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The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa's Worst Human Rights Crimes
Had Enough?
Join activists, organizations, and celebrities to fight human rights crimes in Africa.
Human rights activist John Prendergast and Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle bring us an empowering and hopeful new book, as they reveal the steps being taken by engaged citizens—"Upstanders"—famous and unknown, here and abroad, to combat genocide, rape, and child soldierdom in Africa, and show how you can be a part of the movement.
Learn how a high school student in Chicago rallied fellow students all over his city to raise awareness of genocide... a former child soldier in Uganda formed a group of others like him to aid in reconciliation... and a mother and teacher gang-raped by soldiers in Congo found strength to help other survivors. John and Don present ways for you to form alliances, contact Congress, alert the media, enlist corporations, and use social media to become part of the solution.
Featuring testimonies and interviews
• Ben Affleck • Madeleine Albright • Emmanuelle Chriqui • Sheryl Crow • Ann Curry • Annie Duke • Dave Eggers • Mia Farrow • Ryan Gosling • Mariska Hargitay • Emile Hirsch • Iman • Angelina Jolie • Nicholas Kristof • Joel Madden • Nicole Richie • Martin Sheen • Robin Wright • As well as a number of members of Congress and many others making a difference
Join activists, organizations, and celebrities to fight human rights crimes in Africa.
Human rights activist John Prendergast and Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle bring us an empowering and hopeful new book, as they reveal the steps being taken by engaged citizens—"Upstanders"—famous and unknown, here and abroad, to combat genocide, rape, and child soldierdom in Africa, and show how you can be a part of the movement.
Learn how a high school student in Chicago rallied fellow students all over his city to raise awareness of genocide... a former child soldier in Uganda formed a group of others like him to aid in reconciliation... and a mother and teacher gang-raped by soldiers in Congo found strength to help other survivors. John and Don present ways for you to form alliances, contact Congress, alert the media, enlist corporations, and use social media to become part of the solution.
Featuring testimonies and interviews
• Ben Affleck • Madeleine Albright • Emmanuelle Chriqui • Sheryl Crow • Ann Curry • Annie Duke • Dave Eggers • Mia Farrow • Ryan Gosling • Mariska Hargitay • Emile Hirsch • Iman • Angelina Jolie • Nicholas Kristof • Joel Madden • Nicole Richie • Martin Sheen • Robin Wright • As well as a number of members of Congress and many others making a difference
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
12 people are currently reading
464 people want to read
About the author
John Prendergast
42 books43 followersJohn Prendergast is a human rights activist and best-selling author who has worked for peace in Africa for over 25 years. He is the co-founder of the Enough Project, an initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity affiliated with the Center for American Progress. John has worked for the Clinton White House, the State Department, two members of Congress, the National Intelligence Council, UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group, and the U.S. Institute of Peace. He has been a Big Brother for over 25 years, as well as a youth counselor and a basketball coach.
John is the author or co-author of ten books. His forthcoming book, Unlikely Brothers, due in May 2011, is a dual memoir co-authored with his first little brother in the Big Brother program. His previous two books were co-authored with Don Cheadle: Not On Our Watch, a New York Times bestseller and NAACP non-fiction book of the year, and The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa's Worst Human Rights Crimes.
(Taken from Prendergast's Enough Project bio)
John is the author or co-author of ten books. His forthcoming book, Unlikely Brothers, due in May 2011, is a dual memoir co-authored with his first little brother in the Big Brother program. His previous two books were co-authored with Don Cheadle: Not On Our Watch, a New York Times bestseller and NAACP non-fiction book of the year, and The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa's Worst Human Rights Crimes.
(Taken from Prendergast's Enough Project bio)
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 16, 2011
Focusing on three unspeakably evil things happening on a massive scale in Africa (genocide, rape, and child conscription), Mr. Prendergast and Mr. Cheadle highlight "Upstanders," people who are making a difference. These Upstanders include American celebrities as well as practically anonymous individuals in Congo or Uganda. They are students and journalists, politicians and activists, actors and medical professionals, who refused to wring their hands over the atrocities and turn away. They decided to do something, whether raising funds, educating others, or visiting these hot spots personally.
The big revelation to me was how much of the conflict, and by extension these gross human rights violations, is funded through sales of natural resources in the country: gold, tin, tungsten, tantalum. Not only are the mines often worked by forced labor, but the armed militia forces that control the mines smuggle the metals out of the country for sale to companies that use them in the manufacture of electronics. It's likely that the cell phone I use every day and the computer I'm typing on right now contain metals from those mines in Congo. Like blood diamonds that funded the conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia years ago, it's essential that the source of these minerals is widely known so consumers can demand better choices from the companies who purchase and use them. If the funding dries up, the wars will be less profitable and harder to continue.
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
The big revelation to me was how much of the conflict, and by extension these gross human rights violations, is funded through sales of natural resources in the country: gold, tin, tungsten, tantalum. Not only are the mines often worked by forced labor, but the armed militia forces that control the mines smuggle the metals out of the country for sale to companies that use them in the manufacture of electronics. It's likely that the cell phone I use every day and the computer I'm typing on right now contain metals from those mines in Congo. Like blood diamonds that funded the conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia years ago, it's essential that the source of these minerals is widely known so consumers can demand better choices from the companies who purchase and use them. If the funding dries up, the wars will be less profitable and harder to continue.
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
April 11, 2011
What at first seems to be a rather vague yet inspiring (or awakening) overview of the human rights issues in Africa, turns out to be a well researched, thorough coverage of the situation. Prendergast also provides excellent thoughts on the action that is needed.
Read this book!
Read this book!
February 21, 2020
About half way through and its got me really emotional. We as humans have failed so many of our own. The best portions are the survivor stories. I do feel like I'm missing something by not reading their first book first; a bit like starting halfway through a series.
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January 21, 2011The authors trace the history of war crimes and war tactics in eastern and central Africa. The text describes how individual can reach the point where they feel “enough is enough” and are compelled to take action.
Situations selected to illustrate Africans’ plight include genocide in Darfur, child abductions to create soldiers or sex slaves, and the use of rape as a weapon of war. Descriptions of these situations portray the darkest and basest human behavior and may be distressing even for adult readers.
Heroic behavior is also noted -- survivors who are determined to help others and strangers who selflessly act to send aid or end abuse.
Practical directions to take action are provided along with lists of steps readers can take to alleviate the African situation, many of which contain contact information for organizations already involved in these efforts.
Situations selected to illustrate Africans’ plight include genocide in Darfur, child abductions to create soldiers or sex slaves, and the use of rape as a weapon of war. Descriptions of these situations portray the darkest and basest human behavior and may be distressing even for adult readers.
Heroic behavior is also noted -- survivors who are determined to help others and strangers who selflessly act to send aid or end abuse.
Practical directions to take action are provided along with lists of steps readers can take to alleviate the African situation, many of which contain contact information for organizations already involved in these efforts.
September 12, 2010
This book is a really great source for information on conflict in Africa (specifically rape as a weapon of war in the Congo, child soldiers, and conflict minerals). Though I knew much of the included information the format of the book made it interesting and touching.
February 7, 2011
The personal reflection that really lingers with me is Ben Affleck's observation that Africans know how to fish, there just aren't any fish in the pond. That's in the context of the famous saying "if you give a man a fish..." by the way, because on its own it sounds kind of weird.
August 11, 2011
The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa’s Worst Human Rights Crimes
John Prendergast
Don Cheadle
The descriptions of the atrocities in The Enough Moment are not as graphic as the reality must be. You have to put in some of your own imaginary pictures of rape, mutilation and violence. But the narrators would have you understand that your imagination is unlikely to be as horrible as the actual event. Then imagine that you are a child witnessing parents being hacked to death or a mother brutally raped or a parent watching your baby killed. We can understand that John Prendergast and Don Cheadle might support the euphemistic term “neutralize” in talking about the elimination of the leaders. Kill the killers? Are we at that point? Ask Osama bin Laden.
The human rights crimes covered are genocide, rape and child soldiers. As it says on the back cover, “John and Don present ways for you to form alliances, contact Congress, alert the media, enlist corporations, and use social media to become part of the solution.”
The book is filled with first person stories about how people have gotten involved and made a difference. The people include victims as well as people halfway around the world. I like to read personal experiences and there is a variety of methods of involvement included from private citizens, celebrities, organizations and politicians.
Earlier I mentioned that the descriptions of atrocities are not as gross as they might be. But even some simple sentences can be almost beyond believable:
Don’t need more words to make this retching.
When I read this book, I wondered how people went on with their lives after these horrible experiences. And how people, even children, lived with themselves after they were ‘forced’ to kill other people. If I was given the option of kill or be killed, what would I do? I think of the people killed in the Holocaust and how the people who did the killing managed their emotional lives.
This is a book that can lead you to new places where you can try to make the world better. It is a good, readable introduction to an important topic.
John Prendergast
Don Cheadle
The descriptions of the atrocities in The Enough Moment are not as graphic as the reality must be. You have to put in some of your own imaginary pictures of rape, mutilation and violence. But the narrators would have you understand that your imagination is unlikely to be as horrible as the actual event. Then imagine that you are a child witnessing parents being hacked to death or a mother brutally raped or a parent watching your baby killed. We can understand that John Prendergast and Don Cheadle might support the euphemistic term “neutralize” in talking about the elimination of the leaders. Kill the killers? Are we at that point? Ask Osama bin Laden.
The human rights crimes covered are genocide, rape and child soldiers. As it says on the back cover, “John and Don present ways for you to form alliances, contact Congress, alert the media, enlist corporations, and use social media to become part of the solution.”
The book is filled with first person stories about how people have gotten involved and made a difference. The people include victims as well as people halfway around the world. I like to read personal experiences and there is a variety of methods of involvement included from private citizens, celebrities, organizations and politicians.
Earlier I mentioned that the descriptions of atrocities are not as gross as they might be. But even some simple sentences can be almost beyond believable:
One young girl described her parents and others being killed and cooked, and other abductees were forced to eat their bodies. She told me, “Every time I try cooking using the pot, I see my parents inside the pot.”
Don’t need more words to make this retching.
When I read this book, I wondered how people went on with their lives after these horrible experiences. And how people, even children, lived with themselves after they were ‘forced’ to kill other people. If I was given the option of kill or be killed, what would I do? I think of the people killed in the Holocaust and how the people who did the killing managed their emotional lives.
This is a book that can lead you to new places where you can try to make the world better. It is a good, readable introduction to an important topic.
October 23, 2014
If you are looking for a book of statistics and information and history specifically about the wars that have been currently going on in Africa, this is not the book for you. I think that is what I was hoping for a little bit, honestly.
This book is mainly about how in learning information about the goings-on of the wars in Africa, when will we be willing to say, "Enough is enough!" When would we be willing to see a change or a stop to these wars that are murdering and destroying the lives of thousands of families and people?
Basically, John Prendergast and Don Cheadle converse a bit together throughout the book and they also write some accounts of people who have survived the atrocities of war in Africa and who are doing something to bring a chance in their own communities in Africa, those who have been effected by learning about the wars that they are actually doing something to bring change in America or the countries they live in outside of Africa as well. There are some interviews with a bunch of famous people and I think there was more of that then the other stuff, which I wanted more of the other stuff when reading these accounts. There were some great stories mentioned by these stars though.
There was a lot of talk about violent acts done to people, so be prepared to "hear" horrific things while reading this.
This book is mainly about how in learning information about the goings-on of the wars in Africa, when will we be willing to say, "Enough is enough!" When would we be willing to see a change or a stop to these wars that are murdering and destroying the lives of thousands of families and people?
Basically, John Prendergast and Don Cheadle converse a bit together throughout the book and they also write some accounts of people who have survived the atrocities of war in Africa and who are doing something to bring a chance in their own communities in Africa, those who have been effected by learning about the wars that they are actually doing something to bring change in America or the countries they live in outside of Africa as well. There are some interviews with a bunch of famous people and I think there was more of that then the other stuff, which I wanted more of the other stuff when reading these accounts. There were some great stories mentioned by these stars though.
There was a lot of talk about violent acts done to people, so be prepared to "hear" horrific things while reading this.
December 27, 2010
This definitely isn't my typical read, but for what it was (A book inspiring activism in Africa), I did enjoy it. It taught me a lot about what is doing on in Darfur, the Sudan, and the Congo. Things I have heard about but never imagined the depth of. For someone who wants to read something that is non-fiction and educational, I would definitely suggest this book. It was an easy read and very motivating to hear about others who have said "enough!" and made a difference.
September 14, 2011
Prendergast does a great job outlining the Genocide in Darfur, Bosnia, and adds in examples from the Ivory Coast, Rwanda, etc. He is clear and makes great points, has wonderful stories from activists and survivors, and has a strong voice for change. I highly recommend!
November 18, 2014
You definitely get the feel of the authors' passion in this book, which makes it worthwhile, but I wouldn't call it gripping. It will also be hard to follow if you are not already pretty well versed in the history of contemporary African political conflict.
January 12, 2011
Wow - the authors were able to compile a book about the atrocities of what is happening in the Congo, and add in stories about what people are doing to help.
January 5, 2011
Great content, although I wasn't able to get used to the way it was laid out with the dialog between the two authors.
March 18, 2012
www.enoughmoment.org
Stopped on page 90. Didn't enjoy writing style, although the topic is very important. Heard George Clooney got the president's ear this week to discuss Sudan, etc.
Stopped on page 90. Didn't enjoy writing style, although the topic is very important. Heard George Clooney got the president's ear this week to discuss Sudan, etc.
April 29, 2011
Just like their previous book, they give inspiring stories of Upstanders and the thing ordinary people can do to help people in the Congo, Uganda, and every where.
October 20, 2013
tough subject matter, but necessary read...
October 4, 2011
Interesting perspective on how and why to become an Upstander. Gives good examples of how "ordinary" people become "extraordinary" in their fight for human rights.
April 1, 2013
If you want to make a difference, educate yourself on topic....great read.
July 14, 2013
Great book on human rights abuses in central Africa and how we can all work together to put an end to them.
June 3, 2016
Eye opening!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews