ABSTRACT
Journalist and political activist living in São Paulo since 2012, Christo Kamanda, asserts in an oral presentation to Brazilian journalists: “The Congolese woman’s body has become a primary war zone in the conflict that rages on in Congo (DRC), my home country.” He does so to reflect on the atrocities occurring in his native country due to the exploitation of cobalt, used primarily in the manufacturing of lithium batteries. A transgression of bodies. Militarized violence. Rape. These transgressions are stark points of gender definition and individual awareness of masculinity and femininity. A recognition through trauma. The sarau, a type of open microphone event, amplifies the individual to the collective and demands the legitimacy of personal experience.
