For April/ May 11th, "Slave: My True Story"

Update: We had a wonderful, wide-ranging discussion about this book. Mende's description of her childhood in the first half of the book held the interest of a number of readers. We wondered how much of what we were reading was accurate, since the book was written under such difficult circumstances, and with such limited translation. The broad strokes of the story, however, were still illuminating, and inspired discussion about how social and cultural difference is perceived, how intervention in cultures can (and should) happen, the value of self-critique, and the shocking pervasiveness of the practice of slavery- something popularly considered obsolete.

In 2008, Slave was make into a stage play. According to an online article, she is now married, living in London, and planning on becoming a hairdresser. She also managed to visit her family in Sudan.

Please join us for a very interesting discussion on May 11th.

Mende Nazer is an escaped modern-day slave. Slavery is often considered a thing of the past, but human trafficking and slavery is still a part of the global economy.

Human Rights Watch has documented harsh treatment of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia, Children working in Indonesia, Child soldiers in the Congo, Farm workers in Brazil, and the list goes on.

Mende Nazer managed to escape after she was sent to London to work (without pay and without any say in the matter) for a diplomat who was stationed there. To read a synopsis of her story, read this 2003 article.

There is also this very interesting mp3 video of a 2007 panel symposium called "Stand Up, Speak Up: an Agenda for 21st Century Women" at Agnes Scott College, on which Mende Nazer participates in a dialogue with other impressive women leaders.

My Guantanamo Diary: March 4th

UPDATE: a recent BBC article describes the contents of a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which was leaked- the report describes the torture of 14 'high value' detainees, based on interviews the ICRC conducted after the detainees arrived at Guantanamo.


Our March author, Mahvish Rukhsana Khan, was a law student when she heard about the Guantanamo detainees. She is also a Pashto speaker, and she ended up working with some of the lawyers representing the detainees as a translator. The book is her account of her experience.

Human Rights Watch has done a lot of work on Guantanamo- please take a look at their Guantanamo Webpage.

Please read the NYT book review to read a complete introduction. The book also has a facebook group, which you can join if you are interested.

Please also watch this video from Current if you would like to see some footage of Guantanamo, and listen to a discussion of the closing of the camp.

I Live Here by Mia Kirshner for 14 January MOVED TO: 4 FEBRUARY

I Live Here is not a normal book.

This is a collection of four booklets, one each on Ingushetia, the Burma-Thai border, Ciudad Juarez, and Malawi. Each booklet is a collection of journal entries, Photographs, Drawings, short stories written by local people, and graphic novels.

The result is an intense, personal, and jarring journey through these very different places in the world. We follow Mia Kirshner, as she confronts bravery and misery in these places, as she questions herself and her reason for being in these places, and we get to know a great deal about what it is like to survive in a place where human rights are challenged at a very basic level.

This is Kirshner's first book, but she plans to do more. She has also started a foundation, which plans to teach creative writing workshops in some of the places where she traveled. Check out her interactive website for more, and look for the project on facebook. They also have a blog.

Ingushetia
Update: In summer of 2008, HRW researchers in Ingushetia have documented the same "dirty war" tactics practiced in Chechnya are now spreading to Ingushetia. To read the entire report, click here. Russian authorities are still cracking down: recently, a human rights journalist died in police custody after being shot as he arrived in the region, according to the BBC.

Burma
The most recent HRW report on Burma was on a constitutional referendum held by the military junta. The presentation of HRW Defender Bo Kyi mentioned the sanctions on Burmese gems, which is supported by HRW, because the trade in these 'blood gems' is a primary source of funding for the oppressive regime. Directly related to the reading we are doing on the refugee camps and minority groups in Burma, HRW has recently called on the Thai government to stop forced returns of civilian Burmese minorities to Burma, where violence continues. According to the HRW report, because of a slow-down in the registration process in Thailand, there are at least 20,000 people in Thai refugee camps who were not yet registered as refugees and therefore do not qualify for food or shelter, and are not protected by the United Nations under international law.

Ciudad Juarez
The failure to protect women from violence is only one part of the complicity of the Mexican government in the human rights problem in the border areas of Mexico. For updated information, check out this interactive map.
HRW has been documenting problems for maquiladora workers (primarily women work in these factories) for years. The most recent report by HRW found some hope in the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City, but poor women who cannot afford to travel to Mexico City need the same protection, as well as better civil protection and fair employment protection. If you would like to read more, I recommend the Daughters of Juarez by Teresa Rodriguez.

Dirty Diplomacy in Uzbekistan: November 12th

Dirty Diplomacy: The Rough-and-Tumble Adventures of a Scotch-Drinking, Skirt-Chasing, Dictator-Busting and Thoroughly Unrepentant Ambassador Stuck on the Frontline of the War Against Terror

Since one of the HRW 2008 Defenders, Umida Niazova, is an Uzbek journalist, we decided to read something on Uzbekistan. The HRW website has a great deal of information on their country page. For some basic information and history, try this wiki entry. For more news and a detailed introduction, go to the BBC Country Profile.

The New York Times review is here. The New York Post review is also here. The Washington Post also ran a story on the author.

The author is not without serious faults, and according to some reviews, his book follows suit. It should, however, make for an interesting read and hopefully a great discussion as well. If you have the time, complement your reading with the HRW documents, particularly the multimedia presentation of the Andijan Massacre, where you can watch or listen to eyewitnesses.

If you are interested in the history of this country, particularly women's history, a place to start may be Douglas Northrop's book Veiled Empire: Gender and Power in Stalinist Central Asia, published in 2004. It is scholarly but I have found the writing to be pretty accessible.

To read about the current news, go to this site for News on Uzbekistan.
A recent Media Freedom conference in Uzbekistan seems to be another example of the double-speak of the Karimov regime.

October 6th: Three Cups of Tea

Greg Mortenson stays in the news: here is a story posted 26 September by David Martin of CBS News.

We had a great discussion about the book for August, Lipstick Jihad. One question that came up was the question of how outsiders can help and not hurt societies that are struggling with fundamentalism and extremism.

This question led us to the book for September: Three Cups of Tea.

Please join us on October 2nd to discuss the book! If you cannot meet us in person, feel free to post questions and/or comments for the group on the blog.

Remember, you do not have to have read the book to join in the discussion!

If you think you may not have time to read the entire book, check out this recorded interview with the author, Greg Mortenson, conducted April 1, 2008.

Mortenson is still very active, and his work will be strongly affected by current events in Pakistan. He recently met (now former) President Musharraf, as reported on All Things Considered. Mortenson is also planning on writing another book about his work- read about it in this review.

In case any of you are curious about the mountaineering side of this, explore this history of climbing K2, and this trip planner, which contains a lot of information and photographs, and provides a window into this other world that climbers inhabit.

August 27th: Lipstick Jihad

We have decided to read Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America and American in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni. You can check the book out on Google Books. It is a good summer book, and the author was an intern with Human Rights Watch. There is not a lot of history or political background in the book, so check back on the blog soon, as I will also try to post more news stories of interest. For now, check out Wikipedia.

For geographical reference, here is a map of the region. 

The author has her own website, and she recently went back to visit Iran. She wrote an article in the Washington Post about this visit on June 1. You can also read a 2005 interview with Moaveni here. There is also a more recent 2007 interview at California Literary Review.

BBC story on controlling women's dress

For June 25, The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew and the Heart of the Middle East

The group decided to read this book, because others told us that when they read this book, they better understood the conflict in a personal and powerful way.

To buy the book, try Amazon or AddAll

Listen to an NPR interview with author Sandy Tolan.

The author's website for The Lemon Tree. Here, you can read the author's thoughts about writing this book, listen to more interviews, read part of the book, listen to a radio documentary, and more.