SLAVE ROUTES: RESISTANCE, ABOLITION AND CREATIVE PROGRESS

Today, I was a panelist at the Slave Routes: Resistance, Abolition and Creative Progress in the Violence Against Women Panel. Co-panelist Lisa Aubrey was in attendance along with our very own Vinie Burrows as moderator. I went first after the film screening of Greatest Silence by Lisa Jackson. I had prepared a PowerPoint presentation about what the film lacked in terms of the corporate connections, rape as a weapon of war, and us as people living in the U.S.

The presentation followed one militia and one mineral and its connections all the way to the store shelves of Sony electronics through U.S. government and corporations. Talk about Challenging Corporate Power!

The presentation was very well received. Afterward, I was greeted by may participants. One was a Brazilian journalist who made an appointment for an interview next week. Another was a researcher from the Netherlands who also made an appointment for next week. There was even a woman from Seattle that offered to fly me in for a African American Film Festival to present the very same presentation! One woman I met wants to expand the research by investigating the dollar amounts and flow of money from corporations to the militias, etc. to enhance the presentation and possibly create something that would stand in the court of law. A former Apartheid Activist offered to strategize application of tactics used in South Africa to the situation in Congo and lastly another offered to get WILPF's wok published! There were many others but these are just to give you an idea of the response.

I would like to thank all the WILPFers that assisted in researching articles that I could cross reference and create a map or thread for people to become educated and inspired. I was inspired by the response and encouraged to push forward in spite of opposition.

Jen
October 10, 2008