My exchange with Intel Corp. Responsibility
Hi Lisa,
I was forwarded this blog post today by one of my colleagues about a planned protest at Intel on Monday in Oregon – and you were identified as one of the point people in the post. http://blog.oregonlive.com/siliconforest/2010/05/protest_seeks_intels_backing_f.html
I work in Intel’s Corporate Responsibility Office and I apologize if you had tried to contact someone at Intel this week to set up a meeting to discuss this and hadn’t heard back. But this is an issue that we’ve done a lot of work on over the past year and take very seriously. We regularly meet with groups to discuss how we are approaching this issue, so I’m happy to coordinate a meeting with people from our end.
Please let me know how I can help,
Suzanne
Hi Suzanne,
Thanks for your note. I appreciate you reaching out. Unfortunately, my concern about Intel’s recent work on conflict minerals is directly related to conversations that have taken place behind closed doors. Hence, the need for public statement and action.
I am aware of Intel’s engagement on conflict minerals. We applaud and thank you for you leadership on supply chain investigations and willingness to address the issue of conflict minerals. The proactive steps the company has taken make it a frontrunner of the industry. However, we have heard reports that Intel is pushing to water down the Conflict Minerals Trade Act (H.R. 4128) to make it less “burdensome” for industry. [Inserted specific info on their back door efforts here- deleted for blog post]
[These measures] will weaken the bill, stall it in Congress, ultimately cost tens of thousands of Congolese lives and continue the worst sexual violence on the planet. No industry “burden” could possibly compare to what our sisters in Congo live through every single day. For Intel to push back over stakes as low as a penny per product, the company has launched an assault on all of our humanity. There are no half-rapes in Congo. No half-massacres. And there is no half-support for the bill. As Intel’s consumers and employees, we must ensure that the company does the right thing and supports H.R. 4128, as the bill is written, this year. We are bewildered that Intel would take steps that risk its groundbreaking efforts on conflict minerals in an effort to save less than one penny per product.
Human life is worth more than a penny. We urge Intel to immediately cease all efforts to weaken the Conflict Minerals Trade Act. Intel must issue a public statement of unqualified support of The Conflict Minerals Trade Act as written and actively lobby for its passage.
Intel is in a unique position. If the company comes out in full support of the Conflict Minerals Trade Act as it is written, you would immediately position the company as the definitive industry leader on this critical issue. Just as Run for Congo Women was started in Portland, and helped ignite a global movement for Congo, we would be so very proud to see an Oregon company be the first tech company to provide robust, unfettered, unqualified support for this legislation.
I hope you will forgive my frank tone, but what’s happening in Congo is all too real. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And Congolese women are our family.
Best,
Lisa Shannon
Founder, Run for Congo Women
Author, A Thousand Sisters
Dear Suzzanne,
One of the challenges is that the individuals who have been working directly on this issue are not based in Oregon. But I understand that you want to proceed with your event as you have planned and want to contact someone on site, so when you arrive at 12:30, please call my colleague Jill Eiland who manages corporate affairs and corporate responsibility issues in Oregon. Also, our offer still stands to arrange a follow-up meeting where we can have the right people on our end participate – you can either talk to Jill about this tomorrow when you call her or follow-up with me afterwards. We appreciate your recognition of the leadership actions we have taken on this issue to date – we have invested a great deal of time and resources and are committed to continuing to work collaboratively to identify solutions going forward.
Regards,
Suzanne
Thanks so much Suzanne. We will call Jill when we’ve gathered. As I said, we will be more than happy to have a meeting with her in public, cameras rolling, media present, with all activists present. We can do this outside- she can walk over to meet us, or inside your building. As you chose.
Also, please understand we are a respectful group of mostly moms and grandmas. We will respect Intel property/ rules, etc. We simple need to know what those guidelines are.
We are not interested in setting up a follow up meeting with “the right people”. The bills in question are up for discussion right now, and we will not engage in stalling or more meetings. The solution is known, and our ask is clear: Intel must issue a public statement in full support of the HR 4128 AS WRITTEN, and cease all lobbying efforts to weaken the bill. While the group will be at Intel for a couple of hours, my mom and I will be happy to wait all day for Intel to issue this public statement. This could be a big, beautiful moment in Intel’s history of corporate responsibility. We hope you will seize the day!
Thanks!
Lisa
Hi Suzanne,
We were very disappointed Intel was unwilling to speak with us publicly, or even hear our statement. (Though we did enjoy meeting your burly security guys!)
Unfortunately, the statement you issued does not meet our criteria for leaving the 45,000 penny love gift. But there is still time! My mom and I are still here, with the pennies, until 6pm! We hope Intel will reverse positions, and embrace the less than one penny expense it would mean if the bill passes with it’s full enforceability. I believe you will come to see the 1 cent expense is a joy and privilege rather than a burden!
Warmly,
Lisa + Lisa’s Mom Ann + Lisa’s Niece Aria
Portland Mothers and Daughters to Confront Intel on Conflict Trade
Please contact us immediately to join our groundbreaking action in Portland Oregon (email hidden; JavaScript is required). On Monday, at 12:30 PST, we will carry 45,000 pennies to Intel, representing the 45,000 lives lost every month in the conflict, and the one penny per product the Conflict Minerals Trade Act would cost tech companies- as written. We urge Intel to issue a public statement fully supporting H.R.4128 as written, and cease all efforts to remove the bill’s teeth, including pressing for an industry escape clause.
Our message: We’ll pay the extra penny. Congolese lives are worth it.
Please send the following message to Intel, care of our new contact at the corporate responsibility department: email hidden; JavaScript is required
Dear Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini,
We applaud and thank Intel for their leadership on supply chain investigations and willingness to address the issue of conflict minerals. The proactive steps the company has taken make it a front runner of the industry. However, we have heard reports that Intel is pushing to water down the Conflict Minerals Trade Act (H.R. 4128) to make it less “burdensome” for industry. This will weaken the bill, stall it in Congress, and ultimately cost thousands of Congolese lives and continue the worst sexual violence on the planet. As Intel’s consumers and employees, we must ensure that the company does the right thing and supports H.R. 4128, as the bill is written, this year. We are bewildered that Intel would take steps that risk its groundbreaking efforts on conflict minerals in an effort to save less than one penny per product.
Human life is worth more than a penny. We urge Intel to immediately cease all efforts to weaken the Conflict Minerals Trade Act. Rather, we urge Intel to issue a public statement in full support of The Conflict Minerals Trade Act as written and actively lobby for its passage as written.
Sincerely,
Your name here
Share the story of you and your sister!
We are looking for a few SF Bay Area women, who have sponsored a sister in the Congo, to participate in a video project. On April 26th and 27th, we’ll be taping short video segments of women who were inspired to sponsor a sister in the Congo through Women for Women International. You’ll have the opportunity to meet Lisa Shannon in person and tell the world what inspired you to sponsor a sister in the Congo through Women for Women International—and how your life may have been changed by doing so.
If you’re interested in being a part of this video and sharing your story, please send an email briefly introducing yourself and your sister to Andie East at email hidden; JavaScript is required for consideration.
And for anyone else who would like to share their story here on the blog, please post your story as a comment! Let’s inspire one another!
Winnipeg Free Press gives Rave Review of A Thousand Sisters
A Thousand Sisters
My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to be a Woman
By Lisa Shannon
Seal Press, 300 pages,
It is rare for readers to open a book and discover with immediate joy that it will deliver far more than it has promised.
If there is any justice in the highly unpredictable world of modern publishing, A Thousand Sisters will emerge as the iconic example of that exquisite experience.
At first glance, this memoir about one American woman’s journey to activism on behalf of the women in Africa appeals to a narrow market, primarily “do gooders,” feminists, and weekend runners, as strange a group of bedfellows as one can imagine.
Within a few pages, however, in a hauntingly lyrical and intimate narrative, Lisa Shannon is guiding anyone willing to go with her into the landscape of the tallest questions of human experience, the questions we avoid because they cast shadows and gloom over the contentment of daily life.
Why do the innocent suffer? Why does evil everywhere appear to prevail? Is there any point, any point whatsoever, in individual resistance to a world fixed in its hatred, its violent greed and corruption?
A Thousand Sisters is not a narcissistic rant about white-girl angst. Nor is it the work of a philosopher, an academic or a spiritual guru, yet it is as powerful a meditation on the Power of One as any more celebrated personality could produce.
In 2005, Shannon was a young photographer in Portland, Maine, leading and more or less enjoying the ideal life as portrayed in TV commercials: at age 29, she had her own business, a pleasant home, a devoted fiancé, a minor weight problem. Her life was all about — her.
It all changed when she caught a glimpse of a journalist talking to Oprah Winfrey, undisputed diva of daytime television, about women in the Congo. In the frenzied competition for the title of World’s Worst Place for Women, trumping even Iraq, Afghanistan and pre-earthquake Haiti, Congo is the sad and clear “winner.”
Newly awakened to the routine atrocities there — mass murder, kidnapping, rape, sexual slavery, savage cruelties inflicted on women as pleasurable pastimes for soldiers — Shannon decided to do the very little bit she could: run. Her first solo 30-mile run has since evolved into an annual event and a national organization called Run for Congo Women.
A Thousand Sisters tells the story of her travels to Congo, the women she met there, and the lessons she learned from her African sisters, among them the true meaning of love and survival.
As of last year, Shannon’s run has produced sponsorship of the sort usually recruited for children, of more than 1,500 women in Congo. With comparatively moderate money, those women are raising, nurturing and supervising some 30,000 children.
Even though A Thousand Sisters places readers squarely into the hell human beings have made of Congo (it won’t be necessary to read anything else to understand the gruesome conflict and the world’s lame response to it), the book is an inspiring call to action, a reminder of the humanity that persists, in spite of overwhelming odds, in all of us.
Lesley Hughes is a Winnipeg writer and broadcaster.
Searching for “Trevor Samson”
To be honest, the searching part only took about 10 seconds. Last night, as I drew a bath, I mused about reconnecting with an old roommate who shared my failed marathon training- and ended up in my book for it! Then I thought of someone else who has a cameo in book. Someone I haven’t heard about in close to 20 years. Those who have read my book have asked, “What ever happened to that kid Trevor Samson???”
Well, the miracle that is Facebook, about 15 minutes after I put in my friend request, the follow exchange was ignited.
Trevor Samson April 8 at 8:17pm
Hello Lisa, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’d love to take you on as a friend but am curious as to how you came by me as a potential as I see we share no friends.
A few minutes later:
Trevor Samson:
Your picture looks familiar, do I know you from somewhere?
Lisa Shannon April 8 at 8:28pm
Hi Trevor,
Did you attend Mount Tabor Middle School and Lincoln High School? If you are the Trevor I think you are, we shared a significant moment in gym class freshman year- I broke up a fight between you and some prickish bullies from the West Hills. 20 years later, I included that anecdote in my book, being released this week. I changed your name in the book, but I remember you well, and the incident stuck with me for a long time. For those who have read the book, many ask who you are, how you are, what happened to you.
Hope this isn’t too intrusive.
Trevor Samson April 8 at 9:14pm
And so the connection is made, you’re not being intrusive. Life has been a series of failed careers and closed businesses, I have not done as well as I would have liked and have always had difficulty with my social autism. I ended up going to community college for landscape and nursery technology, that fell through, I was overqualified to be a landscape worker and under experienced for a team leader, or so I was repeatedly told by potential employers. After several other attempts at entry level work I finally went to massage school and graduated with a B average only to fail the boards. It didn’t matter, I poured to much into the work to be able to sustain it for a living, in the end I stopped looking for a career and started liking for someone to spend my life with taking what I could in an ever more turbulent market. At six-foot-five and 200+ pounds, I never shook the image of a grunt worker and ended up as a custodian at the YMCA married to a woman I first met while working at McMenamins. We started as friends and 8 years latter tried a deeper relationship. It worked and now we have three children and despite sudden and drastic cuts in my hrs at work are living happily, if poorly in a rented house on the outskirts of town.
Lisa Shannon April 8 at 9:39pm
Congratulations on your happy marriage and family! I’m delighted to hear it. If there’s one thing I’ve gotten through my interactions with women in the Congo, its that we are human beings, not lifestyles. Would that we all could live happily on the outskirts of town! It makes me think of a story I heard in a writing workshop last year. At the end of Graham Greene’s life- he was like 80- someone asked him about his life, after all of the awards, his place in the cannon of American literature, etc, was there anything he felt he wished he had done/ accomplished. He reportedly responded, “It would have been nice to have had one meaningful human connection.”
What do you mean by social autism? Is that actually a disorder?
Do you remember the almost-fight by the volleyball net? What I remember even more was an incident later that year when you were taken to the hospital. [Note to readers: Trevor was cornered in a the boys locker room, his head beaten against a cement floor until he collapsed, bloody, and a teacher called an ambulance.] I always wondered about that. Never talked with you about it, but I felt for you and was haunted by it. Always thought I should have reached out somehow- everyone was so unfair and hard on you. Kids.
I’ll send you a copy of the book when I get my authors batch. You’ve been immortalized! At least under a fake name! But mostly, hopefully in retrospect, it gives some of those high school memories a bit more context and meaning, and perhaps will spark some questions about human’s capacity for violence and the role we all play in the world- both in Africa and at home.
Trevor Samson April 8 at 10:20pm
LOL You sound like you’ve been studying anthropology from an emotional stand point. Aspergers is a form of social autism, it has to do with an inability to recognize the importance of some social “traditions” of society. You’ll remember, I was a bit of “an odd duck” in those days. Even now, I have difficulty understanding things other people find important on a social level. Capacity for violence is easier to understand when you’re on the outside looking in. That is hard for most, but not so for me. We strive and seek security, strength, power over our lives. It is social survival, and survival instincts work along the line of fight or flight. We don’t see those who run and hide, but those who stand and fight perceived threats…well they are the ones we see.
My, this conversation has taken a peculiar turn. How about I step down from my soap box long enough to let you respond. It is good that you didn’t step in on those situations in high-school. In that social climate, to have a “mere girl” stand up for me would have been a great “loss of face” for me in that testosterone loaded environment. Tell me of the purpose of your book. What is the underlying theme you wish to convey.
Lisa Shannon April 8 at 10:32pm
Ah, Aspergers! I’ve heard of it, of course, and had no idea that’s what you were dealing with back then!
Well, Trevor, I have to admit- I DID step in to stop a fight! I had not thought about the “mere girl” loss of face angle! Oh no! I believe I gave some big speech (left out of the book) about violence is not the answer…! Then I owe you a major apology. I stepped in the middle, and was consequently told to “shut up you fucking hippy bitch” by the guys giving you trouble.
I do work for women in the Congo. The point I was making in the book is that when I was young, like many of us, if I saw a situation that wasn’t right, I stepped in the middle of it. But as I got older, I lost that all together- as many of us do- until I was about to turn 30, and kinda remembered who I used to be…and decided to do something for the Congo. Hence, the book. The incident with you is short- only a couple of paragraphs.
Trevor Samson April 8 at 11:01pm
And yet they stuck with you because you did your best. The politics of the situation aside, you must do what you feel is right and you did. It was nice for me to know someone cared. It gave me the strength to grow and the ability to realize when I was on the verge of bullying my way through an argument and not addressing the fact that the other boy felt he was in the right. This happened my senior year at Green Thumb and in that day I realized that both sides could be right in their hearts, and until a connection was made between their feelings then no true solution could be reached. Many people feel that. Many people feel that we have the freedom of choice in our lives within the boundaries of fate. I feel that its the opposite, fate is contained within the boundaries of our choices. We are destined to follow a thread through the beautiful tapestry of this world not because another guides our steps, but because we guide ourselves with who we are and what we’ve learned. I thank you for being part of my fate. Know that sometimes just being there is an act of helping a situation that isn’t right, the greatest gift you can give another is the strength to help themselves, then maybe they can find the strength to help others in the name of your kindness.
Lisa Shannon April 9 at 6:45am
Look at you Trevor! You’ve turned into quite the philosopher!
Trevor Samson April 9 at 7:18am
Always been a philosopher, finding the words to communicate it and finding people who listen is the hard part.
I look forward to further chats with you. I’ve always been curious about Africa, though I know how broad that statement is.
Alice Walker- goddess of American literature!- writes about A Thousand Sisters…
I can’t imagine a more perfect book for arousing the power of American women (or women and men everywhere) to rush to the defense of our Congolese sisters. Lisa Shannon, runner extraordinaire, has with this forthright and readable book, crossed the finish line into the way of life the remainder of our time on this planet demands: she has entered the land of courage, compassion, and a fierce determination to stand by those who need us, where everyone understands they must be – our lives depend on it – a citizen of the world.
-Alice Walker
Okay, this one made me cry. I studied her work in college, we met in Congo, and in a few simple exchanges, she taught me some of the most profound lessons I learned on my journey. What can I say? The woman is amazing. Can’t thank her enough!!!! -Lisa
Preaching to the Dead: An interview with escaped FLDR
I sat down this morning with two FDLR (Interahamwe) prisoners being held by the Congolese army. They were in a piss-poor Congolese army prison- all prisoners effectively starving (no food for 5 days). No toilets- they peed in their prison cells. One was Congolese, abducted many years ago, still able to smile and interact. The other, however, was something else entirely. Barefoot, in pilling red pants hanging on skin and bones frame. The boy is Hutu Rwandan, and 16 years old. And so in his short life, he has lived one face of this war. He was a baby when his parents fled post-genocide Rwanda. After a short while in refugee camps, his family retreated to the forest in Congo. Eventually his mother returned to Rwanda, and his father was killed in FDLR gun-battles.
While my war-correspondent friend quizzed the boys about the details of their life with the FDLR (nothing I hadn’t heard before- less in fact, because they were in prison and cannot admit to any crimes), I studied the Rwandan boy. I’ve never seen eyes like this, evasive, ill at ease. A stunned animal under threat? Beyond repair? Extinguished soul?
Perhaps so. His state of being is haunting. But then, I think, he ran away from the militia- and risked death in doing so. Where does that impulse arise for a last ditch attempt at life- to flee your family, your militia, the forest, the only life you’ve known?
I’m hopelessly predictable in these situations. At the end of the interview, I chimed in with a little pep talk about how brave he was to run away, and the whole new life that awaits him in Rwanda. Healing is possible.
In truth, I’m not sure if it is. I want to know the extreme corners of the human psyche, and where those hard lines are, the ones we like to label, “point of no return.” Can there be a soul-resurrection, really?
I want to find him again in Rwanda.
I want to track him through a lifetime. So I ask if I can maybe visit him sometime in Rwanda. He responds, “You are most welcome.”
I guess in the meantime, some positive re-inforcement can’t hurt.
Over lunch, my reporter friend laughs. ”It was sweet. They are so beyond any of your words. You are preaching to the dead.”
Lisa Ling, whose report on Oprah sparked this movement, writes about A Thousand Sisters…
While reporting for the Oprah Show, I called the Democratic Republic of the Congo the “worst place on earth.” When Lisa Shannon saw my report, rather than turn her back, she did something about it. Her commitment to the victims of one of the world’s greatest tragedies exemplifies the best in humanity. Her powerful story is an inspiration to all of those who think that their voice is too small to change lives. - Lisa Ling
I just can’t thank Lisa enough for EVERYTHING- her courage to be the first to tell these stories, for sparking the movement, for taking the time to read the book. Thank you Lisa!!!! -Lisa
Barefeet and pink pearls: Our Run in Congo! Part 1
On Saturday, we stopped by Generose’s house. She was busy with run prep: getting her hair relaxed and eyebrows done!
As we invited all of our sisters to the run, they were over the moon about joining, even though they knew they would not get a thing for it. The main question was what to wear? What kind of shoes? Most only had flip flops, so I decided I would forego running shoes and stick with my locally purchased sandals.
I woke up in the middle of the night to a raging thunderstorm, and couldn’t get back to sleep imagining our sisters running in the rain. Eventually it stopped, but not without leaving Bukavu seriously muddy.
We picked up two sisters who came into town the night before – my beloved “Wandolyn” in the book – I put her up in a hotel with a neighbor friend from home, a kind of girls’ weekend in the city! We drove to the run together.
Our sassy, wonderful Pygmy sisters, sponsored by Zero Footprint, were the first to arrive! As soon as their feet hit the ground, they began a non-stop marathon of song and dance that continued for hours!
As minivans pulled up, packed with our sisters, they emerged wearing their freshly ironed Run for Congo Women t-shirts — the hot item of the day! Forty-seven of our sisters came to pay it forward and became international leaders for Congo in the process. They all joined the song and dance, often in a circle.
The pygmy women continued to lead. (An amazing thing to watch since, when I met two of them a few years ago (as covered in the chapter “Sugar Cane” in my book), they talked about feeling “Zairians” – normal-sized Congolese women – could never accept mixing with them. So we were breaking down major social barriers!
Wandolyn is often wearing the trauma and overwhelm from her gang rape by the Congolese army and the recent death of her husband. Not today. Nobody brought up problems or trauma. This was a celebration. Wandolyn sang, danced and led the call-and-response. Later she commented, “We got great rest and good food! I have energy!” (What a girls’ weekend won’t do to recharge!)
In fact, many of the women who joined in talked about how much it meant to make time to spend with other women. To just get together with friends is a rare luxury here. As Michelle from Runner’s World pointed out – they don’t have book clubs or girls lunches or a daily workout. Today was special.
The policewomen arrived. Yes, policewomen! The mayor of Bukavu had arranged for a 100% female police force to protect us for the event! We announced how cool it was that in a country ruled by men with guns, women had come out to protect us today! All the same, they were reserved….initially.
Generose was among the last to arrive. She emerged wearing her Run for Congo Women t-shirt, a red suit jacket and suit skirt, with a long strand of pink pearls. Fabulous! I secretly found it hard to imagine better “up yours” to the militia who cut off her leg than showing up to run and help other women … in pink pearls!
At the start, it began to rain. With the women huddling together, I told them about all the runs I’ve done in the rain while thinking of them sleeping in the rain. I thought about adding the bit about them sleeping in the rain and kids dying, but with so many of them having actually lost children this way, I didn’t want to stir up that pain. I told all them about you, and how you would be running in the snow in New York and at midnight in Chicago … and they cheered like you would not believe. I read each and every message from solidarity gatherings around the world to our sisters. They were overwhelmed, so moved!
Generose gave a beautiful, articulate speech, shook the mayor’s hand, and got the women pumped up by re-framing the bad weather: Rain in Congo is considered a blessing from heaven, so our run was being blessed! (Way to play the positive, lady!)
I called the start, “Courage!” in French, to my surprise, women took off running fast — with a troop of police women running in time at their side. I ran (very slowly) behind Generose, while Michelle ran with the head of the pack, who logged 8:45 miles- in bad shoes!
As we hit stride, Generose’s shoe got so slippery and caked in the mud that she kicked it off. I kicked off my shoes too, so we could run together, barefoot.
Zainab Salbi, mentor, friend, and founder of Women for Women, writes in her foreword to A Thousand Sisters…
“Through the most honest and sincere portrayal of emotions balanced with an astute understanding of the politics associated with the conflict, A Thousand Sisters gives a human face to war by showing that the beauty and resilience of Congolese women shines through even the darkest times of war.” Zainab Salbi, Founder of Women for Women International and author of Between Two Worlds.
Zainab is one of my personal heroes! I can’t thank her enough for her undying support!!!!
