I said I wanted to name names in the conflict in the Congo, which has led to a horrifying rape epidemic, so I want to start with the Corporate Rapists (those corporations who have benefited from the destabilization of the region, as they rape the land of its natural resources, the most profitable mineral at present being coltane which is fueling our hi-tech industries). When these economic and environmental rapists rape and pillage, they rely on actual rapists (the Interhamwe, the Congolese and Ugandan armies, etc.) to enact the most brutal forms of violence to create the necessary chaos that shields their own actions as they rob and steal from Africa blind.
So, thanks to Lisa over at Black Women Blow the Trumpet for starting a list of culpable corporations that have profited directly from the conflict in the Congo (shared in the comment section of Black Women Vote!), which includes the following:
Patrick Prevost
President and CEO
Cabot Corporation
Two Seaport Lane
Suite 1300
Boston, MA 02210
Joseph Scaminace
Chief Executive Officer
OM Group
Cleveland, OH
127 Public Square
Cleveland, OH 44114
Gerald Paul
Vishay Intertechnology
63 Lancaster Avenue
Malvern, PA 19355
*Vishay is #1 in manufacturing coltane worldwide.
John S. Gilbertson
President and CEO
AVX Corporation
801 17th Avenue
SouthBox 867
Myrtle Beach, SC 29578-0687
*Suppliers of coltane
Robert Raun
President
Trinitech International
2069 Midway Drive
Twinsburg, OH 44087
*Converter and distributor of coltane
Robert Raun
Eagle Wings Resources International
2069 Midway Drive
Twinsburg, OH 44087
*a subsidiary of Trinitech, with offices in Rwanda and Burundi.
Per-Olof Loof
Chief Executive Officer
Conrado Hinajosa, SVP, Tantalum Business Group
Kemet Electronics Corporation
2835 Kemet Way
Simpsonville, SC 29681
*world's largest manufacturer of coltane.
I will update this list periodically when other corporations and groups are named, and I invite you to add to this list as well. I'll also keep a sidebar link to this list.
Part of the first step in resistance is being aware. Let's open our eyes to the greed and the horror that has overtaken our planet and that has made all women and children unsafe everywhere.
Of course, the next step is: should we start organizing consumer boycotts, or should we push for CEOs to be charged with international war crimes (not unlike what occurred to radio DJs, for example, who were charged with genocide in Rwanda for inciting hatred, or the propagandists who were charged with genocide during the WWII Holocaust in Nuremberg: the issue I'm raising here is that these culprits didn't commit the actual murders and rapes, but they were still viewed as being indirectly responsible)?
UPDATE!!
Thanks to Tasha over at The Sowing Circle and Cara at The Curvature for going further and providing a list of companies that have done business with the above mentioned corporations.
AMD (gaming, personal computing)
customer.inquiry@amd.com
Best Buy
Corporate Headquarters
P.O. Box 9312 Minneapolis, MN 55440-9312
612-291-1000
Compaq (click for more contact numbers)
Hewlett-Packard Company
3000 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1185
USAPhone: (650) 857-1501
Dell Computers
Ericcson
NORTH AMERICAN HEADQUARTERS
6300 LEGACY DRIVE
PLANO, TX 75024
USA972 583 00 00
IBM
Corporate officesNew Orchard Road
Armonk, New York
10504
914-499-1900
Intel
2200 Mission College Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95054-1549
(408) 765-8080
Motorola
Nokia
102 Corporate Park Drive
WHITE PLAINS New York 10604
914 368 0400Sprint PCS
800-927-2199
Verizon Wireless
Walmart (No!!! - heavy sarcasm)
Tasha at Sowing Circle has also generated a Petition.
So, basically, as you can see, we're all implicated in this DRC conflict (as an aside, I'd like to say how grateful I am not to see Apple/Mac represented on the list, unless someone else can make the connections to them - but I'm damn disappointed that Verizon Wireless is!). Somehow, as democratic citizens, we must yield our power through our dollars and our votes.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
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16 comments:
"not unlike what occurred to radio DJs.."
I didn't know this could be done! That's good news. And a possible avenue.
WOW!
Thanks so much for giving me a shout-out! (smiles)
Lisa
Not a problem!
I think we should do both. Thanks for this.
I think we should all publish this list on our blogs. And if we have other public information (email addresses, fax numbers, etc.) we should publish that info as well.
Next step could be boycott, but they probably won't feel it. I think the next step is taking this to the traditional media and publicizing these rapists names and contact information.
Wow, I didn't notice I was doing double work. :-D
Updated to include this post as a link. Thanks for getting on it so early!
Just checking:
I'm not seeing motorola in this list. Is that because they are not involved?
My cell phone co. is Orange brand. But on the side it says Motorola. So, I think Motorola is the head corp.
Miriam if you visit Tasha's Sowing Circle blog (included her post in the blogswarm) you will see that Motorola is part of the list.
(as an aside, I'd like to say how grateful I am not to see Apple/Mac represented on the list, unless someone else can make the connections to them
I hate to say this, but Intel/AMD has the entire personal computer market covered. Every PC/MAC now has either a Intel or an AMD processor, and even if you have a Mac before they switched to Intel, their processors were made by IBM.
A boycott isn't effective, because you're looking at the name on the sticker and it doesn't tell you much. Companies like Dell or Apple don't actually design and manufacture the individual parts. I found this breakdown of some of the companies involved in the production of the iPhone and that's pretty much how it is for all electronics. Not to mention, those companies design and put together the parts, I'm at least some of them still have to go somewhere else (like Vishnay) to get the individual components like capacitators and such.
Which means that it doesn't matter who we get our water from, if much of the water supply is contaminated and mixed in with everything else.
Most of this kinda stuff goes over my head, so I'm not 100% sure about this. I definitely think it's necessary to recruit tech/engineering-minded people to be able to pick apart the supply chain.
I work at Intel.
This is not the only thing they are guilty of... it just means their hands are dyed red with the blood, and no matter how much you scrub your hands it won't come clean.
It's the burden of having a "good" job, but just you wait! I'll go back to school and reinvent computers and no one will die from them ever.
It's my life goal.
What a disappointment! And you're right about doing an effective boycott. We really do need to think out the box (both computers and other types)...
Hewlett Packard, eh.
why am I not surprised about Verizon.
the petition would probably be easier to sign and pass around as an html/website rather than a separate pdf document.
also, dunno if you know, or maybe it's just my browser, but the text of the comments doesn't show up unless you highlight them.
thanks for putting all this together.
I should say, not surprised that it's unavoidable if you buy electronics at all.
and yeah, I don't think a boycott would work, here, it's too deep and complicated and systemic, and also frankly it's not actually going to make a dent in electronic purchases, there's just too much demand.
trace to the source, I guess. -why- is all this necessary to get the necessary parts, or is it? Is the electronics business impossible without rape and pillage and effective neo-colonialism and slavery?
or, for that matter, pretty much anything else: I mean, how much of one's food, clothes...
I work for the oldest and largest women s org in the world. I'm always looking for good comments on this issue. You have very eloquently exposed this little known truth. You have added to our research of corporate rapists. I have more names for you to add. Email to learn more: info@wilpfnymetro.org
Just thought you should know, Elaine's trying to throw you (and this post) under the bus:
http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/06/09/dear-animal-rights-activists-please-stop-taking-your-cues-from-the-anti-choice-movement/#comment-245102
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