A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman

by Lisa J Shannon, Zainab Salbi (Foreword by)

Overview

Lisa Shannon had what some would call a good life—her own business, a successful fiancé, a secure home. Then one day in 2005, shortly after her father’s death, an episode of Oprah changed everything. The show about women in the Congo depicted atrocities too horrible to comprehend: millions dead, women gang-raped and tortured, children starving and dying in shocking numbers. That day Lisa woke up to her dissatisfaction with the “good” life and to her role as an activist and a sister.

She created a foundation called Run for Congo Women, with the goal to raise money to sponsor 30 Congolese women. What started as a solo 30-mile run has now grown into a national organization in connection with Women for Women International. Run for Congo Women holds fundraising runs in four countries and ten states, and continues to raise money and awareness. In A Thousand Sisters, Lisa shares firsthand accounts of her experiences visiting the Congo, the women she’s helped, and the relationships she’s formed. With compelling stories of why she remains committed to this cause, Lisa inspires her audience to reach out and help as well, forming a sisterhood that transcends geographic boundaries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580053594
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	02/01/2011
Edition description:	First Trade Paper Edition
Pages:	344
Sales rank:	650,518
Product dimensions:	8.08(w) x 5.54(h) x 0.93(d)

About the Author

Lisa J. Shannon is a human rights activist, writer and speaker. In 2005, she founded Run for Congo Women, the first national grassroots campaign in the US working to raise awareness of the forgotten humanitarian crisis in Congo. Since then, she has spearheaded multiple major media and human rights campaigns for Congo and Somalia. She was a 2012-2013 Gleitsman Fellow with Harvard's Center for Public Leadership and is a 2013-2014 fellow with Harvard Kennedy School's Carr Center for Human Rights. Shannon holds a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School and an Honorary Doctorate from Georgetown University.

She is the author of the award-winning A Thousand Sisters and she has been featured on countless media outlets including The Oprah Winfrey Show, National Public Radio's Morning Edition, the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, the Economist, and more. In 2010 she was named one of O Magazine's 100 Most Influential Women on the Planet.

She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

Unable to grieve the death of her father but unwilling to admit depression, photographer Shannon spent her time numbly watching television. Then an episode of Oprah changed her life. A report on "the worst place on Earth to be a woman"—the Congo—awakened her from emotional sleep. She writes here of taking action, forming the Run for Congo Women foundation, which began as a one-woman effort yet eventually grew into a national organization, with races taking place across the United States. Shannon left behind her comfortable life in Portland, OR, to visit the Congo and the sponsored women whom she calls her "sisters." She is admirably honest about her travels there, a place consumed by instability and violence, with an overwhelming need for assistance. The sponsored women all ask for more money, the children are often jaded after hearing so many promises of help from outsiders, and the personal testimonies of violence are so abundant that they seem to run together. Yet Shannon is able to see the good that has been done by Run for Congo Women and encourages others to support their own Congolese "sisters." VERDICT A worthwhile read for those with a nagging feeling that there is something more that they can do for those in need.—Veronica Arellano, Lexington Park, MD

Library Journal

The story of one woman's call to ease the atrocious human suffering in the Congo. Settling in Portland, Ore., in her late 20s, photographer Shannon thought her life was in place. Everything shifted, however, when she learned of the war and unthinkable tragedies taking place in the Congo, a conflict borne out of the Rwandan genocide that had become muted in the international community. Already running from her father's death, she decided to run 30 miles and raise 30 sponsorships for Congolese women through Women for Women, an international NGO for female survivors of war. Hoping to spark a movement, she created a foundation called Run for Congo Women and traveled through the country to meet the women she helped sponsor. Shannon presents images of the uncensored horror stories that, to many Congolese, have become regrettably routine: Congo's vile colonial history and the Rwandan genocide spillover that has caused the murders of more than five million Congolese people; children forced to kill and rape in their own communities; daily child deaths from easily curable illnesses; grisly murders of men and children in front of their wives and mothers; families burned alive inside their homes; women who must choose between rape and watching their children starve. The author writes from a place of determination and clarity, despair and breakdown, overwhelming love and hope. Juxtaposing brutality with beauty, Shannon's direct prose is a stirring reminder that these horrors are real and ongoing. An alarming and inspiring message that will hopefully spur much-needed action. Agent: Jill Marsal/Marsal Lyon Literary Agency

Kirkus Reviews

The subject of a recent New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof, Shannon details how she left her comfortable life in Portland, Ore., to aid women in the Democratic Republic of Congo suffering abuse and death in what has been termed “Africa's First World War.” Running a successful business with her fiancée (who would leave her), Shannon is still “hungry for something all [her] own” and after seeing a show on Oprah about Congolese women, she establishes the Run for Congo Women to raise money to help those suffering. From meeting Congolese women she's sponsored to learning that 90% of the women in one village have been raped, Shannon is exposed to a world remote from her own affluent life. Her painful firsthand accounts of the violence inflicted upon Congolese women by Hutu militants will most interest readers, but the book lacks a detailed overview of the political circumstances surrounding this long war. Shannon provides a much-needed view of how one inspired American can act with hope, drive, and courage to aid women in a part of the world too often overlooked. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

“I can't imagine a more perfect book for arousing the power of American women (or women and men everywhere) to rush to the defense of our Congolese sisters. Lisa Shannon, runner extraordinaire, has with this forthright and readable book, crossed the finish line into the way of life the remainder of our time on this planet demands: she has entered the land of courage, compassion, and a fierce determination to stand by those who need us, where everyone understands they must be—our lives depend on it—a citizen of the world.
—Alice Walker

“While reporting for the Oprah Show , I called the Democratic Republic of the Congo the ‘worst place on earth.’ When Lisa Shannon saw my report, rather than turn her back, she took it on. Her commitment to the victims of one of the world's greatest tragedies exemplifies the best in humanity. Her powerful story is an inspiration to all of those who think their voice is too small to change lives.”
—Lisa Ling, journalist

"Congo is usually portrayed as hopeless and its women as victims. Lisa Shannon shines a spotlight on the hope that emanates so stubbornly from this complex country, primarily through her loving portrayal of her Congolese sisters. Instead of victims, these women are determined survivors, three-dimensional human beings who deserve our respect and solidarity."
—John Prendergast, co-founder of The Enough Project, and co-author of Not On Our Watch with Don Cheadle

“As global consumers we all share some responsibility for the tragedy in the Congo. Lisa Shannon's riveting, personal narrative lays bare the human cost of that relationship, through a personal journey like no other into the heart of the Congo.”
—Robin Wright, actress and activist

“I wish that every woman and man in America were as stirred to outrage and action as Lisa Shannon by what is happening in today’s Congo. In her heartfelt and very personal way, she shines some light on a place of great suffering that the world has too long ignored.”
—Adam Hochschild, author, iKing Leopold’s Ghost and iBury the Chains

From the Publisher