UConn Law’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA), Energy and Environmental Law Society (EELS), Human Rights Law Association (HRLA) and National Lawyers Guild (NLG) are sponsoring the first annual Congo Week from October 15-20.

Congo Week's activities commemorate the millions of lives lost in the Congo Conflict while celebrating the enormous human and natural potential that exists in the country. The goal is to raise global consciousness about the situation in the Congo and advocate for peace, justice and human dignity in partnership with the Congolese people.   

Toni-Ann Gayle is the catalyst for organizing Congo Week at UConn Law. For Gayle, the global issues related to the Congo were important enough to seek the position of Community Service Chair at BLSA.  Last Semester, fellow law student Kwaku Aurelien from the NLG  moderated a symposium featuring Maurice Carney, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Friends of the Congo. This event highlighted the situation in the Congo, and was what sparked Gayle's interest in bringing Congo Week to UConn Law. 

The Congo holds the world’s largest deposits of coltan, an essential component for cellphones, play stations and other electronic devices. Gayle notes, “It is mind boggling for us to walk around, complicit in our lives, using our tablets, cell phones and laptops, without understanding the enormous human cost that gives us these conveniences.”   

Gayle urges UConn law students to recognize there are many things they can do to affect change in the lives of the Congolese.  One action item is the “Cell Out” - a digital moment of silence starting at 12 noon on Wednesday, October 18th. Gayle encourages all students to turn off their phone for at least one hour, refrain from texting and encourage those in your circle to do the same. Activities abound throughout the UConn Law campus to raise awareness of this global issue. This week of recognition exemplifies the mantra by Martin Luther King, Jr., which Gayle abides by everyday:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  

For more information on Congo week check out the following: