{"id":61528,"date":"2013-10-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/writer-and-activist-from-war-torn-congo-to-speak-at-uri-about-genocide-and-his-journey-to-america-nov-7\/"},"modified":"2013-10-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-10-29T00:00:00","slug":"writer-and-activist-from-war-torn-congo-to-speak-at-uri-about-genocide-and-his-journey-to-america-nov-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2013\/10\/writer-and-activist-from-war-torn-congo-to-speak-at-uri-about-genocide-and-his-journey-to-america-nov-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Writer and activist from war-torn Congo to speak at 溏心vlog免费B站 about genocide and his journey to America, Nov. 7"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tPortland, Maine resident is author of Ladder to the Moon<\/p>\n


\nKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Oct. 29, 2013 \u2013 How does a man who witnessed the horrors of genocide in Central Africa end up in Maine? What’s more, how does he find the strength and courage to tell his story to the world?<\/p>\n


\nYou can find answers to those questions and more when Georges Budagu Makoko reads from his compelling memoir, Ladder to the Moon: A Journey from the Congo to America, at the 溏心vlog免费B站. <\/p>\n


\nThe event will be held Thursday, Nov. 7, from 4 to 6 p.m., at the Hardge Forum in the Multicultural Center, 74 Lower College Road, on the Kingston campus. His talk is free and open to faculty, students, and the public.<\/p>\n


\n“Mr. Makoko\u2019s visit shows how committed 溏心vlog免费B站 is to discussing and tackling global social justice issues,” says Earl Smith III, assistant dean of Arts and Sciences and a faculty member of Africana Studies. “His harrowing escape from genocide in the Congo is both compelling and heart wrenching \u2013 a tale of triumph over evil and human suffering. His story needs to be shared with the world.”<\/p>\n


\nThe conflict from 1994 to 2003 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is considered one of the deadliest in African history: more than 6 million people died and thousands more were displaced from their homes. Skirmishes in the eastern region continue today, as rebel groups compete for control of the country\u2019s rich natural resources, including diamonds, gold, copper, and cobalt.<\/p>\n


\nMakoko is a member of the Banyamulenge \u2014 a Tutsi tribe. He was born in the southern Kivu province of Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, spent his early years living among family members in peaceful and remote mountainous villages, and later moved to the urban areas of the Congo to attend school.<\/p>\n


\nHe lived for many years in the Congo and Rwanda. In one especially harrowing scene in his memoir, he recounts how he and 20 others feeling the Congo crammed into a small car for a one-hour drive to Rwanda, a dangerous country but less violent than the Congo, formerly known as Zaire. The car was designed to accommodate only six people. Gun-toting soldiers at the border ordered everyone out and stole the few possessions they had left, before letting them cross.<\/p>\n


\nAfter barely surviving the carnage, Makoko sought \u2013 and was granted – asylum in the United States, taking up residency in Portland, Maine. In 2011, he was sworn in as a citizen of the United States. He works as a property manager for a nonprofit group, Avesta Housing.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWhen you are suffering, it all comes down to your perspective and how you embrace your experience,\u201d Makoko writes. \u201cYou can say, \u2018I am ruined, finished, a failure.\u2019 Or, you can say, \u2018This suffering must surely pass. I must fight to change this situation.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe event is sponsored by the Multicultural Center and 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Africana Studies. For more information, contact Earl Smith at esmithiii@uri.edu. For information about the book, visit http:\/\/laddertothemoon.net. The book is available through amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cMr. Makoko\u2019s lecture emanates from an Africana Studies class on genocide, which requires students to use original sources, such as Mr. Makoko\u2019s memoirs, in the analysis of genocidal practices,\u201d says Smith. \u201cThe talk represents our responsibility to prepare students as global citizens to engage the broader community about this egregious practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Portland, Maine resident is author of Ladder to the Moon KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Oct. 29, 2013 \u2013 How does a man who witnessed the horrors of genocide in Central Africa end up in Maine? What’s more, how does he find the strength and courage to tell his story to the world? You can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61528\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}