Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara

9 reviews

lizziaha's review

4.75

Crazy how so many of the world’s problems come back to capitalism. It’s a system that allows the privileged to exploit and mistreat their fellow humans while simultaneously eschewing any and all accountability for the exploitation and human rights violations that they have built their fortunes on. 
I think that before reading this book, I wasn’t really sure how to engage with the human rights violations in the Congo because the way I had seen it explained made me think that the problem was farther down the chain, at a local level. But this is something that the book addresses—at every point in the supply chain, there is someone who profits from exploitation and at every point, they point the finger at someone else. 
It was frankly horrifying to read about these people who risk their lives daily for a few dollars. It’s sickening to know that children die in tunnel collapses, that women grow sick from metal poisoning from tainted water, that men get shot by greedy entrepreneurs for trying to bypass the middleman. All so that I can sit here and type this on my rechargeable phone. It’s a tale as old as time and I’m so disgusted by it. 
But I think that this is something that I have a moral obligation to witness. They say that history moves in circles, but that’s only possible because we don’t engage with it in a meaningful way. 
This book makes this situation accessible—I felt like I got a broad view of the overarching system of exploitation and oppression, but also felt an emotional connection to the people whose individual stories were shared. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Slavery, Grief, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

tey_lynn's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

ecn's review

5.0

Mandatory reading!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

scmiller's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal death and Car accident

drummond's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

shannon_magee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

Some quotes:

“How can a sustainable future be built through sacrificing the very bearers of that future, through depriving children’s well-being, and worse even, through depriving children the right to be?”

“The biggest problem faced by the Congo’s artisanal miners is that stakeholders up the chain refuse to accept responsibility for them, even though they all profit in one way or another from their work.”

“Meaningful solutions cannot be devised if they are devoid of direct input from those the solutions are meant to assist.”

There are so many things I learned from this book - about the “clean” energy production chain, about cobalt mining, and about Congolese history. The research and firsthand accounts in this book are a significant reminder that all systems and all communities across our world interact and overlap, even if we cannot see where they touch at first. As such, it’s a reminder that when we’re alerted to inequities and injustice in systems and events all over the world, it is our responsibility to educate ourselves on them, then to speak out against the injustice, and do what we can to support the communities most directly affected, according to their expressed needs. 

This is a painful, but powerful read and a very necessary one. I have much respect for the author for his work in researching, interviewing, and sharing this with us, and to all those who spoke with him and worked with him in the Congo, who shared their stories to get word out to the rest of us so we can wake up and step up. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

stephanieluxton's review

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Thos is an important book. The injustice happening in the congo in real time is unimaginable. 

I can appreciate all the work that the author did to research and write this book. No one seems to really know or talk about cobalt mining even though it's directly linked to our rechargeable devices. I think this book will become more important now that electric cars are being pushed so heavily.

It really makes you think about what other injustices are occuring in the world. Our first world problems suddenly seem so superficial after reading a book like this.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Nothing is overly graphic.

bandysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Cobalt Red is a book on a subject that I was vaguely aware of, but definitely should know more about. This is one of those books that is horrifically depressing due to the subject matter and at the same time extremely well researched and written. I wish that this could be made required reading when purchasing a smart device. The DRC has been brutalized by colonialism and civil war, so to see it further exploited by Cobalt and Coltan mining is just heartbreaking. 

I did listen to this book on audiobook and I felt that the audio was very well done. Sometimes non-fiction can be a bit dry, but this was narrated well, super compelling, and kept me interested in learning more. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

rachaeln__'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail