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Share your thoughts about the HBO Documentary Films' production THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO.
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Posts:
1
Registered:
4/9/08
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(12 of 42)
Re: THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Apr 9, 2008 3:38 PM
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This was the most heart breaking documentary I've ever seen in my life. Like a previous poster posted, all I want to do is help these women. I feel so helpless. Why is the world just sitting by doing nothing to help these women? I know why, because these are black women. If the same thing was happening to women in a European country, this wouldn't have lasted a week much less years of suffering.
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Posts:
2
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4/9/08
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(11 of 42)
Re: THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Apr 9, 2008 9:42 AM
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Watching this documentary makes me feel that I should go and do something about what horrors are being commited. Seeing this, I could not help but weep, and thinking about it makes me cry all over again. These woman show the strength that I could only dream of showing. I am only 16, yet I feel that I need to go out and make a change, and I will do anything in my power now, and in the future to make a change. How can so many people think that 'global warming' is such a huge problem in our world, when there are thousands of larger problems that we might be able to CHANGE. Stop worring about meer problems that in the end we really don't have the power to change, and try working on changing somthing that will make a difference! These woman and children need to be helped, and we have the power to help them.
Thank you so much for doing this documentary, it has opened my eyes and i'm sure thousands of others as well. Now, we just need more and more to see this, then something might be done.
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Edited by smallyetstrong at 04/09/2008 7:32 AM PDT
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Edited by smallyetstrong at 04/09/2008 7:33 AM PDT
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Posts:
5
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4/9/08
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(10 of 42)
Re: THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Apr 9, 2008 3:08 AM
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Lisa Jackson's documentary was absolutely incredible. How many people unconnected to the terrible situation in the DRC are aware of the sheer scope of that war and the incalculable damage it is having on the women and children of that country? It dwarfs anything else that the Western Powers are dealing with anywhere else in the world.
The message must get out! I have read that with the help of US pressure, progress has been made at a diplomatic level between the Central Government and some of those rebel forces, but with the area virtually ungovernable, how can we as responsible citizens of the world move the process forwards more and begin to really help the lives of individuals there?
As a man born into first world stability and peace, and subjected to no horrors such as this film portrayed, I feel profoundly disorientated when it comes to trying to understand what drives the rebels to commit such acts as were described, or to understand even a tiny part of how those countless victims must feel, every minute of their waking lives. Yet this film has driven me to act, to speak out, to find out how I can help make a difference.
I will spread the word, and I challenge everyone who reads this discussion thread to do the same. While most women in the DRC can scarcely imagine getting their stories heard outside the walls of a small village hall, we can broadcast to the world with a few keystrokes. What right have any of us for inactivity?
Thank you, Lisa Jackson, for enlightening people such as myself. It is my fervent hope that a movement for change has been seeded, and will be driven by an unstoppable surge of public outrage across the globe.
Gavin
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Posts:
2
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4/9/08
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(9 of 42)
THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Apr 9, 2008 2:42 AM
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This was an excellent program. So very hard to watch. So much sympathy and compassion for the women in the Congo going through this brutally! Their brave spirit of survival shone through. I made my son watch it with me.
I disagree with one of the comments on this subject. I think majority of us in the U.S. do care what happens in other countries. This inhuman conduct towards women in all any country must be stopped. War is not the answer in any case. Rape in this instance is only by the ignorant and the bored with no respect for humanity, their own mothers. their own wives, their children and the children they conceive in these acts of violence ... who will end up in horrible situations themselves. I believe that any man caught raping a woman in that manner should have his own rectum burned out and use them as an example.
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Posts:
1
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4/9/08
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(8 of 42)
Re: THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Apr 9, 2008 2:30 AM
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WOOOOWWW!!!! I was just surfing the channels, and I am SOO glad I stopped there!!! It was life-changing, enlightening, heart-breaking....so many things!!!! HELP GOD!!!
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Posts:
1
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4/9/08
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(7 of 42)
Re: THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Apr 9, 2008 2:17 AM
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I just finished watching this film with my wife. Words cannot describe how I feel. If u really look back at the history of Congo u will begin to see how a mans mind can turn from honorable and respectful, into a straight savage. This is not new to the continent of Africa, it was introduced ever since the first European landed on African soil and began to exploit Africa from the North, West, East, and South. Now with television, and all the insane and brutal images we are able to see people just get more and more evil with their tactics of brutality sought on to others.
America could give two left testicles about what is going on in Africa, because they know that all colonial powers have already painted a picture in the worlds eyes that Africa is the "Black Continent". They also know that the world does not care about what they cannot see.U see America and other foreign powers will not admit that they fund those little toy soldiers with weapons, and in return they get the goodies without having to get their hands dirty. We are always going to war for the wrong things, but when ppl are really in dire need of are help we turn the other cheek or simply ignore their cries for help.
Those young soldiers in that film are not the ones to blame, in fact it goes beyond that. They were raised in a time of war, rape, and exploitation. It is a greater foreign power or powers that are to blame for the root of these atrocities. This is one of the most richest countries on the Earth(in terms of the minerals) and still the majority of the ppl cant even get medicine for a common cold. Those young ignorant men in that film are very clueless and uneducated.
Their was a part in the film where they mentioned that the material used to make your cell phone, 80% of it is in the Congo. What phone will u be using to call your buddy on tomorrow. U see we all play a part in those who are suffering and being raped in the congo, africa, and abroad. We must as a sane people come together and help these people help themselves.
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Posts:
2
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4/9/08
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(6 of 42)
Re: THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Apr 9, 2008 1:10 AM
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my heart breaks for these women and children and we all must do something to stop this nightmare...I am shocked at the lack of compassion that these rebels have for their victims, they are in great need of education on every level..they are not warriors. why do countries stand back and allow this to happen to other countries without regard to the long term effects?..these men if you can call them that believe that the magic potion will keep them from catching aides, they say that being in the jungle causes them to need sex so badly that they take the woman by force, but they give no reason for mutilating her.. and they stated that women must answer to man as appointed by God..i am a pastor and God made woman to be a helpmate for man not a whipping post....who is in charge of these men that we saw on the show? where do they get their orders? they appear to me to be under the influence of drugs, that was not mentioned but they fit the profile..as an american i know that our country has occupied countries and stopped or tried to stop lesser things then this, why are we not doing anything? is it because there is nothing in it for us? this would be a good time and place to really help another people, america needs a real cause...special forces would be an option or air strikes ! the rape of women and especially children is a better reason for involvement than chemicals of mass destruction (that were not there) ..these women and children and elderly women and men who have had their wives taken from them really need our help, today, tomorrow, for a long time, most of these women have post traumatic stress and they need therapy and medication for that, i know because i have that myself from being abused, i know what it feels like to be pregnant and beaten until you loose the baby, that all happened to me and it takes years of therapy to overcome the effects of this type of treatment. my husband and i have our own ministry and what we do is sale on ebay and give to charity, and we will increase our sales after seeing this show and give a larger percentage to the charities that are working in this area and to the hospital, please everyone stop and think of how blessed you are and give back, instead of throwing things away or giving to the goodwill, sell your unwanted stuff and give the money to this cause, God Bless and i will pray even harder for help to this region..blessings , LEDBYTHELIGHT
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Posts:
1
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4/9/08
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(5 of 42)
Re: THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Apr 9, 2008 12:46 AM
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I can not believe what I just saw. I am sick to my stomach. How is this going on? We are fighting a war for oil, but can not help these women. They are human beings. I did not realize what horrors were happening. My eyes are open, & will share this story with many other women. What can we do to help? This has got to stop...NOW!
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Posts:
1
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4/8/08
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(4 of 42)
Re: THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Apr 9, 2008 12:06 AM
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I am a little black girl from the southern part of the country. I have been raped. I have never ever thought black men, on any continent, in any country could ever be so cruel. We were always taught that black men in Africa adored the women. I am so sickened with those men. I don't know what to do to help but I want to go there. Part of me wants to arm the women, teach them to fight and fire their weapons directly at their attackers. Part of me wants to educate the husbands and the general society of the truth of rape and the destruction of it. What has happened to our beautiful black men and women? Where is the love we are so often taught about here in the United States? Sisters, Sisters, Sisters,...lets go and help the sisters in the motherland, Please, lets just go! If enough black women in the United States put enough pressure on this government and that one, we can make it stop. There is enough of us. What is stronger than a black woman? What is stronger than a large group of Black women. I thank Lisa, the woman that did the documentary, and anyone and everyone that helped her. I have to say though that I am tried of seeing Africans being interviewed, surveyed, documented and studied by anyone other than a Black American, aren't you? Why cant we help us sometimes? When I look into the eyes of the women on the film, I see me. I see my mother who was raped when she got pregnant with me. I see my grandmother, my aunt, my sisters, my daughters. don't you? In the eyes of the children, I see myself. Being a child who's father is a rapist that I don't even know, who's mother hates her and who's family and husband believe is less than a woman, I see me in the faces of those children. I want to love them, and give them the love I need. Mostly, when I look into the eyes of the women, I see strength. Stronger than any mountain on any planet. Look at them. Think of what they have endured. Trees, guns shoved into their bodies, urine running down their legs,.... constantly, unwanted babies, abandoned, exiled and torn,....they are still strong, they survived and told their stories. The women in the Congo are you and me. They are apart of the human race. They are not just Africans on just some other sad storey, waiting for some great check that you can write. What was the Women's Right Movement for if not this? Sisters like me that aren't rich like Oprah, who don't know how to help, who want to do something, please contact me and we can find a way. don't put this on the back burner, think of the little four year old who was raped then email me at littleblackgirlfromtexas@yahoo.com. Anyone, everyone can help.
Dee
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1
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4/8/08
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(3 of 42)
Re: THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Apr 9, 2008 12:03 AM
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The ongoing tragic suffering of these women is unfathomable to everyone, but those who live it. The only hope that comes out of this documentary is that people will reach out, become involved on some level, and pray to God that this is somehow stopped. It is unbearable, but necessary to watch.
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1
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4/8/08
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(2 of 42)
Re: THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Apr 8, 2008 11:43 PM
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I really appreciate Lisa for putting this documentary together and HBO for showing it. Every once in a while, I'll see bits and pieces about the rape and war on tv, even though it has been going on for over 10 years in the Congo. Having parents and family living in Congo, this tragedy is on my mind all the time. I appreciate the fact that Americans are trying to put this story out there and get these women the help that they need. My family and I try to do our part, but the more people we get to help, the better.
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Posts:
65
Registered:
4/22/01
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(1 of 42)
THE GREATEST SILENCE: Rape in the Congo
Mar 18, 2008 2:23 PM
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Share your thoughts about the HBO Documentary Films' production THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO.
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