The Ohio University group STAND Against Genocide asked students to consider the moral implications of an everyday object — their cellphones.
About 100 students attended STAND's viewing of the documentary Blood in the Mobile Thursday night. JD Stier, campaign manager for Raise Hope for Congo, spoke at the event. Raise Hope for Congo is an offshoot of the Enough Project, which seeks to end genocide.
“It was amazing to me to see the turnout tonight,” Stier said. “They all can be a big part of getting this movement going.”
The documentary explained how those who own cellphones could inadvertently be contributing to the crisis in the Congo. Eastern Congo, an area rampant with violence, is rich in natural resources, and the minerals mined there are used in cellphone manufacturing, according to the documentary.
Cellphone companies have been slow in finding alternatives to this; the change needs to start with a demand for “conflict-free” materials from consumers, the documentary states.
“Increasing consumer demand is the most important factor for sweeping changes,” Stier said.
He added that OU as a whole should be aware of the problem and call attention to it.
“This is a dire, urgent human rights crisis that the university has the responsibility to give its attention to,” Stier said.
STAND hopes OU will release a statement saying it supports the use of conflict-free materials.
“Becoming conflict-free wouldn’t cost the university a dime; it has been pretty disappointing with the movement at OU,” said Ellie Hamrick, a senior and president of STAND. “My ultimate goal is to graduate from a conflict-free university and make OU the ninth conflict-free university.”
Some of the students attending hadn't heard of STAND before Thursday, and many of them had questions for Stier and Hamrick after the film concluded.
“I learned about this when Stier came to my class and talked about it,” said Kyle Calandra, a senior studying political science. “I learned a lot from this film, and I had no idea how widespread this all was. It was pretty overwhelming.”
tt182810@ohiou.edu
