Growing My Wings
Posted by Enough Team on Jun 17, 2015
Jake Littman
Editor's Note: This post was written by Jake Littman, a 2015 graduate
of SUNY Stony Brook.
It all started then my friend had showed me a video - this video to be
exact. The prospect that the technology we use every day - the cell
phone I used to text and play candy crush on, the printer I had used
to print an essay that morning, the laptop that we were watching the
video on at that very moment - were potentially funding war halfway
around the world was new and definitely disturbing. I was affected,
but not so much as to totally inspire me to fight for change just yet.
That came later.
It seems most college students are fighting for a cause. Constant
bombardment with flyers, events, and baked goods being sold for some
charity or another is a common aspect of any campus environment. It
can be overwhelming. Fighting for various issues, I came to
understand feelings of inadequacy very quickly. Oftentimes the fruits
of our labors are unseen, and it gets tiring working towards a goal
when real change is not always readily apparent. On the flip side
however, the apparent lack of progress makes it all the more
worthwhile when positive developments are revealed. That was what I
found gave me the strength to throw myself into the movement for peace
in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and fight for the active policy
reformation that is contributing to a conflict-free mineral trade in
the DRC.
This report was the tipping point. Just a few years after regulations
were enacted here in the United States, real and quantifiable changes
were happening in the DRC. I felt invigorated, like I had figured out
a secret to changing the world. Policy reformation had been proven, in
my eyes, to have the ability to create a real, positive effect on the
lives of people literally halfway around the world. I was inspired to
do what I could, to play my own part however small that might be, in
passing this message along and spurring further reformation in hopes
that these efforts could push along positive change.
Through my determination to garner as much support as possible from
the people who have the power to enact policy change, I immediately
contacted as many administrators at my university as I could. I was
lucky to be met with much positivity and support, but a new challenge
presented itself: being part of the State University of New York
(SUNY) system means that our purchasing policies at Stony Brook
University are controlled by the state of New York itself. So, in
order for us to enact a policy that favors companies working to become
conflict-free, the SUNY system would first have to endorse it, and the
state would have to allow it to happen. This was terrifying as well as
exciting. Everything had taken one giant step up in scale. It was like
this goal we were chasing and so close to catching had just sprouted
wings and flew off. But! This was exciting news as well - the task of
attaining policy reformation at my own school had become attaining
policy reformation at the entire SUNY system - all 64 schools! And
beyond that, if the New York State school system was to change, why
not the state itself? My feelings of being overwhelmed turned into
passion at the prospect of enacting change in such a large scale. I
had grown my own wings and was ready to start the chase once again.
Things began moving rather quickly. I won't bore you with all the
details, but I was once told (and firmly believe, as corny as it may
sound) to not ignore the stars aligning. That is what it felt like.
Before I knew it, I was presenting a proposal for support of
state-level procurement reformation at the SUNY Student Assembly, a
meeting of student leaders representing all SUNY schools. The movement
passed, but it is not the time for pats on the back or "good jobs"
just yet. While official student support is a huge step, the real
journey begins now. It is up to state legislators to enact real
change, and it is our duty as students, citizens, and most
importantly, human beings, to let those with the power to make change
know that the time is now through petitions and letters of support.
For those of you on campuses - it has always been a quintessentially
"college" thing to do to fight for a cause, and this is one of the
biggest causes we could fight for in the present day. I didn't want to
believe that the laptop I'm writing this on could be fueling a war,
but the evidence is there and I am ready to do whatever I can to fight
it. Policy change is a big step, but first and foremost is education.
Knowledge is power. Numbers are power as well. We can all do our part
by educating ourselves, and passing that education on. It has been
proven that our efforts across the world can have real positive change
on a war-torn nation, and that is something worth fighting for. This
is an issue that is as far away as another continent, yet as close as
our cell phones in our pockets. That is why I decided to take action.
Photo: Jake Littman, courtesy of Manju Shivacharan/The Statesman/SUNY
Stony Brook
Eastern Congo
Raise Hope for Congo
Conflict Minerals
Conflict-Free Campus Initiative
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