Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara
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Web ID: 15843525A Haunting Truth
Title: Cobalt Red Author: Sidharth Kara Release Date: January 31st, 2023 Page Count: 279 Format: Netgalley/Audiobook Start Date: February 14th, 2023 Finish Date: February 16th, 2023 Rating: 5 Stars Review: I learned so much reading this book. I learned the hard truth behind the energy resources we take for granted on a daily basis. I learned that uncovering the truth is as dangerous as the dangers that they are investigating. I actually wound up having a discussion where I referenced this book. I would love to get my hands on a physical copy so I can reread it and highlight important parts and make notes in the annotations. It has had an impact on the way I think and how I feel about the objects I use in life. I'd also like to find more books about this subject. Just so I can see all of the facts at different angles.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Chilling
A child in the Congo dies every day so we can have batteries for our phones. That's the story in this horrifying exposé of labor practices in the Congo. Workers, including children, mine cobalt in impoverished and often brutal conditions—risking debilitating injuries and death. The author interviewed workers and families in the affected regions and tells their stories in their words. The book is written in a straightforward style that makes it no less chilling. Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A must read
Cobalt Red is not an easy read but the history and current situation in the Congo is not a light subject and the author does a good job of weaving the two together. The Congo is rich in natural resources which has long made it a target for international powers that want to control and enrich themselves from those resources. While the book dives into the history of the country, from the ruthless control enforced by King Leopold and the Belgium government after him to the current exploitation of international companies it is still a story about the people that suffer and the systems in place to keep them suffering. In between history the author does interviews with the local artisanal miners who make up the vast work force in the mines. Many of them are entire families, all having to work to have enough just to put a meal on the table. One of the biggest themes over and over again through the interviews is many just have no choice. There is one interview done with a young man named Makano, who after the death of his father had one option to keep his family fed, go into the mines. It is there at only sixteen he falls and gravely injures himself. It is a common story, teen boys pulled from school to work in the mines for a variety of reasons. Time and time again Cobalt Red points out that much of this is by design, the mines are the most important part far more than the people. But they need the people, most importantly the children to go work in the mines. Things could change, the mining companies can do better to provide for the people. The author visits two mines that feel like they are trying to do better but even then its still the bare minimum. At times this book was difficult to read, not just the subject matter but the heavy use of acronyms and the inconsistent feeling to the timeline. Both makes sense as the author goes to great lengths to make sure he protects those that were brave enough to give him interviews. There is a section that outlines the history of the Congo that would have felt better suited at the beginning of the book so it can be referenced again as the author continues but that is just my preference. Cobalt Red left me with the question of what is to be done? It was never lost on me that I read this book on my Ipod with its rechargeable battery, that I looked up people and history while reading on my Iphone and that I type this review on my computer with a rechargeable battery. Consumers have a great deal of power, if we were more aware of the human rights abuse and environmental destruction our rechargeable batteries consume to be made would the demand outcry to switch to batteries that don’t rely on cobalt be stronger? There is already work being done on batteries and it will not be easy to make these changes, companies with deep pockets will fight to keep the status quo but I can be hopeful. Because unless things do change, the cobalt mines will remain of the graves of the Congolese people. Received from St. Martins Press and NetGalley in exchange for honest review, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
The Horrific Truth Behind Our Technology
Please tell the people in your country, a child of the Congo dies every day so that they can plug in their phones. Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara I am writing this review on my laptop with a rechargeable battery, looking at my tablet with a rechargeable battery. I brushed my teeth this morning with an electric toothbrush with, yes, a rechargeable battery. I wear a smart watch, with a rechargeable battery. And when we trade in our leased car, I expect its replacement choices will all be EV cars. Like you, my daily life has become reliant on this power source. This life style is made possible because of batteries that use cobalt and are manufactured in China. How many of us know where that cobalt comes from? I know I didn’t. How many of us care about how it is mined? Or do we merely enjoy the luxury of cutting-edge technology? Cobalt Red will disturb your content consumerism. You will meet the artisanal, small scale miners who dig up the ore and sell it to a middleman for little money. They are men, women, and children who live in stone-age conditions, without local medical care of schools, without protection from the hazardous work. Siddharth Kara traveled to these mine site and interviewed the workers. They told her that their lives had no value, their deaths counted for nothing. The history of the Congo is one of exploitation ever since Europeans found a way into the interior of Africa. Its political leaders exploited the country’s wealth. It has little infrastructure. The mining companies forced populations off their lands. They had little recourse but to work in small scale mining. The book held my interest like a good horror story; it was too awful to look away. The author met with the Congolese ambassador. She was told that the Congolese people needed to speak for themselves, it wasn’t the place of a foreigner to make a case for them. But, sadly, their voices have not been heard at conferences or the tech companies that purchase the Congolese cobalt. I want now to understand how consumers can make an impact. It is too morally easy to accept that the politically and financially powerless Congolese will be able to pressure for better wages and safe work conditions. I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and umbiased.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Thought provoking and revelatory
Cobalt Red is a powerful, first hand, undercover investigation of the world of cobalt mining in the Congo. Cobalt powers our cellphones, electric car batteries, and many other devices—but how is it mined and who are the people who dig by hand this rare and valuable mineral, which China and the US are struggling to control? The answers will shock the conscience of every reader of this book. A must-read for anyone interested in human rights.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com