Are Fashionistas Killing The Congo?

[brianold]

Congo cult has a passion for fashion
Though poor, addicts of designer clothing spend lavishly to flaunt an over-the-top style.
By Edmund Sanders, Times Staff Writer
November 28, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/...-headlines

KINSHASA, Congo -- He struts down the muddy, trash-strewn alley like a model on a catwalk, relishing the stares and double-takes from passersby.

In a country where many survive on 30 cents a day, Papy Mosengo is flashing $1,000 worth of designer clothing on his back, from the Dolce & Gabbana cap and Versace stretch shirt to his spotless white Gucci loafers.

"It makes me feel so good to dress this way," the 30-year-old said when asked about such conspicuous consumption in a city beset by unemployment, crime and homelessness. "It makes me feel special."

But Mosengo can scarcely afford this passion for fashion. He worked eight months at his part-time job at a money-exchange shop to earn enough for the single outfit, one of 30 he owns, so he'll never have to wear the same one twice in a month.

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He doesn't own a car. He lets an ex-girlfriend support their

5-year-old son and still lives with his parents, sleeping in a dingy, blue-walled bedroom that is more aptly described as a closet with a mattress.

Friends, family and his new girlfriend implore Mosengo to stop pouring all his money into clothes and liquidate the closet.

"Man, we could buy a house with the money," said Dirango Mubiala, his clothing dealer, estimating that Mosengo spends $400 a month.

Mosengo won't budge. "This is just what I am," he said from behind a pair of oversized white Gucci sunglasses. "I'm a Sape."

Mosengo is part of a fashion cult born decades ago in this Central African nation, its name drawn from French slang for clothes.

Before bling and ghetto fabulous, before the dawn of the metrosexual, Congolese men have been pushing the limits of outlandish fashion and heterosexual male vanity, roaming the streets like walking advertisements for the world's top labels. These fashionistas were donning fur coats and gaudy jewels as early as the 1970s, when American hip-hop star Sean Combs was still accessorizing with a grade-school lunchbox.

"The white man may have invented clothes, but we turned it into an art," said Congolese musician King Kester Emeneya, who helped popularize the Sape movement with the legendary Papa Wemba, who is often called the pope of the Sapes. Emulated and admired by a generation of African musicians, Wemba once called fashion his religion, advising devotees that what they wore was more important than school.

Some saw the movement, which dubbed itself the Society for Leisure Lovers and Elegant Persons, as a rebellion against former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, whose patriotic programs included renaming the former Belgian colony Zaire and replacing European fashion imports, such as suits and ties, with traditional African garb.

Wemba laughed off any political motivations.

"It was never about that," he said recently. "It was just about looking good."

His cult survived years of conflict and economic devastation in Congo.

After Mobutu was chased away by rebels in 1997, the country, renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo, endured nearly five years of civil war and invasion by neighboring countries. An estimated 4 million died of hunger and disease, which continue to beset parts of the northeast. International leaders hope last month's presidential election

[j9]

Coltan is killing the Congo
Its a mineral that is vital for all of our cell phones and computers.
Cell phone companies and Computer companies are paying militias to raid mines in the Congo and steal it. The Congo is one of the most Coltan rich countries in the world and its a pretty rare mineral. This is one of the most under reported stories of 2006, the mainstream media is ignoring it for all the usual reasons. Its pretty safe to say that the 5 companies that own all of our media are pretty close allies with cell phone and computer companies. All these people run in the same circles, and own stock in each others companies

[brianold]

well, yea, certainly that too.

and it ain't just coltan. check this out:
http://weblog.liberatormagazine.com/2006...flict.html

[j9]

^^^^^^^^^
good article

[Kofucius]

good read!

On a side note it's really interesting that in places with great suffering some of the most beautiful music is made...

(12-12-2006 09:57 PM)brianold Wrote:  well, yea, certainly that too.

and it ain't just coltan. check this out:
http://weblog.liberatormagazine.com/2006...flict.html

[achali]

(10-20-2009 10:26 AM)Kofucius Wrote:  good read!

On a side note it's really interesting that in places with great suffering some of the most beautiful music is made...

so true. here are a few recent shares from folks, that speak to your point:

http://weblog.liberatormagazine.com/2009...laces.html

http://weblog.liberatormagazine.com/2009...video.html

http://weblog.liberatormagazine.com/2009...video.html