoping for something, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is going to come. But when you're waiting, you're pretty positive that it's on its way. So in a way, esperar also makes "hope" stronger, in that it's paired with something so concrete.

Does this make any sense? I'm running on about five hours of sleep here.

So ANYWAY...my first weekly project for digital journalism is on the Ithacan's Web site!

I know, I left the Ithacan my freshman year with guns (and middle fingers) blazing, but since I need to submit stuff to the paper for class, I figured I'd just go with it. Hey, at least I'm getting some clips on the Web.

And my partner and I get to choose our own weeklies. Our first one was about the Iron Chef competition at AppleFest. Even though it took about eight torturous hours to cut together, attending the event itself was a lot of fun. You can check out our soundslide of the event here.